Three in a row

The beginning of every hunting season sees countless people head out into the wilderness with the hopes of filling their tags. Whether it is antelope, deer or elk season, a good harvest means meat in the freezer and food for the family. While many will end their season being able to punch at least one tag, it's rare for someone to fill all three. Even rarer is someone being able to do so in their first year.

Jerahleigh Johnson, a 12-year-old first time hunter, was able to do just that as she harvested an antelope, deer and elk. 

Johnson's hunting adventure began with antelope, where she drew Type 1 in Area 50. Under Type 1, she was legally able to harvest either a buck or a doe, but would harvest a buck. When she first saw the antelope she would eventually harvest, she found herself getting a little excited.

"Then I remembered to stay calm," said Johnson.

The young hunter remembered the training she had went through on how to properly fire the rifle. She didn't pull the trigger, which many would have, but rather took a deep breath, relaxed and squeezed the trigger.

"It went down immediately," Johnson said. "It just dropped."

With no tracking needing to be done, the hard work of field dressing the antelope began. Johnson said she helped her father with that and she found the process "pretty cool."

Following her successful antelope hunt, Johnson went into deer season having drawn Type 1 in Area 78. She and her family spent most of the season looking for an antlered deer to fill her tag until they were finally on the last day of the season. When they found one, a little two-by-two buck, Johnson was nervous.

Again, she forced herself to relax and took her shot. The small buck ran about 40 yards, according to Johnson's mother, Julie Trimble, and dropped to the ground.

With both an antelope and a deer tag filled, the young hunter went into elk season having drawn one of the hardest areas; Area 16, also known as Shirley Basin.

"Very hard tag to draw," said Trimble. "It took us nearly 10 years to draw that tag."

Johnson, having drawn the tag her first season, was dedicated to the hunt. According to Trimble, Johnson enjoys playing volleyball and actually skipped volleyball to go on the elk hunt. As luck would have it, it was just a few days after one of the October snow storms that Johnson would fill her third tag.

With a week left in the season, the 12 year old spotted a six-by-six bull. Not only was she excited, but her heart was racing and she was finding it hard to breath due to the excitement.

"I was like 'Hold on, if I want it I have to calm down,'" said Johnson.

While she was able to use one shot with her antelope and deer, it took Johnson three shots with her elk.

"The first one, I shot him right where you're supposed to shoot him. He still didn't drop, he just started walking. I shot him, I think, either in the spine or somewhere close to there and then he dropped his whole back half," Johnson said.

According to Trimble, Johnson was pretty close to the kill zone, but due to excitement had just barely missed the vital area. Still, with the harvest of the elk, the young hunter filled all three tags. Not only that, but her bull elk was close in size to her father's, which scored a 355 on Boone and Crockett.

While she was lucky enough to get all three tags filled, Johnson said that those hunting for the first time shouldn't expect to have the same luck.

"It really depends, because I didn't think I was going to fill out three tags," said Johnson.

Having grown up in Wyoming though, she understands the importance of hunting. Not only as a tool of conservation by helping keep population under control, but as a way of life. 

"If you get an animal, say in the winter, if we have a really big storm and it's unsafe to go to the grocery store, you have food in the freezer or fridge," Johnson said. "You can eat that for dinner, lunch or breakfast."

The fortune of this season has motivated Johnson, who said that she looks forward to future hunts, even if she doesn't get as lucky as she did this year.