This vast land of mountains and plains is home to some of the biggest game animals this side of the Rockies. The people of this state, along with these big animals, are willing to withstand below freezing temperatures, climb mountains, cross rivers, wake up in the early hours of the morning and stay late in the night just to get a chance at a shot of knocking down one of these animals.

The people of this state have passed down their love of the hunt to their children. More specifically, their daughters. A couple of the young Powell High School women l who hunt were willing to share their stories and memories of some of their favorite hunts.

Here are their stories:

Emma Karhu (sophomore):  “We had just got done harvesting my cousin’s bull, and we see a nice bull come over the ridge. So my brother takes a shot at him and hits him, but [it] wasn’t enough to kill him. So the bull starts running down into the basin we were in and my brother and my dad take off to try and get another shot at this bull to kill him. … By this point I was down by the horses with a friend and a few family members. Pretty soon we hear a few shots, but

the bull was too far from my brother or dad to hit him. … Later the bull comes trudging down through the deep snow going pretty slow, pretty close

to where I was so I grabbed my rifle from the scabbard on my horse and managed to shoot this bull and tag him.”

Beth Brazelton (freshman):  “I guess my favorite memory would be a couple years ago when I killed my first deer in Frannie on the last day of the season with my dad, brother and a family friend.”

Mycah Wainscott (junior): “Two years ago me and my grandpa went hunting. We didn’t end up shooting anything, but it was a really nice bonding time. I remember we drank a lot of hot chocolate because it was very cold outside; it was during November. We didn’t really see anything either it was actually really bad hunting, but it was a really good bonding time.”

Jozi Simpson (sophomore): “I had a general tag and my neighbor had property on the river, and so one night I decided to go get a doe deer. … instead me and my mom saw this buck come off the McCullough Peaks, and I was able to get the chance to shoot this buck. … when I was searching through the thick brush I found him and he was so much bigger than I expected. …  he turned out to be a 180-class mule deer and it was a great day. … it was one of my favorite hunts and the biggest deer I’ve killed. I was able to spend time in God’s country and make memories with my family, and that’s the best part.”