My neighbor and friend Jimmy gave me an update on his injured shoulder and the report was not good, he would require surgery and be out of commission for many months of rehabilitation.

This news caused him to be very anxious and frustrated as it also meant that he would not be doing one of his favorite pastimes, which was the fall archery season. Jimmy has been hunting for over 60 years and the only time he has been out of the woods was due to military service.

His wife Sylvia often would accompany him and his sons during fishing and deer hunting excursions and eventually took an interest in both outdoor pursuits. As it turned out, Sylvia wanted to be a buck hunter and that was entirely her main focus.

Sylvia and Jimmy put four children through college and then finally Sylvia went back to school at Slippery Rock University for her teaching education degree. One thing I know about Sylvia is that whatever she chose to do, she would be all in! So of course, she graduated with honors and became a teacher in the Slippery Rock School District.

You may wonder, so where is this all going? Well, whatever Sylvia decided to do, she was all in until she mastered her project. Jimmy tutored her in the art of hunting and she became more and more proficient at the outdoor activity of archery.

Every day, she would drag her bow out of the house and shoot a round of arrows at a target set up in her back yard. When her husband had surgery, I figured that this would derail her efforts, after all would a retired school teacher and grandmother head out into the woods to hunt by herself?

Then I heard from Jimmy that she was out at her archery stand and was hunting nearly every day and seeing deer regularly.

We would have chats about seeing plenty of deer, but none that met her requirements of a legal buck. Her frequent comment was that she was not going to settle for a doe as the ladies had to stick together! She became more excited as sightings of bucks appeared more frequently and there was always plenty of other wildlife crossing paths with her in the woodlands.

Sylvia had never harvested a buck and this was her No. 1 goal for the hunting season. Her most recent sightings were several bucks roaming after does as the rut was starting to peak in our area.

One of the does that she had passed up many times in her evening hunts used a game trail by her stand and sure enough the bucks started to follow her. Many times, the deer were moving too fast for a good look or shot, but finally a decent buck came strolling up to her on the trail.

This buck was in range and she could see that it was at least an 8-point and legal buck for the three-up rule in WMU 2D. She remembered all the discussions about shot placement and had practiced this shot everyday for weeks and weeks.

The shot was made and it appeared to be true, but she knew that it was best to watch the deer and its direction heading and to compose herself. She called her husband and gave him the report of taking a shot and believing that she had a buck down. Jimmy told her to wait for some assistance and contacted their son Joe to help them locate the deer.

Everyone finally arrived and the search for the deer began in earnest. By waiting and not pushing the buck out of the area, they were able to find the deer's trail. Joe spotted the buck after a short search and pointed it out to his mother. Sylvia had her first buck and it was a respectable 8-point with plenty of body size.

After there were congratulations all around, the deer was tagged and field dressed. All of the persistence and effort paid off for Sylvia and she reminded me that her message to her students was always to work hard and stay on your goals.

I asked her what her next goal was going to be and she reported with a smile that she was going to visit with her new grand daughter and be a grandma!

Congratulations to all of the lady hunters facing the challenges in the woods. I know of several ladies who have been diligent in their hunting pursuits and have harvested bucks. Times are certainly changing and all of the old-timers like me better be prepared for the pink bow brigade.

That reference is to all the bows and firearms that are now being presented with pink camo designs in an attempt to gather the attention of female hunters. If I show up with a new pink rifle don't be surprised …I need the luck of some of those lady hunters!

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle