2012 - Joey loves to hunt!

November 13, 2012 • Voyageur Press

When it comes to the Whitetail rifle season, there are very few that become more excited than Joey Collelo who hunts near Maple Lake (Alborn, Minnesota). Joey has only missed one season since he was old enough to hunt and it was because he was in a coma after a motorcycle accident.

Joey’s mother Cheryl and stepfather Rick Dunbar recently shared the story of a tragic accident that has not been forgotten, but has now produced blessings each and every year. 

“Joey was injured on August 6, 1999," said Cheryl about the motorcycle accident that occurred on the corner of Highway 47 and Chaise Drive. “He was actually headed to captain’s practice for the AlBrook football team.” 

 Joey ended up in a coma for four months and there was some question whether he would even survive. “So it is amazing that he has only missed one deer season,” added Cheryl. “He spent eight months in the hospital and underwent surgeries to help relieve pressure on the brain.”

When Joey came out of the coma, it was a big day. “It was right around deer season when he started coming out of the coma,” recalls Cheryl. “It was slow. I remember talking to him and he would pick up his head. Little by little, he started tracking. It was really awesome.”

Joey has spent a great deal of time rehabbing and still requires 24-hour care, but he has learned to talk, he can walk with crutches when assisted and of course he has become quite the hunter.

Since the injury, Joey has shot five deer. His first hunt was out west and it was called the Rydell National Wildlife Refuge annual hunt for people with disabilities near Erskine, Minnesota. Joey shot a doe. Since then, the Dunbars have worked hard to help Joey hunt virtually in his back yard. The hunting property is right across the road. 

Cheryl recalls the trials and tribulations trying to get him into the woods those first years. “At first Rick set him up on a trailer.”

“I made a bracket and mounted him to the trailer,” Rick shared. “I set him and his chair in the trailer and he could pivot around. Opening morning, it is pitch dark out and we wanted to get out there early, but I got stuck in a mud hole!”

After winching themselves out, making a bunch of racket, Rick contemplated an upgrade.

“That’s when we decided to put him in the box of the Ranger with that bracket,” Cheryl laughed (so did Joey). “Rick picked Joey up with the engine hoist with straps.”

Joey found himself dangling in the garage and was a little confused. “The first time he thought he was going to stay hooked to that as he was swaying in the air. It was quite a site to see him ratchet strapped to the trailer or the box of the Ranger.”

A gun mount was purchased and attached to the wheelchair and it wasn’t long after that Rick made a decision to put him in the passenger seat of the Ranger and set up the gun mount in the cab. Now Joey shoots out the front window of the Ranger and he is out of the elements. “We park him under the old two-seater deer stand where the kids first learn how to hunt,” Rick noted.

“Joey does pretty well,” Cheryl explained. “When he does target practice, he is right on. He was a good shot before and he is still a good shot.” 

 At first, Cheryl used to sit with Joey and read a book while he hunted. I didn’t hunt until Rick said, “If you’re going to be in the woods, you might as well carry a gun.”

Joey progressed and when they first started, he couldn’t talk. Joey claims that he started talking because he first started singing. “And not very well, I might add. Sometimes I think I like it better when he didn’t talk,” joked Rick and everyone laughed. “Half the time, he won’t shut up.”

As Joey’s communication skills improved, the need to have someone sitting with him became less and less. Joey was given a two-way radio and Cheryl joined the family hunt, in her own stand. “Joey learned to communicate where the deer was shot in case we have to go look for it.”

Rick actually tied some ribbons on the trees down the shooting lanes and that has been a big help. 

Joey is pretty proud of the deer display on the wall at his home on Maple Lake. “The two on the bottom are my dad’s (Rick), the one in the middle is mine, the one on the top right is my brother (step-brother) Joe’s and the one on the left is my mom’s,” Joey explained. 

It was also pointed out by Joey that one of Rick’s deer on the wall weighed slightly over 133 pounds. “The one in the middle weighed 222 pounds,” Joey said, and laughed.

Rick reminded Joey that the number is 202. “The deer gets bigger every year,” said Cheryl. 

“Actually, he added 20 pounds to it years ago,” added Rick.

The biggest deer on the wall is actually Cheryl’s at 223 and Rick noted that there isn’t a day that goes by that Joey doesn’t come into the house and look up at that wall. He is extremely proud of his mother. Cheryl actually bagged her deer last season.

Last year, the family shot six deer. “It was an amazing year,” said Rick. “My daughter Lindsey shot a 6-pointer 10 minutes into the season; 15 minutes after that, Joe shot a spike; and 20 minutes after that, Cheryl shot that 10-pointer. We rarely see bucks and in 20 minutes we have three bucks.”

Cheryl’s prize buck is something Joey is very proud of. “When I shot my deer last year, I don’t know who was happier, me or him,” she said.

The gang was giddy this year after the success they had last season, but not much has happened. Joey is done for the season, but some of the other children will be hunting the final weekend. 

Joey’s most ironic hunting story occurred a few years ago. Rick recalls checking in on Joey after he shot a spike buck. “There it was 30 yards away and we are yahooing and high-fiving. He’s telling me the story and I radioed Cheryl.”

The whole time the deer is laying there. “Cheryl walks out and they are high-fiving, hugging and crying,” added Rick. “It’s pretty amazing for him to get a shot.”

Joey tells the whole story and after a whole 45 minutes had passed, Rick eventually goes to cut up the deer. “So I walk over, pull my knife out, the head pops up and the deer runs away.”

Rick and Cheryl tracked the deer for the rest of the evening with no success. “The last place we found a sign of it right before dark, I tied a couple of ribbons on the tree so we knew where to start in the morning.”

The next morning, Rick didn’t get up early and of course Joey rolls into the room and asks if he would go get his deer. Rick put his orange back on and went out to where he had last seen sign of the deer. “When I get out there and walk up upon the ribbons, son-of-a-gun if that deer doesn’t get up and run again. I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t want to play this game all day.’ He happened to get into some tag and bed down. I was able to finish it, but we call it the deer that wouldn’t die.” 

Spending time in the outdoors has been great for Joey and he has tried a number of other activities. He tried bow hunting (crossbow); he enjoys fishing; he has downhill skied; water skied; rode a tandem bike; and has gone sailing on Lake Superior. “To watch Joey come down Spirit Mountain on skis was very nerve wracking,” said Cheryl. 

Of course Joey had a smile on his face. “Yah, he wanted to go faster and he wanted to go on the jumps.” 

Oh, and Joey is a Packer fan. So is Rick. He wears green and gold most Sundays and his mother wears purple. 

The family hunt is something Cheryl describes as the good that comes out of the bad. “We’ve learned a lot,” Cheryl explained. “It has brought us closer together as a family. For sure, the hunting experience as a family, because our daughter wouldn’t be in the woods if it wasn’t for this situation. I probably wouldn’t be in the woods.”



“It has brought us closer and we have met some amazing people...” Cheryl added. “Joey has a lot of great people that have worked with him. Not only that, but everyone in the community cheers for him. They are so happy to see him and are supportive.”

Joey is a blessing not only for Rick and Cheryl, but to those around him. Joey has a pleasant disposition and is most likely smiling when you see him, especially during deer season. “He knows he is lucky to be alive,” concluded Cheryl. “He has taught us a lot about life and not to sweat the small stuff.” 

Publisher’s Note: The Dunbar family is thankful to the Courage Center Duluth for providing recreational activities for people with disabilities and kids with autism. They would also like to thank the Puglisi family for providing access to the hunting land.