Young hunters enjoying successful seasons

As the final week of the traditional deer season winds down, many hunters will spend their final hours in the woods in search of a deer to fill their tags.

Addyson Herrick, 13, of Dexter shows off a turkey she shot in October. Herrick has gagged two bears, three deer, two turkeys and a moose in her young hunting career. (Photo courtesy of Addyson Herrick)

Addyson Herrick, 13, of Dexter shows off a turkey she shot in October. Herrick has bagged two bears, three deer, two turkeys and a moose in her young hunting career. (Photo courtesy of Addyson Herrick)

Others, including more than a few younger hunters, have already tagged out and are busy telling their friends the tales of their successful hunts.

Among those: Addyson Herrick, a 13-year-old girl from Dexter who touched base a few weeks ago with quite a story to share.

Addyson has been a very busy hunter over the past few years, it seems.

“As a teenager, I have always read stories about kids and adults who have achieved outdoor goals,” she explained. “I have [achieved some goals] too. I have already shot two bears, three deer, two turkeys and my happiest moment was shooting a moose.”

With that moose, Addyson has now tagged at least one of Maine’s four big game animals.

Addyson’s successful hunting career began back in 2011, when she was just 10. She promptly bagged a bear that weighed 283 pounds.

In 2012, at the age of 11, she took an eight-point deer during the last hour of the last day of muzzleloading season.

She filled her turkey tag for the first time in 2013, and added her second deer the day after Thanksgiving that year.

And this year, she’s had a number of successful hunts over a very short period of time: In September she bagged her second bear — a 303-pounder. Then came her most productive month: She shot her first moose on Oct. 18, her third deer on Oct. 25, and her second turkey just four days after that.

Addyson hunts with her father, Travis Herrick, and the 8th-grader said she and her dad are quite competitive with each other.

“When I’m not hunting I want to be hunting, or I’m watching it [on TV],” she said. “I’m a big fan of ‘North Woods Law.'”

Hunting has become such a big factor in her life that she has decided to make some sacrifices, she said.

“I do sports in the winter and spring but not in the fall,” she said. “I stopped when I turned 10 because I realized it was too much to take on and I would rather be hunting. I am excited that [hunting] can be a lifelong thing.”

Kergan Perkins. 13. pf Frankfort poses with the eight-point, 225-pound buck he shot on Oct. 25, 2014. (Photo courtesy of Michelle Fields-Perkins)

Kergan Perkins. 13. pf Frankfort poses with the eight-point, 225-pound buck he shot on Oct. 25, 2014. (Photo courtesy of Michelle Fields-Perkins)

Down in Frankfort, 13-year-old Kergan Perkins can likely relate to Addyson’s sentiments.

Kergan is also growing up in a hunting family — his mom, Michelle Fields-Perkins says that Kergan’s dad, Adam Perkins, appeared in the BDN when he was 13, after he shot a 13-point deer.

This year Kergan got in on the action on Youth Deer day, when he shot a hefty eight-pointer of his own while hunting in Winterport.

That deer weighed 225 pounds, field-dressed.

 

John Holyoke

About John Holyoke

John Holyoke has been enjoying himself in Maine's great outdoors since he was a kid. Today, he's the Outdoors editor for the BDN, a job that allows him to meet up with Maine outdoors enthusiasts in their natural habitat. The stories he gathers provide fodder for his columns, and this blog.