Posted on 10/27/2005 8:28:06 AM PDT by girlangler
80-year-old grandmother of 21 likes bow hunting for deer
Associated Press
WAUSAU, Wis. - Rita Gassner fully expects to get a deer while bow hunting this fall. If so, it will be the eighth year in a row for this 80-year-old grandmother of 21.
"I really love being alone in the woods," she said. "Bow hunting to me is not just the idea of killing a deer. I enjoy listening to the sounds and trying to identify the birds."
Gassner said she started bow hunting with an old glass bow in the late 1950s after she married her husband, Jim, an avid hunter. She's owned four bows over the years.
"Every year, 'I say this is the end. This is the last one.' And my boys say, 'Mom, you just can't quit.' They don't want me to. You take one year at a time," Gassner said Monday.
Gassner said she hunted off and on in those early years when there weren't many deer roaming the fields and woods. Her interest in the sport grew as her five sons and two daughters and their children became more interested in hunting and deer became more plentiful.
"I received a Browning compound bow as a Christmas present from my sons about seven years ago," Gassner said. "They wanted to upgrade my equipment. I went to a finger release and a bow sight. I had never used a release before. It definitely improved my accuracy."
She and her husband belong to Rib Mountain Bowmen, an archery club in the Wausau area. They are regulars at the club's shooting range.
"Nobody shoots a deer for her, and we've never lost a deer she's hit," said her 79-year-old husband, who switched to a crossbow about 10 years ago when failing eyesight and shoulder problems prevented use of a compound bow. "She's shot all of her deer except one from her favorite stand."
The couple spends nearly every weekend bow hunting on land they and their children own west of Minocqua in Oneida County.
The grandmother hunts in the late afternoons from a tree stand 8 feet high in an area overlooking a swamp and within walking distance of the cabin. So far this season, she hasn't had a shot.
But her previous kills include a five-point buck. She tracks the deer she shoots, but her sons and husband do the rest of the work, including dragging them out of the woods, she said.
"The first time I baited deer with corn and apples, I attracted two bear," Gassner recalled. "I had sprayed myself with cover-up scent and they didn't know I was sitting a few yards away. I watched them for 1 1/2 hours. I could hear every crunching bite."
As it started to get dark, Gassner said she was afraid to leave, especially after the bears ran up a tree next to hers and "woofed" at her.
"I was afraid this was the end. I prayed to St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, and tried to say the rosary," the grandmother said. "I was never so happy to see a light coming at me through the woods in all my life. When Jim came, he spooked the bears and they took off."
Gassner said she has plenty of friends who share her interest in golf, music, bridge, gardening and cooking, but none shares her passion for deer hunting.
"A lot of people raise their eyebrows when they hear I'm a hunter," the octogenarian said. "I have never shot a rifle. I don't go out with the guys. My husband and my sons have their own rifle camp. That is their game, and I have other things to do, like getting ready for Christmas and all that stuff."
I'd be more impressed if she used a recurved.
I wonder how many pounds she pulls
That is so cool! Right on, gramma : )
can't she just run them down with her car like the other
grandmas?
Most women and elderly that I know that hunt use 50lbs @75%.
Must be Ted Nugent's grandmother.
fish hawk,
I know several elderly women here in Tennessee who deer hunt.
One is in her 80s and uses a bow only. Killed a deer each year for about 20 years,usually a doe and just for the meat.
She learned to hunt from her husband, and he passed away several years ago, but she still hunts, usually alone and without help from anybody, including dragging the deer out of the woods.
Grandma got run over by a reindeer. Now it's personal!
I believe anything less than 45 pounds is illegal, so she's gotta be pulling at least that. Pretty cool grandma.
And I'll bet she can cook it up pretty good too. Like Tennessee venison chili.
fish hawk,
Chili, roasts, you name it. The key is in the marinade. I know folks who SWEAR they can't eat venisin because of the wild taste, but have watched them wolf down venison and not know it.
I think canned venision is the best, homecanned.
I like to can, in fact can a lot of vegetables.
I being an Indian was raised on venison and all other wild game and fowl. My daughter just the other day commented on how she didn't know what beef was until she was in her teens. LOL On top of that most of my family are commercial fishermen so between fish and crabs and wild game, we had it pretty good.
I hope all the deer she and other bow hunters shoot are killed quickly. We had one walking around for weeks with an arrow in his hindquarters. He was a buck, not legal, eventually the arrow festered and fell out, but he was in pain for quite a while.
The Fish and Game guy I talked to said there are a lot of injuries like that during bow hunting season.
Ah - another wonderful Wisconsinite - makes me proud!
What Gramma doesn't know is that the grandkids replace her live ammo with blanks.....at least I would, if I went hunting with MY gramma! Yikes!
he he he he, cool
Oops, my bad - she never uses a rifle! Thank goodness!
What a cool grandma ping!
Probably shouldn't admit this, but once my brother and I brought some wild teenagers home and my Grandma, in her 80s, shot her pistol in the air as a warning for them to get off her property. You shoulda seen the kids scatter.
We didn't question her authority again after that -- and weren't too popular with the other teens in town after that.
In fact, I had a hard time getting a date after that incident. And the one I did get was subjected to spending a good long discussion with Grandma on her porch swing before I was allowed to go out with him.
Then, I had to take my brother on the date with me.
My mom is 81, she gave up deer hunting a few years ago but still keeps a loaded rifle on her kitchen table at all times. (To shoot varmits in her garden)
LOL, I'd love to see what blanks for a bow look like. Nerf, perhaps? ;^)
Not a bad idea! The thought of a gramma with any kind of weapon is not a pleasant one. I hope she has good eyesight at least! "Oops, sorry son, I thought you were a moose!"
What a good girl! :o)
That one date later became my husband (ex now) and he never did get over his fear (respect) of my old white-haired Granny.
He loved her dearly too.
Wow - good for her!!!
I used to bow hunt years ago; never got a one, lol. It was great being in the woods though. My favorite recall about those days was being in a tree and being so un-noticed, that a bald eagle flew in and perched in the same tree as me. Most awesome experience.
Now, I see 3-5 deer in our yard daily - but no longer hunt.
Thanks for the ping, SJackson!
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