MUSCATINE, Iowa — Sometimes being a volunteer can leave a lasting impression.

Take the case of Randy Gipple, a Louisa County farmer and orthopedic surgeon who helps with the annual Veteran’s Honor Hunt, a free, guided deer hunt for disabled veterans.

As he prepares for this year’s event, Gipple, 49, recalled the impact last year’s event had on Mus-catine veteran Ralph Burns.

Burns was an amputee with multiple injuries who came to the hunt in a wheelchair, said Gipple.

“Two of us loaded him into the truck from the nursing home,” said Gipple. “He got his first deer last year.”

Burns died Dec. 26, 2010, at age 69, and Gipple said it was good to know he was able to help Burns enjoy the hunt.

The annual Veteran’s Honor Hunt, held on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 1 and 2, at the Louisa Generating Station property, is a free event created to give disabled American Veterans a safe and free day of hunting, said Al Smith, director of Serve Outdoors, coordinators of the program.



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