When Fred Baker fractured his spine in a motorcycle accident in 2009, his first thought was how he would continue his hobbies — skiing, motorcycling, fishing at his family’s lake house, and hunting. Since then, he’s learned how to ski (using a mono-ski), get out his truck unassisted, and continue hunting. For the last few years, he’s participated in the statewide annual “parahunt” held by the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) which offers disabled hunters an opportunity to get back out into the woods.

Raynham, MA - 11/1/2025: Fred Baker takes a look inside his butcher shop as his father brings his truck in carrying a customer’s deer in the bed on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Ben Pennington for The Boston Globe)

Camp Edwards, MA - 10/30/2025: Tim Kennedy (center) lifted Fred Baker’s hunting blind for him, so he could get into position at his designated hunting spot on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. Each year, staff and volunteers assist hunters with paraplegia travel and participate in the three-day special season. Baker harvested his first deer during the parahunt from the same spot four years prior. His luck — and the parahunt camaraderie — has kept him coming back. “Meeting people, getting to know everybody’s story, it builds a community,” he said. (Ben Pennington for The Boston Globe)

Camp Edwards, MA - 11/1/2025: Fred Baker, with a shotgun by his lap, prepared to hunt out of driver’s seat while with his father, Fred Baker Jr., was seated the passenger’s seat after the hunting blind propped-up the day before had blown away during the previous night on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. Baker was one of 18 hunters that participated across five sites around state this year, some of which arrive to the grounds as early as 4:30 in the morning. (Ben Pennington for The Boston Globe)

Camp Edwards, MA - 11/1/2025: Fred Baker Jr., made efforts to look for his son’s hunting blind the morning after it had blown away following a windy night on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. MassWildlife staff prepare by scouting locations accessible to hunters and where deer are likely to be spotted. ”We set people up as if we're hunting these spots,” said Aaron Best, a MassWildlife stewardship specialist and staff on site during the Camp Edwards parahunt. “We're living vicariously through these guys."

Camp Edwards, MA - 10/30/2025: Fred Baker took aim through the scope of his shotgun, as he prepared to fire the first shot at a deer within range, crossing the dirt road overlooked by his hunting spot on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. After hours of waiting in one place, he was lucky to encounter any deer at all. (Ben Pennington for The Boston Globe)

Camp Edwards, MA - 10/30/2025: After firing two shots just before the end of hunting hours, Fred Baker made his way down the dirt road overlooked by his hunting spot to examine the button buck he targeted on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. Fred “spined” the young deer with the first shell, paralyzing it. “I don’t like [killing] the little ones,” Fred said, after making the quick decision to seize what might be the only chance he had at harvesting a deer during the three-day season. It would be his only encounter with a deer for the rest of the parahunt. (Ben Pennington for The Boston Globe)

Camp Edwards, MA - 10/30/2025: Fred Baker watched as MassWildlife biologists and his friend, Tim Kennedy (top), helped field dress his harvested button buck in the rain on a path nearby the hunting clubhouse on Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. Baker said the MassWildlife staff “do everything” for the hunters, from finding locations to helping them harvest deer. Still, he sometimes misses all the scouting work he used to do, before getting injured. (Ben Pennington for The Boston Globe)

Raynham, MA - 11/2/2025: “That’s a f--king horse,” said Tim Kennedy, friend and business partner to Fred Baker, (from left) as the two took a moment to smoke a cigarette each and admire the size of a buck brought in by a customer to their butcher shop on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. The two, now housemates, run their small business right by Fred’s home. (Ben Pennington for The Boston Globe)

Raynham, MA - 11/23/2025: Maria Baker (left) sampled some of her son Fred Baker’s pulled venison hip roast during a lunch and Patriots game watch party at his home on Nov. 23, 2025. Fred joked about his mother’s reaction as she tried his home-cooking, even as she admitted that she enjoyed the dish. The venison eaten by the Bakers that afternoon was cut from the same buck Fred harvested during the parahunt.

(Ben Pennington for The Boston Globe)

Raynham, MA - 11/2/2025: Discarded parts from a deer skinned by Fred Baker’s friend and business partner, Tim Kennedy, sit by the ramp to the pair’s butcher shop facility while Baker continues skinning the button buck he harvested three days prior in the backyard of their home on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025. At the Camp Edwards location this year, one of five sites across Massachusetts, five hunters shot two deer over the three-day hunt. Compared to the state average — where around 20 percent of licensed hunters get a deer — the paraplegic crew does well, said Jason Zimmer, southeast district supervisor for MassWildlife. “All things considered, it’s pretty impressive that they have the success levels that they do,” Zimmer said. (Ben Pennington for The Boston Globe)

Camp Edwards, MA - 10/31/2025: Fred Baker waited for MassWildlife employees to arrive and assist him in getting to his designated hunting spot in the clubhouse parking lot the before sunrise on Friday, Oct. 31, 2025. Over a decade and a half since his accident and Baker is still learning to live with paraplegia’s limitations. “I’ve been adapting over the years to continue doing the things I love doing,” he said, continuing to chase his hobbies with the belief that it’s all still possible, even if things might just take a little longer to get figured out. (Ben Pennington for The Boston Globe)