Hunting for Hanna
Growing up as a daughter of an outfitter, many would think that means that I had lots of opportunity to take down trophy animals. However, outfitting was my family's livelihood and my personal hunting time was second to our paying clients.
One of my fondest memories comes from the fall of 2008. My dad & brother were getting ready to take a group of hunters into the mountains and I was getting ready for another day of class at Choteau High School. My brother, Colter, knew I had wanted to hunt mule deer since I had only ever harvested white tail & antelope. He surprised me that morning with the hunt of a lifetime. He had scoped out some nice muleys and told me that we had to hurry, since they were supposed to be leaving for the mountains in just a few short hours. I didn't even know that hour of the morning existed, but I was dressed and ready in no time flat.
When we got to "the spot" we glassed and saw a few nice bucks not too far away, but we were going to have to be sneaky. Colter handed me his gun and we started to hike for what felt like forever. Finally we stopped, glassed and found a rest. Colter let me look and decide which buck I wanted. There were two nice, wide 4x4 bucks and one that just looked "really weird". I decided that the last one caught my eye so I eagerly loaded a bullet, lifted my scope & took my shot. The buck just stood there and Colter told me to shoot again but I was so stunned by the kick of my brother's gun that I couldn't find him in the scope. I told Colter to have faith that his little sister was a good shot and I only needed one! Just then, he dropped.  Success! Colter helped me clean him and load him and we headed back to town. I was SO proud!
Hunting has always been family oriented for me and I was so thankful that my brother took the time. Since then, we have shared many more hunting experiences together, each one with their own special memory. This hunting season, I look forward to tackling my next goal of tagging an elk! Stay tuned!
--Hanna Heckman, Miss Rodeo Montana
