Syracuse.com - Female Phoenix hunter downs 10-point buck on opening day in Granby

[HuntingNY-News]

She shot it on her grandfather's farm while hunting with her dad.

Kara and her 10-point buck. Submitted photo Kara Nipper, 19, of Phoenix, took this 10-point buck while hunting with her father in the town of Granby on opening day of the firearms season. Nipper is a student at Paul Smith's College.

She wrote:

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"My opening day this year will be one I won't ever forget. My Dad and I have been hunting together for a long time now. I was excited for opening day and made sure I was well rested for the morning.

"We woke and put on layers of clothes before reaching the woods. My dad put me in my tree stand early in the morning.

"He told me, "Alright, remember now, you can only shoot a buck.. I will be down in my stand and if I hear you shoot, I'll pull out my cell and wait for your call." I replied, "Sounds like a plan, good luck!" and he disappeared.

"A short five minutes later I heard some leaves rustling behind me and slowly turned my head expecting to see a squirrel. I blinked a few times and thought, "Nope! That's a buck!"

"I waited for him to put his head behind a tree and I quickly, but quietly put my scope on him. He was in some thick woods and it was difficult to see how big he really was, but i knew for sure this was a buck!

"I watched and waited for a few minutes until he stepped into a clearing, broadside, about 40 yards from my tree stand. BOOM! I shot and watched him leap into the pines.

"I listened close and heard a loud crash; he was down! I quick pulled out my phone and called my dad. "Hi Kara." "Dad! He's down! I got him! He's down!"

"He laughed and said, "Alright, I'll come get you in about an hour, I haven't even made it to my stand yet!" I hung up and waited out the longest hour of my life, I had no idea how big this buck was and could not wait to find out.

"About an hour later I heard him coming and crawled down from my tree stand. We went to where I shot him and looked for a blood trail, but there was nothing.

"My Dad asked, "He was standing here when you shot?" I said, "Yes! I'm positive, he went this way and I heard a loud crash." We split in hopes of finding a blood trail when suddenly out of the corner of my eye I spotted something white. There he was, about ten yards from where I shot him.

"I saw the rack and couldn't believe my eyes. I started whistling and signaling for my dad to come look. "It's a ten point!" I said. My dad hugged me and said, "That's a nice deer, Kara." I couldn't believe it.

"Then I remembered our deal, it was my turn to gut it. So without wasting anymore time, my dad walked me through the gutting process and we got it on the deer cart to bring back to the farm.

"I couldn't wait to show off my opening day buck! My friends at Paul Smith's College and family were very impressed and so happy for me. My dad loves telling the story and is very proud of his daughter. After all, I learned from the best."

A proud dad and daughter. Submitted photo

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog