80-year-old grandmother of 21 likes bow hunting for deer
(Published Tuesday, October 25, 2005 10:40:19 AM CDT)
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 11/2 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."
(Published Tuesday, October 25, 2005 10:40:19 AM CDT)
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 11/2 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."
Hope I am at her age. Thumbs way up, Granma! 
