By STEPHANIE BUNKER
Moapa Valley Progress
Logandale resident, Taryn Robison got her first taste of the deer hunt this year with a nice looking 28 inch wide and 27 inch tall 4×4 buck that she harvested.
Her husband Shane, her dad Rod Leavitt, and her brother Trent Leavitt all went up to area 23 this year. There she and Trent each had a tag to fill.
It was the last weekend of the hunt and they hadn’t had much luck seeing many bucks. They saw a couple forked horns and Taryn said that they may have seen the buck she finally harvested on opening day. But it wasn’t in a position to get a shot, she said.
The Friday before the hunt ended Taryn and Shane were out looking for deer once again when Shane told Taryn to “Drop!” Coming over a ridge about 330 yards away was a buck.
The hunting couple got set up in a good spot for a shot. They had been watching this buck for about 15 minutes. There were some wild horses in the area creating a good distraction for them. Shane was somewhat doubtful of his wife shooting at this distance with her .243 rifle. But Taryn said she thought she could probably hit it.
Just then the deer began walking toward the hunters. It came within 220 yards giving Taryn the perfect opportunity. The buck was facing her so Shane told her to shoot the deer below the neck.
Taryn shot and missed. But without hesitation she reloaded her gun and popped off another shot at the deer. This time the bullet went straight through the heart, the deer walked about 20 yards before it dropped.
Taryn was excited her tag was finally filled after a long season of combing the mountain for a buck.
“It was hard because we hardly saw anything,” she said. “We only saw two spikes other than the deer I shot.”
All of the less-than-fun memories of the hunt went away, though, after she had experienced a little “Buck fever.” In fact she said, “I was glad Shane talked me into it, I wouldn’t have tried hunting if it wasn’t for him.”
Taryn’s husband and her dad were impressed with the deer she shot on her first hunt.
Taryn’s brother Trent also was able to fill his tag in area 23 the following Tuesday. It was the very last day of the hunt. Trent Leavitt harvested a good 4 point buck as well.
