Greg Kornacki

Buffalo Hunting in Texas

             My name is Greg Kornacki.  I am 14 years old and live in Farmington Hills, MI.  Thanks to Benfit4Kids, I was able to make my dream of going big game hunting, come true.

            The day after Christmas 2006, my family and I flew out to Abilene, Texas to go buffalo hunting.  When we arrived in Abilene, we went to meet Rick Worley at Buffalo Mountain Ranch.  I got to practice target shooting with a 50 caliber muzzleloader.

            On December 27^th, we returned back to the ranch to go on my hunt.  It was a beautiful 70 degree day, but a little windy.  Rick and his guides were able to track a big ten-year-old bull for me.  The bull, however, was not alone.  He was surrounded by a heard of buffalo and elk.  We slowly approached the herds with two pickup trucks and my parents, 2 brothers and sister following in a minivan.  I got out of the car and into my wheelchair while Rick set up my tripod.  (I was born with spina bifida and have always used a wheelchair).  I used the tripod to reduce the weight of the gun on my arms.  I got the muzzleloader ready and started watching the bull through my scope.  The buffalo was about 60 yards away.  I had to move myself and tripod several times until I could get an accurate shot.  The herd was constantly moving around.  At one point, all the vehicles were surrounded by elk and buffalo.  That’s when my mom got nervous and crawled back into the minivan through the open window.  I was so excited but I was concerned about how the rest of the herd was going to react when I fired the gun.

            Finally, I got the gun aimed and I had a clean shot so I fired.  Fortunately, the entire herd ran away from us.  The bull went maybe 100 yards and then fell.  He stayed down and never got back up.  A few of his buddies hung around and then took off too.  We all approached him about five minutes later.  He looked big when he was standing up, but he sure looked huge up close.

            It took only one shot and I got him right in the heart and lungs.  I couldn’t have been more accurate!  We took lots of pictures and I got to see the buffalo gutted too.  He turned out to weight 1800 lbs. with his head alone weighing 300lbs.  The whole experience was thrilling!  I am so glad I got to do it.  Now I have lots of fun showing off my pictures and remembering what I got to do over my Christmas break!

 

            Greg Kornacki  1/12/07