Young hunter doesn't miss this year

Forrest Ahrens said mistakes cost him a chance for success in last year's St. Louis-area youth-only deer hunt. But, this year, he bagged his deer with a single shot.

Twelve-year-old Forrest bagged a 150-pound doe while hunting in the Weldon Springs Conservation Area in a special two-day season.

A lot of young Missouri hunters had success this year. A total of 9,054 deer were killed during the October 25-26 season, according to statewide totals. That bag total was nearly 20 per cent higher than in the 2002 hunt.

(In the October edition, Young Saint Louis.com profiled Forrest in an advance story about the special Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) youth-only deer hunt. If you'd like to read that earlier article, click here.)

Last year, Forrest said he and his dad built a deer blind. But, the blind was too high and he had to stand up to shoot. And, there were twigs in his line of fire. By the time he was ready, the deer had smelled him and moved out of range.

This year, he and his dad didn't build a blind. They stayed near trees and relied on camouflage clothing. They also stayed very still.

After a 2 1/2 hour wait, Forrest's deer came by and he was ready.

They had the deer was dressed out. Then, Forrest and his family had a venison meal. "In the first meal, we had some steaks," he said. He said they tasted good.

The St. Louis area had the smallest number of deer killed (555) during the statewide youth-only season. The most deer killed in this region were in Franklin County (175). Forrest was hunting in St. Charles County.

In contrast, in the Central Missouri region, a total of 1,760 deer were bagged. The biggest total in that region was 197 in Osage County. Of all counties, Pike County in northeast Missouri had the highest total of 210.

The MDC sponsors a number of youth-only hunts for various types of game. For information on other upcoming hunts, visit the MDC website at www.mdc.mo.gov.