13 magic number for hunters
Posted 2/14/03

Thirteen-year-old Dillon Naumann and 13-year-old Adam Youso each shot their first deer this past hunting season and both got bucks. They recently recounted their stories for me and by their enthusiasm, intensity and excitement, I very quickly came to realize that 13 was certainly a lucky and special number for each of them.

"I was pretty excited after I shot it,'' Naumann exclaimed as he shared the details of shooting his first deer, a nice eight-point buck.

"Last year I only saw a doe (his first year of deer hunting) but this year I saw quite a few," he said. "In fact, I shot at a different eight-pointer than the one I got - it had a bigger body. But I got a little excited," he explained, "and I kinda missed."

But he didn't miss on his second opportunity. It was the second day of the firearms deer season on his grandma's farm north of Milaca, hunting with his dad.

"I shot it at about 8:15 in the morning," Dillon recalled. "It was a nice eight-pointer and when I yelled, my dad knew right away I got it."

The buck weighed a respectable 160 pounds.

First deer. First buck. Nice hunt. Nicely done.

Dillon credits his dad for getting him interested in hunting. "My dad really influenced me about hunting," Dillon said proudly. "I got interested by tagging along with him." And now, according to his mom, Dillon has a real passion for hunting and fishing.

Dillon is the son of Bart and Cindy Naumann of Foreston.

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"My dad gave me only one bullet for my .243," Youso told me. "He said it's for safety, so I have to make my first shot count." And he did.

Adam hunted this past firearms deer season with his dad, family and friends in Pine County. But he didn't know for sure if he would get a chance to hunt deer this fall. You see, Adam had just had surgery before the deer hunting opener and his surgeon told him he would not be able to carry or lift anything over a certain weight. But, when you have a passion for hunting, where there is a will, there is a way.

His dad worked things out. Someone carried his rifle for him and instead of having to climb up into a tree, a lawn chair sufficed as his deer stand this year.

So at 7:30 in the morning on opening day, sitting in a lawn chair on a small ridge overlooking a field and woods, the 13-year-old Youso shot his first deer. He recalled the event for me recently.

"At 7:30 in the morning I heard something coming and a deer walked out," he told me, in a manner and tone somewhat akin to a seasoned hunter. "It was a six-point buck," he said, becoming animated now. "I shot and it kinda jumped in the air and ran. So I waited for my dad."

It seems that although Adam had made a nice shot on the buck, there was no blood trail until the last several feet it traveled.

"My dad came over and looked for the buck or a blood trail but he couldn't find it at first," Adam recounted. "But my dad eventually found it though. It was a nice deer," Adam said proudly. And his dad told me that its antlers now grace a special spot in Adam's room.

A special hunt. A special deer. Special memories....

Adam is the son of Mike and Corinne Youso of Zimmerman.