Liza Ann Spalding has been training since the summer.
The six-year-old girl from Coxs Creek, just outside of Bardstown, finally put her practice to use when she harvested her first deer , shooting it with a crossbow and using her dog to track it.
And while she eagerly awaits the return of her taxidermy mount to showcase her hunt, Liza Ann, supported by her mother and lifelong hunter Natalie Spalding, chose to donate that deer and a second she got at a later date, to Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry , a nonprofit focused on fighting food insecurity and assisting the state in wildlife management of the deer population.
“I’m very proud of her just, first of all, harvesting a deer at a young age, being mature enough and strong enough to run through the woods and track it down with me and a dog and participate,” said Spalding, who also handles marketing for Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry. “And I’m very proud of her on that stewardship of giving back.”
For many, the start of November brings preparations for a Thanksgiving feast. And for the tens of thousands of people like Liza Ann and Natalie who hunt deer across Kentucky annually, November also brings the highly anticipated modern gun deer season, which opens Nov. 9 this year and runs for two weeks, through Nov. 24