Stephanie Leavins from Bagdad, FL, is an amazing young lady. She travels throughout the United States, singing and giving her testimony. But one weekend out of the year, she trades in her glitter and glam for camos and a rifle. Stephanie goes hunting every year & thoroughly enjoys the wonderful experience. February of 2003 she bagged a huge 9 pt. buck, 160 lbs. 17 ½” spread, with 9″ tines. At that time, it was the largest deer ever harvested in a Mobility Impaired Hunt in this particular area. This is one of the highlights of her year. Stephanie says “it’s a wonderful experience, and it shows other people that you can do anything you put your mind to. I love to hunt and enjoy the woods and the outdoors. This hunt lets people know that, even with a disability, you can go out and enjoy God’s country and have a good time doing it.” “It’s such a blessing to fellowship with all the other hunters.
Stephanie was born with Muscular Dystrophy, but she hasn’t let this disability slow her down a bit. She has served as an inspiration and example to others, shedding a bright light on many of life’s most consequential issues including faith, giving and sharing of one’s self and living with adversity. Stephanie cannot use her arms and has been confined in a wheelchair all her life, which makes it all the more amazing how she could shoot her gun. Her dad, Earl Leavins, has made a special apparatus which allows her to shoot her 300 Ultra-mag gun herself. The gun is mounted on a swivel stand that is connected to her wheelchair. The trigger
mechanism is controlled by a toggle switch mounted onto the footplate of Stephanie’s chair. The switch is connected to a battery in her wheelchair and to a solenoid mounted on the side
of her gun. When Stephanie activates the trigger on her footplate, it sends an electrical current to the solenoid that causes the gun to fire by manually pulling the trigger. Stephanie is a deadly shoot with this set up. The nine point she shot a few weekends ago was between 75 to 80 yards away and ran about 200 yds. before falling dead. Stephanie says,” The main goal for me is to really let people know that it’s possible to do anything no matter what your disability, “ she says. “ A lot of people that are perfectly healthy don’t realize what a wonderful gift they have. The main reason I love to hunt is to do something that a lot of people that are healthy take for granted.” Stephanie adds, “ I’d love to encourage anybody that feels that, maybe because of the life they have, they can not do anything for the Lord, if they are discouraged and down, to come out and learn that, through His grace and His love, anything is possible. No matter what your circumstances or your condition, you can do anything through the Lord.”
