Dennis Anderson: Woman's weekend as Viger lands two bucks

At times dependent on luck, at other times, skill, deer hunting often is akin to opening a series of doors --behind which, by turns, are found things familiar, surprising and, occasionally, remarkable.

Sometimes all of these and more await hunters on a given day. Other times, entire seasons pass marked by no more than routine comings and goings, with no arrows loosed, or shots fired.

Kristin Viger's opening weekend was not routine.

Age 26, Kristin is nearly a lifelong hunter. Growing up in Minnetonka, she accompanied her dad and other relatives deer hunting from the time she passed hunter education. Shotgun hunters each, this gang gathers every fall in southeast Minnesota -- staying in an old trailer for many years, and now in a motel.

"Hunting is something I've always enjoyed," Kristin said. "You get a chance to be outside, in nature, and once in a while you see a buck."

Last weekend, on Saturday and again on Sunday, she saw two bucks, both 10-pointers, both weighing about 200 pounds.

Both fell to slugs fired by her from her smooth-bore shotgun outfitted with iron sights.

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Perhaps only 10 percent of Minnesota deer hunters are women, maybe less, and Kristin is not unaware of the looks given her, or the occasional comments made, when she ventures into a gas station or convenience store while hunting.

"It might be unusual for some people, but women hunting is not an issue in our family," she said. "My grandmother used to hunt, and my mother went sometimes. I think there are a lot of women who would like to hunt but don't have the opportunity."

An athlete, Kristin attended Augustana College in Sioux Falls, S.D., where she was a catcher on the women's softball team. She majored in biology and as an extracurricular activity hunted pheasants. Later she earned a master's degree from the U in environmental health.

She and her husband, Justin, now live in the Twin Cities, and he's one of the eight male hunters who accompanied Kristin into the field last weekend on opening day, and again on Sunday.

None of the men in those two days shot a buck.

"Our goal, of course, is for each of us to get a deer, whether a buck or a doe," she said. "Usually we end up with maybe three bucks. This year, it was just the two that I shot."

Kristin prides herself in preparing for a hunt, and in thinking things through when she's in the field. She prefers not to hunt from a stand, believing it limits her flexibility too much, and limits also her ability to adapt to changing conditions; to take advantage, say, of a new deer trail found.

"I read a lot about what to look for while hunting, and how to determine the tracks of bucks on trails," she said. "I like to scout. When I find a good spot to sit, I watch for deer movement."

Early on opening morning, Kristin saw a small buck and passed on the opportunity to shoot it. Careful with her shots, she prefers not to target animals farther than 40 yards away. She and her hunting party, including her father, Doug Nagle, also try not to shoot smaller bucks, wanting them instead to grow to maturity.

The second buck she saw was fully mature, a 10-pointer.

"I was sitting against a tree, watching a trail I had found, when a buck walked over a hill," she said. "I saw him and slid behind the tree to hide. I wanted him to get closer, so I had a good shot."

Her 12 gauge boomed its loud voice at 8:30 that morning, sending a slug toward the big deer. Fatally struck, the buck traveled only a short distance before buckling.

"He was about 25 yards from me when I shot," she said.

The group had that buck and a doe to its credit at the end of the first day.

Kristin's buck was heavy bodied, and its antlers bore tall tines, with an inside spread of 201/8 inches. Boone and Crockett, it measure 1371/8 .

Certainly an animal to remember.

But as showpieces go, Kristin's second buck was perhaps a little flashier, with an inside spread of 20¾ inches. Certainly the base of its antlers had greater mass, and the headgear of this second animal was more symmetrical than that of the first.

Still, because of two broken tines, it measured less, at 133.

"Sunday morning, my husband and I hunted near one another, but I didn't see anything all morning and neither did he," she said. "About noon, we moved to a spot where I had seen some fresh trails and sat there, not far from one another."

Minnesota law allows deer hunters to tag one buck a year on their licenses, whether the animal is taken by firearm or bow. But party hunting is allowed, so Kristin, on this second day, could help fill tags of others in her party, whether does or bucks.

About 3:30 Sunday afternoon, a small buck showed itself to Kristin. Fifteen minutes later, the second 10-pointer in as many days to appear not far from her made its debut.

Reckless perhaps from being in rut, the buck was moving downwind, directly toward her. When he was 30 yards away, Kristin squeezed the trigger.

"I know I got lucky, getting a chance to see both of these deer," she said. "But I also know there are a lot of hunters who only hunt part of the day, or who don't take their hunts seriously. They might go back to camp to warm up, for instance, instead of hunting all day."

And when a deer goes down, is there remorse?

"I always feel sympathetic," she said. "Especially after shooting that second buck, I thought perhaps I had shot more than I should have.

"My rationalization is that we always eat what we shoot. If I don't eat it, I don't shoot it.

"It's all put to good use."

Dennis Anderson • danderson@startribune.com