Mark Golden's Outdoor Wish

Well it may not be the biggest 8 point you've ever seen but to 16 year old Mark Golden it's a MONSTER. Mark called me tonight from Wild Rose Wisconsin where he went on an Outdoor Wish hunt at Back Achers Ranch through Benefit4Kids. Mark has numerous medical problems and although at 16 he is only a little over 4' tall and weighs only 60 lbs. he has the heart of a lion and a wonderful sense of humor and attitude. His love for the outdoors could not be stronger if he were 7' tall and built like an ox.

Mark took this great buck at 30 yards with a perfect heart/lung shot from his .50 cal. muzzleloader with his Mom sitting next to him in the blind. Although not what most would consider "an outdoors woman" Mark's Mom works hard to make sure he has every opportunity to spend time doing what he loves to do, hunt and has sat with him several times hunting in the past.

Mark's hunt was the first of 7 current "Outdoor Wishes" that Benefit4Kids has been able to put together so far this year because of the many generous people who have supported Benefit4Kids over the years. Soon other kids and their families will spend some great time together creating memories of hunting hogs, whitetails, fallow deer and fishing for salmon and steelhead this fall because others dug deep to help them out. My thanks to all of you for helping to make Mark's and all of the other kids dreams come true.

A special thanks goes out to Dan and Bev Schuman who generously donated the hunt for Mark on their ranch and to Brigid O’Donoghue of BIO-Tec Research for everything she has done to help not only Benefit4Kids but many other kids in need. They are all very special people and the outdoor world is a much better place because of them.

Steve Pray
President, Benefit4Kids