HARRISBURG, IL (WSIL) -- Youth Firearm Deer season brings hundreds of hunters to southern Illinois this weekend, with one special group of kids having their dream come true.
United Special Sportsman Alliance, a national nonprofit granting wishes to challenged Youth and Veterans, is celebrating their 20th anniversary Dream Hunt, hosting 20 kids from six different states at Camp Oxford in Harrisburg.
The campers arrived Friday evening to a pizza party and an early night, getting into the woods Saturday just before sunrise.
This was 5th grader Ava Gore's first time hunting. She brought in a six-point buck Sunday morning, here's her reaction.
"Disgusting and fun," says Gore. "I was like, super excited, and also nervous at the same time, but most of the time I was excited."
Ava is from Tennessee, she was hunting with her father who is a Veteran. Her deer is just one of more than a dozen the kids harvested over the weekend.
The event is free to participants and open to any child with a disability or life-threatening illness. Founder and CEO of the Alliance, Brigid O'donoghue says they operate in 48 states, holding annual hunts for hundreds of children and veterans with life-threatening illnesses and disabilities.
"The best part of this whole hunt, isn't even if they get a deer, it's the bonding together of children and families," says O'Donoghue, adding, "And they walk away with life-time friendships from this event."
The majority of children participating have never hunted before, says O'Donoghue, making the weekend a learning experience, providing instructions and challenges that bring them together.
"We're giving them that opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors," says O'Donoghue. "A lot of fellowship, camaraderie and sportsmanship going on here."
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Illinois' Youth Deer hunt ends October 10, 2022. Unfilled Permits are still valid on private land, during the first Firearm Deer Season in November.
