Haley Knight has a track record in the timber that any deer hunter would envy. Two shots. Two deer. And not just any deer, mind you. At age 13 Knight already has a 181-inch buck of a lifetime hanging on the wall. She shot that 18-point non-typical Montgomery County bruiser just moments into opening day of the 2008 shotgun season.

Haley Knight poses with the 18-point non-typical that she harvested on opening day of the 2008 shotgun season. Her trophy deer nets a fine 181 0/8 Boone and Crockett points. Photo by B.J. Beaman.

Hunting in a buddy stand with her grandfather, B.J. Beaman of Granite City, Knight spotted the big buck first. She then watched the 18-pointer for five minutes as it walked toward the stand along with a doe.

For some hunters, all that waiting would have been hard to handle. Buck fever might have set in. Nerves might have put the shakes into normally steady hands. Not so for Knight.

"I was just like, 'I can do this, I'm all good,' " Knight recalls.

She was correct.

"First a doe came in and my grandpa shot her. The buck went over, sniffed her and walked back along the same trail and just stood right in front of the deer stand. So I shot it," Knight said. "It ran about 5 yards and fell down. I guess it was a perfect shot."

No wonder the Roxana resident is taking up bowhunting. Gun hunting has obviously not been much of a challenge for the eighth grader, who was 12 when she shot her 18-pointer.

Much of the credit for that goes to her father, Chad Knight. While luck is a factor when any young hunter bags a big deer, preparation is also important. Haley spends plenty of time talking and practicing hunting with her father, whose home in Panama is decorated with mounted deer, fish and other outdoor trophies. For instance, she has approached bow­hunting with the same intensity she showed before her first gun season. All spring and summer, Haley shot a Parker compound bow at 3-D targets in the yard and at an archery range in Highland.

"We got her sighted-in at 30 yards, and she's dead on with three arrows," Knight said. "And she's pulling 50 pounds, so she's really doing pretty good."

Knight took the same approach to his daughter's training before her first hunt in 2007. "I only get Haley every other weekend, so every other weekend, we went out practicing shooting," said Knight, who provided his daughter with a youth model Mossberg 20-gauge shotgun. "She got to where just by using iron sights she could hit the bull's-eye at 100 yards. I couldn't believe it."

Practice like that is invaluable for youngsters. And preparation is vital even though it's easier than ever for kids to hunt.