Haley's buck wasn't in that same class and did not earn honors at the 2009 Deer Classic. But hers was very possibly the highest-scoring buck entered in the Classic by a female or by a hunter under the age of 13.

Plenty of thanks for that goes to Beaman, 61. Typically, Knight has taken his daughter hunting, as he did in 2007 when she shot a button buck in Bond County on opening morning. But Beaman stepped up last November when Knight was unable to take his daughter out.

"She said she wanted to go with grandpa because he kills bigger deer," Beaman said. "I told her, 'Don't go out expecting to kill a monster because you're probably not going to see one. You'll be lucky to see a 6-pointer or an 8-pointer.' "

No matter what size the buck, Beaman promised Haley the first shot.

"He always said that I'm getting the biggest one," Haley said. "And he remembered his word."

As a chilly opening morning dawned, Haley and Beaman were side by side in a buddy tree stand. Though she's not usually an early riser, Haley said that changes in the fall. "I'm always up early when it's deer season."

Moments into the morning, Beaman spotted a buck out of shooting range. While he watched, Haley turned to grab for a thermos of hot chocolate. That's when she saw a big buck walking toward the stand. Haley hoped that the deer would come her way.

Sure enough, over the next five minutes the buck kept moving closer while following a doe. When the doe came into range, Beaman dropped her with one shot, though he briefly pondered taking a shot at the buck instead. "Yeah, I did," Beaman said. "I normally just kill does or small bucks for the meat. I'm not a trophy hunter or anything. But this was the biggest buck I'd ever seen."

Following Beaman's shot, Lady Luck smiled on Haley. Instead of running off into the woods after the shotgun blast, the buck stayed close. The 18-pointer walked over to the fallen doe, sniffed her and then walked back toward Haley. When he got to within 15 yards, she dropped him in his tracks with a shot behind the shoulder.

After fewer than 15 minutes of hunting, she had already taken a buck of her lifetime.

"It was really exciting because it was so big," Haley said. "I was jumping up and down and grandpa said, 'Sit down, you're going to scare it.' "

"Actually, I was worried she was going to knock me out of the stand," Beaman said. "She was jumping around and high-fiving me."

Instead of scaring the deer or knocking her grandfather silly, Haley kept on celebrating. The deer never moved and she wound up with bragging rights over all other seventh-graders in the area.

"All the guys I know said they thought it was awesome," Haley said. "And Grandpa was really proud of me and got pretty excited."

What Haley proves, though, is that with preparation and a little luck, even youngsters can score big during the Illinois deer season.