One in a Million, First Whitetail Hunt

Even before I can remember I have been in the outdoors doing something related to hunting and fishing. With the help of my parents (dad for hunting and mama for loving the outdoors as well), I have had many influences to make me into the country girl that I am today. As talked about in my bio, the buck that changed my life was one in a million.

When I mean one in a million, I don’t mean this buck had a 200 score or I have a world record for youngest hunter with largest score or anything like that. This buck was probably 2 years old and maybe, MAYBE had a 16 inch spread. But to an eight year old looking through the scope attached to a muzzleloader, this was Bambi’s dad on steroids. I mean he was huge! I knew from that moment on, that adrenaline rush was like nothing this believer in fairytales had ever felt before. From then on I dropped the girly stuff and was officially obsessed with hunting forever.

Now: the story.

I had been out with my dad before and had done the whole let’s get up at 4:00 to get everything ready for me to go snooze on the ground till Dad nudged me to wake up when he saw movement. This time was a little different, well actually a lot different. We got out there right before dawn and it wasn’t long till I saw my dream buck coming across the creek that runs through the timber in our back yard. We had it mapped out perfectly, he would come across the creek and head straight up the path 20 yards from me and stop right there- bam, down buck. Usually stories like this are not this easy and don’t actually follow through but for some reason everything fell right into place. I don’t know how this all happened because trust me, it hasn’t happened since. I guess I got my one wish and used it early in life before I found out how hard hunting can actually be. Being 19 years old now, I still have never had something like this work out the way this hunt has. After the buck crossed the creek, being this young you really have no idea how nervous you will be until it actually happens. He came right up the path and straight across the path. As my one in a million buck came to a stop, I had to take a second to fathom what was even going on. My dad had never been through anything this easy! We were always camping out for at least a couple hours before something came along! Being the proud and no-it-all eight year old, I had to tell Dad that he doesn’t know anything about hunting and I make it look way to easy. My confidence grew even more from there on because the most amazing part of the hunt wasn’t how it was all planned out, it was my shot. Getting a dead on shot is the key and I definitely got it all right. I dropped the buck right where he was standing with a heart shot. He rolled over on his back and when we walked up to him, he had all four legs straight up in the air. It was the perfect ending to a perfect hunt and I’m sure my dad had never seen a happier little girl standing over her trophy.

Eventually, this cocky eight year old did struggle with hunting. But one thing is for sure- my love for hunting will never go away and even though there are many, many days that I have gone out and have come home with nothing, that first hunt will always be enough to keep me going back out just to get another feeling like that.

Emily Flory

Born and raised in Iowa, I have been an enthusiastic outdoors woman from a very young age. From the very beginning my dad had me throwing a line in the water and following him out into the woods to sit and wait for that big Iowa buck to walk by. By doing all of this, I was raised country and always will be.

 

With my home being positioned literally in the boondocks surrounded by timberland and no one else around, I had a pretty good opportunity to make the best out of my resources and my love for the outdoors came when I scored my first whitetail from my backyard.  Seeing that 8 point buck come hiking up the path from the riverbed, this little girl’s life was changed forever. Since then, I've had the chance to score some nice whitetail and have also developed a love for bird hunting as well. If it flies, it dies in my case. I love the challenge and will continue broadening my trophy room around the United States.

 

If it wasn't enough to grow up in an area of heaven like this, we of course needed to put some of our experiences on TV as well. Starting in November of 2010 my family aired the first episode of Outdoors on the Farm, a Farm Journal production. Hosted by Chip Flory, aka the wonderful dad who is the reason why I am the way I am, my family along with our pro staff have been able to put a unique twist on the usual hunting show. OOTF brings farmers and hunters together to maximize their habitat by explaining and teaching what they can do around the farm to increase their profits and quality of their land and even more importantly, how they can have more fun outdoors on the farm. The most important people in my life are my family and to be able to experience this with them is more than I could ask for.

 

Outdoors on the Farm airs every Thursday at 7:30 a.m. (central time) and Saturday at 10:30 a.m. on RFD TV. You can also view any of our episodes on our website at outdoorsonthefarm.com at any time. Be looking out for our 2nd season to start in Fall of 2011 and check out our blogs to keep up with the Flory family and our pro staff!