Special Moments to Last a Lifetime

I was having a conversation with someone a few months ago who was planning what I would call a dream hunt.  He is on the young side, mid to late 20’s, but was forgoing some of the common extras in life to make the hunt possible.  When I mentioned the particular hunt he was scheduling is usually something someone much older usually takes, he told me of a saying his father had taught him.  “Do the special things young, that way you have the rest of your life to enjoy the memories.”

Haley Price is a 19 year old student at North Carolina State University, majoring in agricultural business management.  She seems to be your typical county girl.  Her father got her involved in hunting back when she was 12 years old.  Through her teenage years, her passion for hunting remained.  When she was 16, she decided to try bowhunting, even though her father is not a bowhunter himself.  She enjoys bowhunting so much; she hardly ever uses her rifle any longer.

When she was 17 years old, she was hunting some land in South Carolina near the North Carolina border.  She did not live far from the border, so she frequently hunted in both states.  She took her first deer with her bow there.  A clean 26 yard shot.  The same day she took her first deer, a feral hog appeared.  From 17 yards, she was able to take a nice double.  Things like that make memories of a lifetime.

But Haley was not done.  Opening day of bow season here in North Carolina brought some excitement to the young lady.  Haley had gained access to land in Forsyth County a year ago.  She immediately set trail cameras on the land to start the scouting.  One particular location on the land showed many bucks, and as the season opener drew near, she decided this would be the place to hunt.



Haley Price with her 120 1/8 inch Velvet Buck taken.

The deer showed movement after 3:00pm on the cameras each day, and Haley would be ready.  She set up in her stand at 12:40pm.  This would allow a couple of hours of quiet before the deer started moving.  Patiently she sat, and just as her scouting had revealed, a nice buck came out in the open shortly after 3:00pm.  She readied her Hoyt Trykon compound.  She released the arrow as the deer stood 24 yards away.  And down he went.  Haley had scored a huge 5 by 5 buck in velvet.

This particular buck had not shown up on any of Haley’s cameras.  He just happened to be at the right place at the right time for Haley to take the shot.  The buck scored 120 1/8 inches net.  This was big enough to take the North Carolina State record for typical velvet by a female.  Her work had paid off regardless if the deer had been seen before or not.

Haley is a fan of rocker and hunter Ted Nugent.  She is capable of pulling 60 pounds draw weight, but has her Hoyt set to 54 pounds.  Nugent was stated anything over 55 pounds is wasted.  Following Nugent’s philosophy, Haley showed that 54 pounds is enough to bring down a monster.  She dreams of one day landing her own hunting television show, and next year she will appear on a local show called HuntFX.

Haley certainly has done some special things at a young age, and now she has memories she can enjoy for the rest of her life.