I couldn’t wait for the upcoming youth gun deer hunt that Wisconsin just started two years ago. The hunt allows 12 to 15 year olds to shoot a buck and/or doe on Oct. 11 and 12 with a firearm. It is a great idea that gives young hunters a chance to hunt when the weather isn’t so cold.
Tori is about 5 foot, 3 inches with long arms so I knew that she was tall enough to handle a 20-gauge shotgun, but these weapons have a fairly severe kick to them and that worried me. I spoke to a few people at Remington Arms and they convinced me to try their managed recoil slugs.
I chuckled after she shot her first round at the huge cardboard target that was 25 yards away. She turned after she fired and asked where she hit. I replied, “You barely hit the cardboard. I think you may have jerked the trigger a bit.”
We worked on her form and after several shots she was starting to become respectable. Firing 10 or so slugs out of a gun with just a light shirt and jacket on would have normally bruised her shoulder, but the managed recoil slugs performed as promised. When I asked her how her shoulder felt she replied, “Not bad.”
We were ready for the hunt. After a fruitless morning hunt when the temperature was perfect for hunting, it became very warm. I was bummed. I warned Tori that we may not see many or any deer that afternoon as the temps pushed the high 60s. She just smiled and said she was ready to go. The rest of this great story is better told by a 12-year-old girl.
“I remember the first time I shot my deer. It was freezing cold up in the stand that morning, but it didn’t stay that way. It became very warm. So warm that the deer weren’t moving that afternoon,” Tori explained. “Both my dad and I were facing north towards where the deer were supposed to be coming from. My dad got this expression on his face like he heard something. Well, he did. He told me that there was a deer behind me. He then told me to slowly crouch down, turn around and grab my gun. I did as I was told. There it was…my deer. She was angled slightly away from me about 18 yards away.
“My dad whispered to me to take the shot whenever I was ready. My heart was beating like I was on a roller coaster that was about to reach the top for the big plummet. Bang! I had pulled the trigger. The deer fell. It now felt like I had just zoomed down the roller coaster. My legs were shaking!”
Tori had just shot a doe. I was so happy for her and so proud, as well. We still had 45 minutes of light left so I asked her if she wanted to wait to shoot a buck.
“I was so excited that I wanted to get out of the stand and run towards my deer,” she replied.
That didn’t bother me a bit so we carefully climbed out of the big box stand and she darted across the dried oak leaves. The smile on her face as I took her picture told the story. I have never seen a better deer harvested.
“In my whole life I’ve never experienced anything like this,” Tori said to me. “It was definitely worth the work and the wait.”
