Hunters get up early, scout out spots and look for deer — Black Friday shoppers get up early, scout out stores and look for deals.

“Some of the skills my Dad taught me hunting, I use in Black Friday shopping,” said Karen Yenick of Jefferson Township.

Yenick and her daughter Kassie Yenick of Butler have been Black Friday shopping together for 14 years.

The two prepare for their day of bonding and shopping by first looking in the newspaper.

“We look at all the ads after Thanksgiving dinner and look at whatever items take precedence and what time the stores open,” Kassie said.

After seeing the items the duo wants, they plan which person will go to which store and when.

“If you really want it, get there early,” Kassie said. “... Know that you are going to wait in line. I've run into some people who are like, ‘We have to wait in line?'”

The buddy system is key to the Yenicks' shopping success. Wearing fluorescent shirts to be more visible makes the buddy system even better.

The Yenicks love shopping together not only for the memories, but also so they can shop at multiple stores, tag team the same store and take turns waiting in lines.

Last year, Kassie was pregnant with her now 9-month-old daughter Audrey, but that didn't stop her from going at 3 a.m. to Target in the rain.

“She could go wait in the car and get warmed up and we could swap spots back and forth until we could go in and get what we wanted,” Karen said.

Wearing layers to stay warm outside and cool inside is also important.

The Yenicks also suggest not taking a big purse, but a small wallet instead that can be kept in a pocket.

Once inside the Yenicks' most important rule is to ditch the cart.

“They all get in a traffic jam because they can't go anywhere with their carts because they have the aisle filled with merchandise,” Karen said.

The Yenicks suggest claiming a cart, but leaving it out of the way until items are placed in it.

Once it has some valuables in it, one person can watch the cart, while the other goes to get the next item.

Black Friday can have some major sales on televisions, laptops, etc., but the Yenicks often go out to purchase smaller items and to buy toys to donate to different charities.

“We usually get kids from the Caring Angel or the Giving Trees and we can get more stuff,” Karen said. “I hate to be giving on a budget, but I don't have a lot of money to spend so this way I can get more toys.”

If shoppers are planing on getting a hot item, the Yenicks suggest being flexible and having a few of those items on a wish list.

Kassie explained people become upset because the item they wanted ran out. If shoppers are looking at three different televisions, they will be more likely able to purchase one of them and thus less unhappy.

When stressed out shoppers darken the mood of the Yenicks' family tradition, they just smile.

“You can kill with kindness a lot,” Kassie said. “You can always be like ‘Well Merry Christmas to you.'”

Debora Dawson of Jefferson Township also enjoys going out on Black Friday, not for the deals, but for the camaraderie.

“It's about the season and the bonding and the togetherness and the friendships that you make,” said Dawson.

Members of Dawson's extended family have been Black Friday or “Deer Widow Monday” shopping for more than 50 years.

When she was little, her family would meet with her aunt and cousins for lunch whenever they went out.

“We usually ended up getting a big table in one of the local restaurants and finally sitting down for a leisurely afternoon of catching up,” Dawson said.

Although she is an avid shopper, Dawson won't be seen with a cart full of objects Friday.

“We are shopaholics, but not buyaholics,” Dawson said. “The quest is more fun than the buy itself.”

Dawson, her mother and her sisters have many family memories from their shopping trips.

One of her favorites is when she and her sisters giggled while waiting for their mother in a women's boutique in Freeport.

As they were not on their best behavior, Dawson's mother, Mary Cosentino of Cabot, waited anxiously for the cashier.

“When the sales clerk finally made her way over to the counter to help my mother make her selection, my sisters and I doubled over in hysterical laughter when my mother impatiently made her request to the sales clerk, ‘I'd like to see your underpants,'” Dawson said.

Dawson has carried on the tradition of Black Friday shopping with her daughter Stephanie Karwoski and plans to continue it with her 7-month-old granddaughter Rachel.

“When we found out she was a girl, we thought ‘Shopping buddy.'”