There was a time when deer hunting was reserved for men only. My, how times have changed. Young female hunters are becoming almost as common as young male hunters. My youngest daughter, Mikayla, is one of a growing number of young lady hunters that love hunting and are good at it to boot.

When she was only eight years old, she accompanied me on deer hunting trips to a nearby hunting camp. While I didn’t want to rush her into anything, I wanted her to have the opportunity to experience the fall outdoors first hand, as can only be done from the deer stand.

During one of our trips to the woods, we watched several deer feed and cavort near our stand. Though they were legal, I had no plans to harvest any that day. Mikayla had other plans, however. “Daddy, I want to shoot a deer.” However, I didn’t have a rifle suitable for her to shoot and I didn’t want to ruin her zeal to harvest her first deer by letting her shoot a rifle that had too much firepower.

I’ve seen some children that were ruined forever after shooting a rifle that kicked them too hard. And I didn’t want that to be the case with Mikayla. I told her that I didn’t have a rifle small enough for her to shoot right then, but that I would get her one the next summer before the next deer season.

Before you knew it the fall and spring had past and next year was here. After a short search, I secured an H&R youth model .223 rifle for her to shoot. It took only a couple of trips to the rifle range to see that she could shoot well enough to hit the kill zone at 70 yards. The question was whether or not she would be too nervous when it came time to actually shoot a live deer. It didn’t take long to find out either, as she harvested her first deer on her first trip to the woods. Later that season, she harvested another deer and her appetite was whetted for more.

The next year flew by swiftly, and before we knew it hunting season was upon us again. “Daddy, this year I want to shoot a buck!” said the confident hunter. I explained to her that it’s not as easy as shooting a doe and that she might have to pass up quite a few deer before getting a buck. She was not discouraged and continued telling anybody within earshot that she was going to kill a buck this year.

During the Christmas holidays, Mikayla was really primed to go deer hunting once again. This year she had her sights set on harvesting at least one buck, though she was also looking for a doe or two as well. “I want to go hunting five times and kill three deer,” reported Mikayla, shortly before the season began. Preparations were made for the hunt a few days after Christmas, and Mikayla was excited and ready to go. Our hunting destination was located near Pachuta and conditions were optimum with the rut just kicking in.

Mikayla noticed cactuses growing everywhere in the sandy soil, as we arrived at our stand location. The stand was on a cactus filled ridge overlooking a power line, thus the name “The Cactus Ridge Stand”. Of course, she asked me how the cactuses got there, and I was at a loss to explain why. Our host for the hunt told us that they had cacti growing on two different tracts of land, both of which had poor quality, sandy soil. Nobody knew how the cacti got started, but they were there for all to see.

After settling into the stand, Mikayla got her hunting gear ready and had a snack while she waited for something to appear. Once she polished off the snack, she got comfortable in the stand and began to watch the power line opening for a deer. With the rut in full throttle, there was a good chance that we would see action. Time was going by pretty fast, but as of yet no doe was spotted with a buck in tow.

Scanning the power line to the south we both detected movement at the same time. At first, I couldn’t tell if it was a buck or doe, due to the distance and dark shadows that the deer was in. “It’s a buck, a good one and I want to shoot him!” Mikayla said. She quickly donned her ear protectors and got ready as the buck made his way across the power line in search of the “hot doe” that had obviously slipped by undetected earlier.

Time was now dwindling as the buck approached the wooded edge of the power line. Once into the brush, he would be out of sight and home free. Mikayla had already practiced this situation many times before and had previously harvested three deer with the .223 caliber H&R youth rifle. With her earmuffs in place, she quickly found the buck in her sights and placed the crosshairs on his shoulder. Never wavering, the rack buck continued to walk toward the woods at a brisk place.

The buck was only 10 yards from cover when Mikayla squeezed the trigger and the rifle roared. The buck lurched forward slightly at the sound of the shot and bolted into the woods. Years of experience had taught me how deer react when hit and this one displayed one of the classic signs. Otherwise he didn’t seem to be fazed. Quickly making our way to the scene of the shot, I picked up the buck’s trail. Thirty yards further, we found pink blood, indicative of a lung shot. That meant that the buck had surely sustained a fatal wound! Sixty yards into my search, the musty odor of a rutting buck hit me full force, and I stopped to look again.

After going a few more feet, I found the buck in his final resting place. Upon examination I determined the buck had indeed sustained a fatal lung shot. Arriving at the deer Mikayla and her proud dad were going through all of the emotions of a successful hunt and shared the experience like only a father and daughter can. “Yes, I’m going to have plenty of jerky!” said the successful hunter. She had wanted some fresh deer jerky, and now she would have some of her very own.

That trip happened many years ago. The youngster is now in college and has killed many deer in the years since. While all children may not want to hunt, some will if given the opportunity. Take a kid hunting and you just might change their lives forever!

Call Mike Giles at 601-917-3898 or email mikegiles18@comast.net.