The Michigan youth hunting season concluded for the days of Sept. 11-12, and a number of St. Louis students participated. The youth hunt is a deer hunting event for kids and teens to have an opportunity to hunt on their own without the charge of adults. The event is for the ages of 16 and under or eligible hunters with disabilities. 

St. Louis High School junior student Ashton Leonard stated that, “I went out Sunday morning after going out all day Saturday and seeing a total of 13 bucks and two does.” He also mentioned that, “It was getting late  and had only seen five bucks which none met my standards and finally I saw a group of bucks about 700 yards away in a standing bean field so I decided to try making a stalk on the nicest looking buck, which looked to be a 10 point and it looked mature.”

Leonard proceeded to tell how he stalked the deer and watched as they all moved to a cornfield to his right with his friend recording from 200 yards back. He then climbed the nearby hill and rested for a moment before sitting up again to see a doe. Leonard, with his doe tag, decided to take it, and he said, “With my luck, it only went eight yards and piled up. I waited about 15 minutes just to make sure it had expired then backed out, got all my stuff from my previous set up, and headed home to get my dog, Weston, who I’ve been training to track deer. As soon as we picked up the first blood he went straight to the deer flawlessly.”

Despite the youth hunt being over, Michigan youth can still continue to hunt whitetail deer throughout the year as bow season starts Oct. 1, and rifle follows Nov. 15, and then there is a muzzleloader season, late doe season, and extended both seasons throughout December.