Samantha Bender
Samantha Bender
Growing up with three brothers on a farm in Nebraska quickly taught me that if I wanted to do anything fun, it was going to be with them. Whether it was fishing at the local sandpits, or walking around our shelterbelt looking for rabbits and pheasants, I was always outside with them.
I met my husband Adam in college, and that’s when my passion for the outdoors really came out. I went out one weekend and got my Hunter’s Education card on my own and surprised him when I said I wanted him to take me dove hunting. Adam admits to this day he didn’t think I would hit the broadside of a barn, but I actually ended up shooting seven the first night we went.
Over the past few years, my time in the field has increased ten fold. After I got my first deer last year, I was hooked. Then this spring, I harvested my first two turkeys. Since then, I’ve been getting out there and hunting as much as possible with Adam.
This fall, I managed to shoot my “buck of a lifetime” here in Nebraska. I was with my father-in-law, in the middle of a big CRP field when we bumped him and his doe out of a thicket. The buck ran and my father-in-law bleated to stop him. I was so nervous and shaking horribly because I looked at the buck’s rack as he was running away. So there I stood…no rest and my .270WIN Weatherby Vanguard loaded with a Federal Premium 130-gr. TSX, pressed firmly into my shoulder. I asked how far he was and he said, “probably 200.” I settled the crosshair and shot. Much to my surprise the buck dropped in his tracks. We ended up ranging the distance, because we had no time in the heat of the moment, and it was actually 238 yards.
We got down to the buck and that’s when the excitement set in. We hugged and Adam’s dad kept repeating “you have no idea what you just shot.” I just looked at the buck, grab the rack and cried with excitement. Then we frantically called Adam on the phone to tell him about the Buck, hardly forming sentences because we were so excited. When Adam and his mom got to us, that’s when it all became real. He was so excited and proud of me and it really reinforced why I love hunting so much.
When we got home, this first thing Adam did was call his friend to come over and measure my buck. The whole weekend we were guessing and everyone in the town was speculating about how big it was. He ended up scoring 173-4/8”. Yes, this was a magnificent buck, but to me, it’s not so much about the size or the score, it’s about the memories and the people you share them with. And this will truly be a hunt I never forget.
I look forward to many more years in the outdoors with my family and friends, making memories on every hunt along the way.
—Samantha Bender
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