Evan Fridley Red Stag Hunt 2006

​Evan Fridley
10-Year-Old Evan Fridley from Thomas West Virginia suffers from Spina Bifida. Evan heard about Benefit4Kids while on a special Doe Hunt in TN especially for kids with Spina Bifida, when he ran into Christian Aders. Christian is a past wish kid of Benefit4Kids who went to Texas to live his wish of shooting a 4 Horned Ram.

Evan is a very smart young man who LOVES to hunt. While talking to his mom she tells me all these stories of Evan and it's not hard to learn of his passion for the outdoors! Evan wants to Hunt Red Stag and has numerous questions already about how big will it be, will it have a crown, etc, and this thing is barely even planned yet. Benefit4Kids will be sending Evan and his family to Superior Game Ranch (www.superiorgameranch.com) near Escanaba MI, sometime in late September to fulfill his dream of shooting a Red Stag!

Not only will Evan live his dream of shooting a Big Red Stag, but also he and his family will get to see the Mackinaw Bridge and the gorgeous fall color tour show that the Upper Peninsula is so well known for producing that time of year!

Evan and his family will be traveling from their home in WV to the beautiful Upper Peninsula of MI the 2nd week of October. They are set to arrive at Superior Game Ranch on Saturday October 7th, where Jeff and Reba Debacker will meet him. They are due to stay there until the 10th where they will enjoy the beauty of all the animals available on the ranch, but Evan will have his eyes open for only 1 animal.... the Red Stag! Along the way they will make numerous stops at select points along the way including Cabelas, all while enjoying the breath taking color tour you can only see in Northern MI this time of year!

A special Thank You goes out to Jeff Debacker and Superior Game Ranch as well as Loyd Rebark. Superior Game Ranch does not currently offer a Red Stag hunt, as they are trying to grow their population of Red Stag to one day offer this hunt to everyone, but out of the kindness of their hearts, Loyd Rebark who raises Red Stag in the Upper Peninsula with the help of Jeff Debacker is making this young mans dream a reality by making an exception this time! If that wasn't enough they are donating the cost of the Red Stag and all the facilities to make sure the family is comfortable and feed well during their stay! This trip would never have been made possible without these 2 guys and a HUGE THANK YOU goes out to both of them! When this stay at Superior Game Ranch ends, they will spend the rest of the week visiting the numerous tourist’s spots the Upper Peninsula has to offer

Evan Fridley and his family recently returned from a very enjoyable trip up to Superior Game Ranch in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. On the way up, they made a stop at Cabelas in Dundee MI as they have never been to a Cabelas store. They were in for a treat upon arrival, as we heard they were thinking about doing this I contacted Rick Garrett which is the main guy in charge of Promotions at the Dundee Store and he put together a special trip time for the family while they were at the store. Although he would be out of the store that day on business, he made sure no loop holes were left and when Evan and his family arrived, they were greeted with signs all over the front door, welcoming Evan Fridley!

Evan tells me he couldn't believe they did that for him! While at the store, they got a special tour of the store, it's amazing fish tank, were given a special gift bag with numerous items inside for Evan, along with employee discounts on anything they purchased while at the store, free lunch, a ton of tokens for all the kids to enjoy the shooting gallery, among meeting and spending the day with many of the store employees! Thank You Rick, Rich (Store Manager), and all of the Cabelas team for showing Evan and his family a special time while at Cabelas!

From there they traveled north and met Board Member Jason Miller and his wife Jennifer in St. Ignace for dinner, then off to Gladstone where the family stayed the night, while Jason and Jennifer headed on to find the ranch to avoid loss time in the morning. It turns out it was a great idea because it took Jason 2 hours to find the place, which ended up being only about 30-40 minutes from the hotel. I think we'll get Jason a map next time

Saturday morning they arrived and wasted no time getting out in the woods. The weather wasn't cooperating as temps rose into the upper 60's and 70's and the Red Stag didn't want to move. They never could get close enough and when they did move, the Stag stayed in a group of Elk, one being a HUGE trophy, which Evan wanted to take, but he was focused on the Red Stag! Later that day they finally set up and were able to get the Stag to separate from the Elk, and Evan made the shot count! Although it took a second shot from Evan, he stayed focused and stayed with the stag to put another shell in him, which dropped it in its tracks!

Jason tells me this kids determination and focus for hunting is like none he has ever seen in a kid before. I was able to learn more about his background when Jason and I met the family in Southern MI on their way home for dinner. I could tell hunting is this kids life and if he can't be out in the woods or shooting a gun, he wants nothing to do with it! Good job Evan and fantastic Hunt!

Since Evan shot that hog the first day, B4K threw in a hog hunt as well as a spur of the moment decision and Evan was thrilled! He finally shot a big hog, but Evan soon realized hog hunting was a littler tougher! I'm still awaiting pictures of the hog and will get them posted as soon as possible.


The family tells me they spent the remainder of the trip hunting Pheasant on the ranch with Jeff, Walleye Fishing in Little Bay Denock, then visiting and sightseeing around Mackinac City before heading home. They had a blast and its all in thanks to Jeff and Reba Debacker as well as Loyd Rebark for their generous donations of the Red Stag and Ranch facilities for Evan to see his dream come true! Evan's Red Stag is being mounted by a taxidermist we have worked with in the past in Northern MI and we will then get his mount to him ASAP so he can hang it on his wall and remember all the memories everyone involved help create!