Even though he doesn’t have legs, Hunter Baughman took another big step in the bass fishing world on May 20.
Baughman, who lost his legs below his knees along with his left hand and digits on his right hand to bacterial meningitis at 9 months old, won the Mr. Bass of Arkansas tournament on Millwood Lake. For Baughman, a well-known stick on the Arkansas River, it was his biggest win.
“It was against all the guys I look up to,” he said. “I think they’re the best fishermen in the state of Arkansas. I’ve aspired to be as good them for years. There’s guys who’ve accomplished so much more than me.”
Yet none have had to come as far as Baughman. While he might say he’s limb-challenged, nothing has stopped Baughman from doing anything. He might have to figure out how to do it “his way,” but he gets after every task in front of him and doesn’t want anyone to feel sorry for him. He just wants to be one of the guys.
“The more you get to know me, I hope you just see me as normal,” he said. “Normal, that’s it, nothing else.”
Baughman confronts his condition with humor — the first thing he told guests on his boat was to stow a camera box under the console because “I don’t need any leg room.” On duck hunts when someone complains their feet are cold, he responds, “Mine aren’t.”
“I love doing that,” he said. “I used to tell my mom … she’d be talking about something costing money that I wanted. ‘Well, you never bought me shoes all my life, why can’t you buy me that?’ ”
Busting jokes breaks the ice, makes others know he’s comfortable with who he is and that he wants to be treated like everyone else — normal. Yet the 31-year-old had a start to life that was anything but normal.
Growing up Hunter
Nine months old is about the time most children start standing before taking their first steps. Instead, Baughman was at Arkansas Children’s Hospital for three months, undergoing several surgeries after contracting the fast progressing disease that can lead to death within a day. It affected his extremities. Taking them saved his life.
“I was so young when I got it — it was all I ever knew,” he said. “Learn how to deal with what you’re given and do it. That’s still my outlook. It’s boring on the couch, and there’s no reason why you can’t just do whatever you want to, as long as you put your mind to it.
“God is big in my life. Church is big. If it wasn’t for the good Lord, I wouldn’t be here.”
Baughman has given motivational talks at Bass Pro Shops, one of his sponsors. He’s also participated in Dream Catchers, a non-profit that helps put disabled and terminally ill youth on outdoors excursions. But he graduated to serve as a mentor and its fund-raising director.
One of Baughman’s fishing partners, Tim Preator, works for a non-profit taking wounded warriors fishing, and he refers to his friend often.
“He is an inspiration to everybody,” Preator said. “Some of our guys are not physically disabled, have PTSD and the like. I tell them, I know a cat who is probably one of the most remarkable people I know. I get on Facebook and start pulling up pictures. They’re like, ‘Oh, wow!’”
Learning to do it his way
Fishing and hunting were big in Baughman’s youth. His family got him into most every outdoor endeavor, and he even played sports into junior high school, but quit because using prosthetics hurt. Although he uses a wheelchair, he can walk on his knees – “they work, they’re just short.” He’s probably most comfortable in his boat, climbing in and maneuvering quickly from the driver’s seat to the flush-mounted chair on the front deck.
He’s fished as long as he can remember, starting on crappie with his great grandfather, Lloyd Keener, in Lake Atkins.
“When I was young, I spent a lot of days crappie fishing,” Baughman said. “My whole family fished. I don’t remember my first fishing trip. I remember crappie fishing one day when I was about 5 or 6, and catching so many I told my dad I was going to sit in the bottom of the boat because I was tired of winding fish in.”
Baughman had his first bass boat before he had his first truck. He would fish with anyone who would drive him. He learned to launch, tie lures, cast and unhook fish his way.
“Kind of like everything else in life, I never knew it any other way,” he said. “You’re going to do it one way and I’m going to do it another way.”
His parents gave Baughman an Arkansas lifetime hunting and fishing license for his 16th birthday. Baughman already had been fishing tournaments for more than a year.
“I didn’t do good for like 2 years,” he said, “but I felt like it was something I could compete in. I’m a competitive person, and I love being outdoors.”
It took three years before he cashed his first check, but it was a whopper, $4,500, like the bass in the big fish event. That same year he added almost $1,000 by winning a team championship on Lake Hamilton. He said neither is like winning an event on his own.
Congrats for Mr. Bass of Arkansas
Baughman, who fishes events most every weekend and at least one week night, won numerous team titles and has several AOYs to his credit, but the Mr. Bass was his first big statewide title. He might have received a touch more than the normal congratulations from the other competitors, many of whom went out of their way to tell him “great job.”
“Everybody was walking up and telling me how awesome it was. It was overwhelming,” he said. “Even before I posted anything, my phone and Facebook were going nuts.
“I’ve always kind of felt like a nobody. I mean, I’ve done all right but not been great. These guys I’ve looked up to for so long are going out of their way to make sure they tell me congrats. It’s just pretty awesome.”
Sounding like most anglers after a win, Baughman spoke of a terrible start to practice on Lake Millwood, which is about a 3-hour drive from his home in Judsonia. On his second day, he felt he’d try a river go-to.
“I just tied on a squarebill and fished it like the Arkansas River,” he said. “I pulled up on a spot and caught them two at a time. I thought, ‘This might work.’ I fished three spots in 20 minutes, and had 15 pounds.”
Millwood has pads, grass and cypress trees, where flipping and punching are the main tactics. Baughman spent 80 percent of his practice with a frog, but he hadn’t caught a fish over two pounds. Baughman even left with his camper to fish a river event before returning.
“I went home and didn’t have a clue if they would be there or not on Sunday, but I caught a 5-pounder in about the first five minutes and just kept a squarebill in my hand all day,” he said. “They were coming out of the backwater and I think they were just staging, coming out of the lakes going out to the river.”
With 18.12 pounds, Baughman topped the nearest competitor by almost 2 ½ pounds. Among the field were several local favorites, a couple FLW pros and a Costa event winner. Baughman, who previously fished Costas, said he has taken aim at again fishing regional events.
First is getting his new business in order. While he still lends a hand to Dream Catchers for fund-raisers, he said he is focusing on flipping houses and renting properties.
“I want to qualify for a tour, but it’s a lot of effort to qualify for a tour,” he said. “I’m just basically seeking an avenue that still gives me the freedom to be able to fish, and afford to fish. Getting the right backing is the biggest thing.
“My goal is to fish professionally. It’s been my goal since I’ve been probably 16. I’ll try my best to make it happen.”