At this year’s Boone and Crockett Club Big Game Awards, five female youth deer hunters made the record books.
The girls received recognition during the Jack Steele Parker “Generation Next” banquet, held every three years to honor youth involvement in the hunting world, and to recognize accomplishments of hunters age 16 and younger who have had the opportunities and good fortune to tag Boone and Crockett Club trophy animals.
These five hunters made the record books for the past term, and shared their stories with us. Any of these stories could be included in a gas station “monster bucks” edition of a state or regional outdoor magazine. We’re delighted to showcase them here, at The WON.
Harley Hook can say she gets the best of these two outdoor worlds: horseback riding and hunting. She rides and shows her horses, which include a half-paint/half Arab, an Appaloosa and a quarter-horse. She does that with her mom.
In fact, shortly after this interview concluded, she finished her one-year reign as Miss Troy Teen Rodeo Queen, 2024, representing Troy Rodeo – part of the MRCA circuit. During her reign, she attended rodeos, carried flags at opening ceremonies and talked to young rodeo fans.
On the hunting side, she learned that from her dad, Ryan Hook, and grandpa, Jody Hook. In her essay for the Boone and Crockett Club, she wrote, “Whenever I went hunting, if my grandfather wasn’t with us, he was the first person I called because he always looked forward to hearing about my hunt. Deer season 2023 would be the first without him, as he passed away unexpectedly in January of that year. My goal that season was to harvest a monster buck in his memory.”
And that, she did. But first, she would have to change tactics and concentrate on using a crossbow instead of a rifle. In May 2023, she suffered injuries in a car accident that damaged her right shoulder and necessitated surgery during rifle season. Her parents purchased a crossbow for her, so she could hunt earlier in the season. She said, “I practiced constantly and watched my trail cameras. We had a few decent bucks, but nothing like the ‘monster’ I was hoping for. With limited time to hunt, my dad told me I couldn’t be too picky about which deer I shot.”
On a warm fall day, swatting mosquitos between field scans, Harley saw a large buck coming through the woods toward the field. She said it felt like “forever” before he came into the clear. After waiting half an hour before leaving the stand and another half hour after finding a blood-soaked arrow, Harley and her dad began the search. After an hour of searching, they decided to check another draw. Fortunately, Harley looked up a hillside and noticed massive antlers poking through leaves on the ground. Harley wrote about her dad’s reaction: “He gave me a huge hug and told me that my buck was bigger than anything he had ever hunted. He said we would be getting this one officially scored and mounted.”
Harley believes she achieved her goal, to honor her grandpa’s memory. She said, “He was my best friend who I went hunting with … He was never a fancy hunter. His deer stand was made out of plywood and a ladder, but he had some nice guns.”
About three months after he passed away, the family was sorting through his things in his house, and found a new .308 rifle and it had Harley’s name on it. She recalled, “He bought it for me for Christmas. My grandma said he lost it, and he couldn’t remember where he put it. I’ve hunted with that gun for the past two years.”
Harley would love to tag a Missouri elk or bear in the future.
Ivy Nielsen has been hunting for four years. One of her hunting partners and a mentor is her grandfather, James Kennicott. She also hunts with her parents. Three years ago, she and her grandfather went hunting for a mule deer. It would be Ivy’s first time hunting with her own license.
She remembers the first day out as starting off uneventful, and awaiting blizzard conditions while suffering from a horribly sore throat. As with many hunting scenarios, impending bad weather might make animals move.
The next day, at first light, Ivy and James watched the heavy snow fall. As they sat in the truck, planning the hunt, her grandfather said, “Look, there’s an elk!” Followed by “ No, that’s a deer!”
As typical with hunting set-ups, tactics may necessitate rapid change. At this point, her grandfather became her coach … and he instructed Ivy to quietly exit the vehicle and set up near a rock to use as a gun rest. Ivy said the snow must have muffled her movement.
She wrote, in an essay for the Boone and Crockett Club, “I noticed Grandpa’s voice sounded nervous when he said, ‘Next time he stops, shoot.’ I had the rifle up, aimed and ready when the deer stopped. I pulled the trigger and heard a click. I hadn’t racked a bullet after walking away from the truck. I slowly chambered a round and had to readjust for the deer’s movements. Grandpa whispered, ‘Now!’ BANG! Down it went. One shot, one kill. It was a heart shot at 80 yards.”
Ivy said it was the biggest deer her grandfather had ever seen, and he’s been hunting for at least 60 years. She wrote, “I beat them all!” Then, James accidentally cut his finger while field dressing, so she had to help patch him up in the field. She added, “I’m so glad I had my grandpa there to guide me through one of the best days of my life!”
Ivy says she would love to keep hunting mule deer and elk, and possibly go to the Midwest with her grandfather to hunt whitetail. She added that her dad goes pheasant hunting and she would like to tag along. When not hunting, she stays active and enjoys soccer, lacrosse and target shooting.
At 10 years of age, Madelyn Slaney had never hunted, but agreed to give it a try when her dad, Jeremy, asked her if she’d like to participate in the Wisconsin Youth hunt with him. She shot his rifle a few weeks before they headed out to her uncle’s stand in Richland County on the last day of the youth season.
She wrote, in an essay for the Boone and Crockett Club, “We knew from my dad’s camera that we had a couple of nice bucks in our area. There were a few 10-pointers and another much bigger one that my dad and uncle called the ‘30-point buck.’ It was widely talked about in the area, and everyone wanted to get it this season.”
On that eventful day, they saw five deer, but decided to wait for a big buck. Around 5:45 p.m., a doe and two fawns came out. As Madelyn watched that doe, her father tapped her leg and whispered for her to look left. A massive buck had entered the field from cover.
Madelyn relates the story in this way: “I finally took the shot. I felt excitement and nervousness all at the same time. I didn’t know what to do, but my dad took the gun, put it back on safety, and told me to just sit for a bit to let things settle down. Then we would go look to see if we could find any blood or hair in the direction the buck had run. … After some time, we got out of the stand and walked to the location where my dad had last seen the buck. We walked for about another 25 feet, and there was the buck, dead. My dad walked up to it, grabbed the antlers, and held them up to me. He looked at me so proudly and excitedly said, ‘Madelyn, you got it! You shot the 30-pointer!’”
Madelyn is an artist and a writer. Although she is not sure if she will ever go hunting again, she said, “This was an experience that my dad and I will never forget.”
Kaylee Rogers comes from a family of avid deer hunters. Her dad said they’ve almost got it “too easy,” because they are so familiar the big bucks in their part of Kentucky and have everything laid out well for successful hunts. Case in point: In 2024, Kaylee killed a huge non-typical whitetail that the family had been watching on game cameras since 2020. In fact, the buck had been showing up routinely in the same field daily during the season.
Kaylee, a teenager who loves to water and snow ski and shop, had taken Hunter Safety at 11 years old. She started deer hunting after that, and had been successful for two seasons with whitetails.
Her dad, Derek, had seen the buck from the blind the day before (Kaylee was on a hayride). This is a repeated story throughout the youth hunting accounts – where we see dads and granddads helping their children and grandchildren to find trophy animals, and then, mentoring them through their hunts.
The next afternoon, Kaylee and Derek went to the stand and watched as the buck appeared. He hung up at 200 yards – a distance she didn’t quite want to close. Waiting patiently, the pair watched the buck came into Kaylee’s comfort range of 100 yards and she took the shot.
Kaylee said she now wants to go out turkey hunting, and is counting on her #1 guide, Derek, to help her learn those skills. She’d also like to hunt for elk or black bear.
The shoulder mount hangs on display in her dad’s man cave. At this rate, though, it might become Kaylee’s Cave.
Reili Brewer had a good feeling about seeing “Old Monroe,” a non-typical whitetail monster buck, on the last day of the 2023 youth season in Texas. With access to a nearby Army Depot, Reili and her dad, Rickey, set out on a rainy, cold day with high hopes and only one rain jacket. That might be why the old buck got fooled into wandering out 30 yards in front of Reili. More of that story later.
Reili has been hunting for three years. That includes ducks, hogs and deer. Before hunting, since the age of 8, she has accompanied her dad and big brother into the field, observing. She already has tagged 11- and 13-point bucks from previous hunts. She had her eye on this buck, though. Reili noticed that Old Monroe had appeared during the daytime close to the youth season (on a game camera shot) and that was her impetus for getting out in nasty weather.
She recalled rattling in a 140-inch, 8-pointer they dubbed “Moose,” but she wanted to see Old Monroe. Rain came in, too, and Reili’s mom appeared with cold-weather gear. Her dad said the forecast called for more rain and dropping temperatures. Reili said, “Let’s sit it out.”
She tells the hunting tale in her essay to the Boone and Crockett Club: “As the day went on, it was slow and cold. At about 5:45, Dad told me he couldn’t take it anymore and slipped back to the truck. Dad returned to the truck, got dry clothes on, grabbed a snack, and then it all happened.” She had been wearing his rain gear in the stand, while he sat below – getting soaked to the skin.
Reili caught movement out of the corner of her eye and lo and behold, it was he – Old Monroe. She wrote, “He walked up, got behind a huge white oak tree, and shook like a dog, shedding all the water off his rack and body. I knew he was fixing to give me a shot, so I calmed my nerves and waited. He took a few more steps and stopped – looking directly at me. I squeezed the trigger on that Savage 350 Legend. At first, I thought I had missed him. He just walked off like nothing happened. My heart sank. Then, about 20 yards farther, he fell over and I almost died. I knew I had just harvested the deer my dad had been after for so long.” Note: She took an offhand shot at 30 yards.
Reili said she called her dad, but he didn’t answer. Finally, when he called her back, she cried, “I shot the big one!”
Reili, who plays softball when not hunting, says she would love to hunt for a moose someday. The family just brought home a tracking puppy, so she’s also looking forward to working with him in the field this year.
Be sure to check out our first installment called “Boone and Crockett Girls Who Hunt: The Four Bears.”
And our second story, titled “Boone and Crockett Girls Who Hunt: Record Pronghorn and Elk.”
Publisher/Editor Barbara Baird is a freelance writer in hunting, shooting and outdoor markets. Her bylines are found at several top hunting and shooting publications. She also is a travel writer, and you can follow her at https://www.ozarkian.com. View all posts by Barbara Baird
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