ALABAMA — Ashley Stachowski couldn’t believe her eyes as she gazed down from her perch on a tree stand on her “Grandpa” Blew’s farm.
It was 8 a.m. Saturday when the 16-year-old daughter of Henry and Merry Stachowski of the town of Batavia and granddaughter of Bob and Rebecca Blew of the town of Alabama saw a piebald deer only about 11 yards away.
The Batavia High School junior quickly texted her dad, hunting in another part of the field, and he texted back, “Is it a buck.”
By then, she had already downed it with her bow and arrow.
It was an eight-point buck, and the first deer for the teenager, who is hunting in her third season.
“At first, I thought it was a cow,” Ashley said. “So I put my rangefinder on it and saw the antlers.”
With her dad, Ashley was also hunting with her cousin Derrick Harris, "Bumpa" Henry Stachowski and a friend, Joey Baker, on Blew’s farm on Lewiston Road.
“There’s nothing as exciting as seeing your daughter get her first deer,” said her dad Henry, who has been hunting since he was 18. “You go a lot of years before you see something like this one.”
The family enjoy eating venison and had planned to have the head mounted as a souvenir for Ashley.
Taxidermist Jeff Fletcher of Corfu, however, said because of the unusual color, they should have the full body mounted.
“I think that’s what we’ll probably do,” her dad said.
Fletcher also said the chances of seeing a piebald deer2 1/2 years old are one in 10,000.