Every hunter’s first deer is special. Anyone who’s ever chased whitetails and finally bagged one knows that.
What’s just about as good is hearing tales of kids getting their first deer.
Several local youngsters have filled a tag this year. Here are a few of their stories.
Destiny
Cole, at left, with his deer and 5-year-old brother Blake, a future hunter.
Kurt Meier of Valencia wants to let the world know how proud he is of his son Cole, age 8. And no wonder.
Cole killed a 7-point buck during the early archery season in Shaler Township. It was his first deer, and he got it on only his second day of hunting.
He’s been tagging along in the woods with his dad for a few years now, but this is his first season actually hunting. He took the deer with a crossbow.
“We’ve come a long way from bringing him home from the hospital in his camo outfit,” Kurt Meier said.
8 point for 8-year-old
Mia with her dad Ryan and her buck.
Eight-year-old Mia Scalise of Finleyville took her first deer this year, too. She harvested it with a TenPoint crossbow while hunting from a tree stand.
Mia shot her deer in Washington County while hunting with her father, Ryan. She’s been one “happy hunter” ever since, said her mother, Kristen.
Spike buck
Kyle with his first-day deer.
Now that’s a fast start.
At 7 a.m. on opening day of the statewide archery season, in his first year as a hunter, 11-year-old Kyle Stouffer of Donegal shot his first deer.
He took the spike buck in Rector. He was hunting with his grandfather.
