November 2025
Arizona Hunting | Girls and The Outdoors
Story By: Dave Miller
This story is about how some children can enjoy the outdoors. I am fortunate enough to have one grandchild, Kinsley, and she is a young 12-year-old girl. She is a straight “A” student. She has been raised by a single parent for most of her life. Her dad, Caleb, is the only parent who is available for her as she is growing up. Her dad loves to hunt and spend time in the outdoors. When Kinsley turned 5 years old, her dad started taking her out in the woods almost every time he went out. Kinsley loves the outdoors.
When Kinsley turned 10 years old, she was eligible to apply for all big game draws in the state. Her first year applying, she didn’t draw anything. In our state, any child who doesn’t draw a big game tag is eligible to receive a big game tag from a parent or grandparent from the immediate family member. It just so happened that I drew a deer tag. I asked her if she wanted my deer tag, and she got all excited and said yes. I went to the Game and Fish office and had them sign my tag over to Kinsley.
The time came around in October to go hunt deer. Kinsley and her dad had been doing a lot of shooting at the range and out in the terrain. She thought she was ready for the hunt. Opening morning, Kinsley, her dad, and a friend of her dad (Mark) went out hunting. About an hour into the hunt, her dad saw a big buck bed up through the spotting scope. Caleb and Kinsley put a stalk on it. When they got in range, they decided to just sit there and wait the buck out until he decided to stand up. After a few hours, it stood up. Kinsley got on it with her scope and dropped the buck. When they all got to it, they couldn’t believe how big it was. After getting it home, they put a tape on it. It definitely made the state record book. I told her to really enjoy what she got. There are a lot of hunters who hunt their whole life and don’t kill a buck like that. That’s probably going to be the biggest Coues deer she will ever harvest.
Then in February, javelina season rolled around. Again, Kinsley didn’t draw a javelina tag. I again went to the Game and Fish and signed my tag over to her. Now she could go hunt javelina. Kinsley and her dad went javelina hunting, and she shot a really big one. When her dad boiled out the javelina skull, he put a tape on it. It was another animal in the state record books. It was a really nice and big javelina.
Come June, we all put in for a few of the big game draws. Again, Kinsley did not draw a deer tag. Guess what? I drew another deer tag. Well, we all know the routine. I signed my deer tag over to her. Kinsley, her dad, Mark, and Dan all went deer hunting. They didn’t see any deer on opening day.
On the second day, Mark spotted a deer. He wasn’t sure what size it was. He waved Caleb over to come look at it where he was on another hill. Caleb had been scouting the area before the hunt. When he finally got over there, the deer stood up to get out of the sun and Caleb got a good look at it. Caleb told Mark that was the deer they were looking for. Caleb went back over to get Kinsley and go put a stalk on this deer. When they got into range, Kinsley got all set up and fired a shot when the deer stood up again. The deer dropped in his tracks. When they all got over there, they couldn’t believe their eyes. It was a larger Coues deer than the first one she had harvested last year. Sure enough, they taped it when they got to the house. Yes, it was another Coues deer in the record books.
Kinsley drew a javelina tag for February, and she and her dad went hunting with a good friend of her dad’s named Justin. He also had a javelina tag for his daughter. His daughter was the same age as Kinsley. They both harvested javelina at the age of 11 years old. Kinsley turned 12 years old in March.
When the draw results came out for elk and antelope in March, I drew an elk tag. The elk hunt wouldn’t take place until the end of November, and the deer draw was in June. Kinsley finally drew a deer tag of her own. That hunt would take place at the end of October. Kinsley also drew a spring turkey tag. Her dad, his friend Mark, and Kinsley went turkey hunting in April. Kinsley harvested a big tom turkey. She was really proud of that bird.
Around the first of October, Arizona Game and Fish called and asked me if I would like to have an antelope tag. I had been applying for the antelope tag for 27 years. Arizona Game and Fish told me someone had turned in their antelope tag and I was the next one on the list. I jumped on that and said yes, I would love to have it, so they signed it over to me. A day later, I contacted Kinsley’s dad and told him what had happened. I asked if Kinsley would want it. He made a big commotion and said if I really wanted to do that, I knew she would.
Two weeks later, we went antelope hunting with Kinsley. She harvested a great antelope on opening morning, an 82” buck. Two weeks later, Kinsley harvested another Coues deer on her hunt. She was very proud of that buck.
At the end of November, Kinsley went elk hunting with her dad and good friend Mark. On the fourth day, she harvested her elk a ways from a road. They spent the day getting the elk out of the woods.
To figure out the harvest tally, Kinsley was 12 years old. She started hunting big game at the age of 10. At the age of 12, Kinsley has harvested five javelina, one turkey, three Coues deer, one antelope, and one elk. She has accomplished more than a lot of adults have. Her family is so proud of her for what she has accomplished. She loves hunting. We hope that she keeps the interest up for life and carries it on to her kids someday. We are very grateful for Kinsley and her interests and successes. We all hope that she will always keep up the interest. God bless her!