Blind man goes hunting with help from sons, app

Blind for most of his adult life, a local man packed up a rifle and went on his first deer hunt last week with the help of his sons.

"I can't say it's a habit or anything, but I have always liked hunting," said 51-year-old Danny Sisco of Doniphan, Missouri. "When I was younger I got out and walked in the woods, but I have never shot anything. Of course you have to see them to shoot them."

Sisco suffers from retinitis pigmentosis, an inherited, degenerative eye disease that causes severe vision impairment and eventually blindness. While he was able to see "somewhat" when he was very young, his blindness is now absolute.

"I can tell light from dark. Sometime I catch a shadow, but to walk around without my cane or anything would be kind of dangerous. I never had good eyesight, but when I was a kid I could see better than I can now."

Despite his lack of sight, Sisco expressed his desire to go hunting this year to his sons Brandon and Chris, who assured him they would "make it happen." Brandon says his dad is always looking for a challenge to overcome and that Brandon is always ready to oblige.

"I've had a lot of experiences in my life. Having my kids was great, but being able to take my dad hunting ... that adds a whole new memory, something I'm proud to be a part of," Brandon Sisco said. "He has always shown me you are only as handicapped as you want to be. I am so proud of the guy."

So the family took him to acquire the necessary permits. Danny completed his hunter safety course years ago when he was a child, so that was not a problem.

"We went up to Wal-Mart and they let us get a tag. They kind of looked as us funny, but ..." Brandon Sisco said.

"I didn't see them looking at us. I didn't feel there was any problem at all. I just had to show them my ID. Was it my ID?" asked Danny Sisco.

"I asked him if he had a driver's license instead," chuckled Brandon Sisco.

Armed with the necessary paperwork and a .308, the family headed into the woods in search of a trophy buck.

"I've had people take me out, but I didn't have a gun in my hand. It was more just to keep them company," Danny Sisco said. "This was the first time I actually got to get out and hold the gun myself. We got out last Friday and did some target practice, but to say I am really seriously hunting, this is the first time."

The father and son hunting duo make up for Danny's lack of 20/20 vision by using a technological innovation. Local manufactures iScope LLC, based in Sikeston, Missouri, sells a device that displays the image in the rifle's scope on a smartphone screen.

"This company, iScope, has a mount for your phone that goes on your scope," Brandon Sisco said. "This basically puts your camera lenses on your scope, so I can see exactly what's going on on my camera and I can tell him 'up,' 'down,' whatever. He has full control of the gun."

Brandon and Danny had no luck on opening day, but planned on going again.