Opening weekend a success for youth hunters

Zaimon Firestone of Superior, hunted all day Thursday with his mom but came up short. But on day two of Montana's Youth Hunt, his mom, Sammijo Firestone shared, "Today we worked hard and came out with a win! The hunt was suspenseful, frustrating and exciting."

After hiking around the entire mountain, they spotted a buck running up the hill they'd just trekked down. So they circled back around, checked a few places and continued to walk through a thick area of the forest.

They weaved through a few large boulders, and suddenly spotted another buck.

Sammijo recounted, "Zaimon pulled up his gun to shoot and this little guy hopped on over broadside. I told him whichever one buddy, take your shot. He shoots, the buck flinched, we take off tracking him down. Finding him lying down. Zaimon is looking for his shot, and it’s a waiting game. Finally, the other buck from before comes walking over and Zaimon’s deer hops up and he drops him!"

She expressed, "The look on my son’s face was priceless. He was so proud of himself!"

Zaimon's younger brothers were along for the adventure and they were equally excited to check out the buck. Firestone remarked, "It was a good day to be a Momma and do this adventure with my boy!"

Jonah Lowry, 15, of St. Regis shot his first buck last week with his Savage 308. A year ago during the youth hunt days Jonah bagged a doe. He and his mom, Amy Lowry, made the most of a trip north to the Flathead Valley for medical appointments, and still managed to get out in the woods for a hunt in a new location.

His mom stated, "Out before light to get up the mountain. My awesome son got this awesome buck 30 minutes after daybreak. He learned how to gut him out this time too! Pretty good for us not knowing the area. I’m honored to share in his first buck! All in time for a doctors appointment!"

This was year three of hunting for Superior ninth-grader Koltynn Kelsey. In 2020 she got her first doe, but last fall she was unable to fill her tag. So it was fitting that her redemption season would mean harvesting her first buck. While out on a road hunt up Secret Creek by No Tell 'Em Draw, with her Mom and Dad, Kelsey found success with her 30.06.

She recalled, "We sat at the bottom of the road for a while waiting for it to be light enough. Shortly after we started driving we saw it by some brush in a draw. I got out of the truck and my dad and I walked down the hill a little ways so I had a clear shot. I shot it free handed with no rest or gun prop. One shot, the deer dropped and went down. It was a clean shot through heart. We didn’t have to drag it too far and had help from my dad and mom."

They will begin to process the deer as a family and even their grandma Sarah helps with the meat.

Kelsey shared, "I was so excited and and very proud, when the deer dropped I was overwhelmed with emotion - I even cried. I never thought I would get anything today, because we never see anything the first day. So glad I got it today."