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Oct. 31, 2002
Three young Ozarkers take to woods
Two girls, 12, and a boy, 8, will be among those taking part in state's annual deer hunt for youth.
By Wayne Backler, Springfield News-Leader
Kayla Daniels is a crack shot, having taken her second deer, a doe, from 175 yards with a single bullet. Her father, Alan Daniels, was duly impressed.
"I was floored," said Daniels, a Buffalo resident, and Missouri Department of Conservation agent for Dallas County. The 12- year-old has bagged three deer, a buck and two does, in her past four hunts.
Kayla will try her hand this year in the conservation department's second annual deer hunt for youth age 15 or younger. It occurs Saturday and Sunday statewide.
Joining her in the woods and fields of Missouri will be 8-year-old Dakota Nelson and Nichelle Eutsler, 12.
In last year's two-day season, at least 6,451 participated, said Lonnie Hansen, Missouri's chief whitetail deer research biologist.
"This is an opportunity for the parent or guide to be out with the youth, when their not concerned about hunting -- to teach aspects without any pressure," Hansen said.
The Eutslers
Nichelle reveres her time in the woods, inspecting nature as it unfolds before her.
Hunting deer is just part of the experience, one to which her father, Chad, 31, and the preceding generations of Eutslers submitted.
She killed her only deer, a seven-point buck last year on opening day of the adult gun season, though Nichelle did hunt during the youth phase.
Twenty does passed her blind in one hour, Nichelle said; so she anticipated that the buck would inevitably follow. He ambled by 15 minutes later.
"We were waiting," she recalled.
The rural Bois D'Arc Eutslers will seek prey in this weekend's hunt on 400 acres of graze land and woods near Warsaw.
Nichelle's brothers, Ethan, 9, and 8-year-old Logan may tag along.
"I think I'll take them," Chad Eutsler says, "(to) get them exposed."
Classmates of Nichelle's -- others girls -- in the Ash Grove school system sporadically have given her hassle over her hunting beliefs. They think she's a tomboy and argue that deer hunting isn't proper for their gender.
Such chatter hasn't fazed Nichelle. Anyway, she said, they refer to themselves as "cowgirls" since many live on farms and ranches. Deer hunting is merely a logical extension of that bucolic lifestyle, furthered Nichelle.
The Nelsons
Dakota will hunt with a junior version of a 20-gauge shotgun, the same barrel length as for adults but with a peewee stock. It fires slugs.
The shotgun's recoil thumps Dakota's shoulder hard. It hurts, but he's not scared, he said, meekly, shyly even. Dakota is going to his first hunt "because I want to kill a deer."
First, Dakota must prove his knowledge of the state's hunter education manual in an exam of the booklet directed by his father, Steve. If he fails, well, then, Dakota may sit at home, said his father, 35. But Steve Nelson is so confident in Dakota's memory that the hunt is already planned for 10 acres in northeast Greene County.
The Nelsons, of Fair Grove, will team from a blind on a bluff among cedar trees offering a vista of a Pomme De Terre Lake tributary.
"I have a feeling he'll get his fill pretty quick," Nelson said.
The Danielses
A youth season allows Daniels time with Kayla to impart his flora and fauna wisdom.
One important lesson has been that the chain of life continues despite human emotions, and that its reality must be respected.
It is the message Daniels has tried to convey when he has cared for injured animals at home knowing the wildlife probably would not live.
"They generally didn't make it. I taught her part of living is dying," the 38-year-old Daniels said, his words solemn.
The two will hunt on 800 acres of private farmland in northern Dallas County.
Kayla explained she isn't ashamed of her pastime. When her friends who don't hunt voice concerns about Kayla's activity, she calmly enlightens them on how it stabilizes deer herds.
"I tell them they should go," the teen-ager said. "It's really fun."
Onward Tradition
The two-day season was devised to infuse the ritual and its mores in succeeding generations, says Hansen, enough to ensure hunting's future. If that goal isn't met others see a dark horizon ahead.
Chad Eutsler attended a Missouri hunter's education course with Nichelle last year.
"It reinforces that people are watching you" and what game you bring back, he said.
In Dallas County approximately 100 youth-hunt permits were issued for this weekend.
"It's good to get them involved," Alan Daniels explained. "We're trying to recruit hunters."
Three young Ozarkers take to woods
Two girls, 12, and a boy, 8, will be among those taking part in state's annual deer hunt for youth.
By Wayne Backler, Springfield News-Leader
Kayla Daniels is a crack shot, having taken her second deer, a doe, from 175 yards with a single bullet. Her father, Alan Daniels, was duly impressed.
"I was floored," said Daniels, a Buffalo resident, and Missouri Department of Conservation agent for Dallas County. The 12- year-old has bagged three deer, a buck and two does, in her past four hunts.
Kayla will try her hand this year in the conservation department's second annual deer hunt for youth age 15 or younger. It occurs Saturday and Sunday statewide.
Joining her in the woods and fields of Missouri will be 8-year-old Dakota Nelson and Nichelle Eutsler, 12.
In last year's two-day season, at least 6,451 participated, said Lonnie Hansen, Missouri's chief whitetail deer research biologist.
"This is an opportunity for the parent or guide to be out with the youth, when their not concerned about hunting -- to teach aspects without any pressure," Hansen said.
The Eutslers
Nichelle reveres her time in the woods, inspecting nature as it unfolds before her.
Hunting deer is just part of the experience, one to which her father, Chad, 31, and the preceding generations of Eutslers submitted.
She killed her only deer, a seven-point buck last year on opening day of the adult gun season, though Nichelle did hunt during the youth phase.
Twenty does passed her blind in one hour, Nichelle said; so she anticipated that the buck would inevitably follow. He ambled by 15 minutes later.
"We were waiting," she recalled.
The rural Bois D'Arc Eutslers will seek prey in this weekend's hunt on 400 acres of graze land and woods near Warsaw.
Nichelle's brothers, Ethan, 9, and 8-year-old Logan may tag along.
"I think I'll take them," Chad Eutsler says, "(to) get them exposed."
Classmates of Nichelle's -- others girls -- in the Ash Grove school system sporadically have given her hassle over her hunting beliefs. They think she's a tomboy and argue that deer hunting isn't proper for their gender.
Such chatter hasn't fazed Nichelle. Anyway, she said, they refer to themselves as "cowgirls" since many live on farms and ranches. Deer hunting is merely a logical extension of that bucolic lifestyle, furthered Nichelle.
The Nelsons
Dakota will hunt with a junior version of a 20-gauge shotgun, the same barrel length as for adults but with a peewee stock. It fires slugs.
The shotgun's recoil thumps Dakota's shoulder hard. It hurts, but he's not scared, he said, meekly, shyly even. Dakota is going to his first hunt "because I want to kill a deer."
First, Dakota must prove his knowledge of the state's hunter education manual in an exam of the booklet directed by his father, Steve. If he fails, well, then, Dakota may sit at home, said his father, 35. But Steve Nelson is so confident in Dakota's memory that the hunt is already planned for 10 acres in northeast Greene County.
The Nelsons, of Fair Grove, will team from a blind on a bluff among cedar trees offering a vista of a Pomme De Terre Lake tributary.
"I have a feeling he'll get his fill pretty quick," Nelson said.
The Danielses
A youth season allows Daniels time with Kayla to impart his flora and fauna wisdom.
One important lesson has been that the chain of life continues despite human emotions, and that its reality must be respected.
It is the message Daniels has tried to convey when he has cared for injured animals at home knowing the wildlife probably would not live.
"They generally didn't make it. I taught her part of living is dying," the 38-year-old Daniels said, his words solemn.
The two will hunt on 800 acres of private farmland in northern Dallas County.
Kayla explained she isn't ashamed of her pastime. When her friends who don't hunt voice concerns about Kayla's activity, she calmly enlightens them on how it stabilizes deer herds.
"I tell them they should go," the teen-ager said. "It's really fun."
Onward Tradition
The two-day season was devised to infuse the ritual and its mores in succeeding generations, says Hansen, enough to ensure hunting's future. If that goal isn't met others see a dark horizon ahead.
Chad Eutsler attended a Missouri hunter's education course with Nichelle last year.
"It reinforces that people are watching you" and what game you bring back, he said.
In Dallas County approximately 100 youth-hunt permits were issued for this weekend.
"It's good to get them involved," Alan Daniels explained. "We're trying to recruit hunters."
