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Not to brag, but just being a proud father, my daughter Shelby shot an 8-point buck opening morning of muzzleloader season 2018 in northern Minnesota. Yes, you heard me right—a muzzleloader! Although it might seem she had to wait until muzzleloader season because of not seeing any deer during firearms season, she most definitely did not. In fact, she not only hunted fervently in the regular firearms season, she was bound and determined for a big buck, letting over 50 small bucks walk as she waited. To this point, it is important to note kids also can be sportsmen and let deer go by in the quest for the right one. To background, Shelby is a graduate of the Deep Portage ELC Forkhorn Camp and has been deer hunting with me since she was eight years old. She shot her first deer at the age of 10 and was already closing in on number 8 at the age of 15! And, that doesn’t count the wounded doe she tracked down in a swamp and finished for her grandfather. Incidentally, one of those of the seven was shot in South Dakota with a youth license at
50 Whitetales | SUMMER 2019
DEER HUNTING CAN BE FOR GIRLS, SILLY BOYS!
the age of 12 and she also tagged along at the age of 13 on a moose hunt in Newfoundland and was a trooper on that hunt. Three of her deer were taken in Minnesota with a muzzleloader. More importantly, the bond created while being out on our hunting adventures has been, well, priceless! Hunting in general runs in our family and Shelby was exposed to hunting by both grandpas and her uncles. It has always been a positive family experience and she never fails to have a good time, not only on these outings, but preparing for them. In the preparation vein, we would also watch some of the hunting shows on TV where she was intrigued to see women on these shows that would be out hunting deer. I also do a lot of pheasant hunting and would take her to the game farms to walk along beginning at the age of six. She loved walking along and helping work the dogs. As I said, I started taking her deer hunting with me and spending time with Grandpa and the uncles at the age of eight. She actually came to me and told me she wanted to
start shooting a bow at the age of nine. She then shot bow in the kids’ league and shot quite well. Then she started shooting a .22 rifle where she had a blast shooting. Next, she told me she wanted to hunt deer and pheasants. Her first deer rifle was a 7 mm-08 Savage bolt action. One of my buddies who taught firearms training told me to just keep having her shoot the .22 and not to shoot the rifle for a while. This was smart as like most of us, she did not even feel the recoil of the rifle when shooting at a deer. I sighted in her first rifle and she shot her first deer at 110 yards with it at the age of 10; what an exciting moment. I then bought her a youth 20 gauge shotgun and we did some practicing and she started to hunt birds with me at the age of 12. The excitement of her first bird was phenomenal. I found it key to have the right firearm that fits the kids and doesn’t have a big recoil. Another thing I realized is you need to accommodate kids with good clothes and don’t push them beyond the limits of freezing, hiking or boredom because it changes the way the