Photography by David J. Sams, Lone Star Outdoor News
By Craig Nyhus, Lone Star Outdoor News
A move to Texas from out of state can be daunting, especially when one is looking to hunt. For Kelsy Beauchman, though, the move was no impediment to her desire to hunt deer.
The 25-year-old Colorado State University graduate moved to Texas in June, and immediately immersed herself in the Texas outdoor culture. Her family hunts, but mostly in the mountains of Colorado where she grew up. A physical condition makes it difficult for her to hike at altitude, so she had no experience hunting big game.
Once in Dallas, Kelsy met friends who were part of the Dallas Safari Club and the Women’s Sporting Club, a Dallas-based group of young women interested in hunting and shooting. In October, she went to the Lone Star Outdoor News Wild Game Supper and met the people from the Lone Star Outdoor News Foundation. “I put in my application and it went from there,” she said. When she got the call to go on her first deer hunt, she jumped at the chance. “I was so excited, I called my dad,” she said.
Arriving at the Stonewall County ranch on a Wednesday afternoon, she quickly was out looking for deer. “We saw one young buck and a few does,” she said. The deer movement was even less on Thursday and Friday morning. “We saw two bucks in the morning before it was light enough,
and nothing in the afternoon,” she said. “Friday morning, we went to a few blinds, but nothing. The guys kept telling me, “We promise we have deer.”
The lack of deer sightings didn’t phase the new hunter.
“I knew it was all about learning and about the experience,” Kelsy said. “I was learning so much, asking tons of questions and really enjoying it. I had accepted that I may not get a shot at a deer.”
Things changed Friday evening.
“I was out with David Sweet as my guide,” Kelsy said. “The feeder went off at 4:40, and at about 5:50, he said there was a deer on the far right.” Kelsy was sitting on the right side of the blind. “I moved over in front of him, but it was awkward for me as a right-handed shooter.” She improvised. “I asked him, ‘Can I sit on your lap?’ But he was focused on the deer and didn’t hear me. I’m really small, so I just went ahead and sat on his lap and shot the buck. It was such an incredible feeling — I was shaking.”
After checking on the buck, her guide left to get the truck and Kelsy had time alone with her deer and made another call to her dad.
“He asked if shooting the deer bothered me,” she said. “I said it wasn’t a remorseful type of feeling, it was more a feeling of respect for the animal that would provide for me the rest of the year.”
Back at the camp, David Sams jokingly asked if she wanted to gut the deer. “I said sure,” Kelsy said. “After I received some instructions and finished, he said, “Tell your dad we’re proud of you.”
That evening, Sweet cooked one of the backstraps. “It was field-to-table in just a few hours,” Kelsy said. “That was really cool.”
Since Kelsy’s move to Dallas, she’s planning to do more events with the Women’s Sporting Club and getting more involved in the outdoors. And she started her new job at the Scottish Rite Hospital for Children on Feb. 5.
“It’s been incredible since I moved here, things are just
falling into place,” she said. The deer hunt, though, tops the list. “It was such an awesome experience,” she said. “It got me hooked — I’m so excited for next season. “Next, I really want to try to get a turkey.”
