BENTON — Most hunters only dream of earning a big game “grand slam,” which requires tagging a deer, turkey, bear and moose within one year.
For Cassidy Rood, 16, of Benton that dream became reality when she shot a four-point buck Oct. 24, on her last day as a youth hunter.
“It feels really good,” Rood said. “To know that I did that, I just sat back and said, ‘Wow.'”
A junior at Lawrence High School in Fairfield, Rood claimed the grand slam within six months.
Between May and October, Rood shot a 180-pound black bear, a 165-pound buck, a 700-pound moose and a turkey.
“I shot the turkey at the end of May, the bear was shot in September and then the deer and moose were in October,” Rood said. “We shot the bear and the moose up in Rockwood, but we hunt for deer and turkey around here (Benton).”
Rood has been hunting with her father, Eric, for as long as she can remember.
“He’s been taking me hunting since before I could walk,” Rood said.
“She started when she was 10, because that’s the legal age,” Eric Rood said. “But I’ve been taking her along with me since she was maybe 3 years old.”
Hunters in Maine are able to go after turkey, deer and bears by buying the appropriate permits. To pursue the grand slam, however, a hunter must enter the annual moose lottery and be selected for a coveted permit. Many hunters can go years – or entire lives – without being selected.
“In order to get the grand slam, you have to be drawn for a moose permit,” Eric Rood said. “It’s a lottery, thousands of people put in for it, … then they draw 2,500 to 3,000 names every year.”
He was chosen for a moose permit in June, but decided to pursue a subpermittee to let Cassidy come along.
“You can have two shooters with a subpermittee,” Cassidy Rood said. “So since he had already been on a moose hunt before and had already gotten one, he wanted me to shoot it.”
Cassidy Rood said she was proud to have attained the grand slam in an activity dominated by males.
“It’s usually boys,” Rood said. “So it’s pretty cool.”
Eric agreed.
“For hunters, it’s an honor to be able to achieve this milestone,” he wrote in an email last week. “And as a girl at such a young age, it’s amazing.”
As Cassidy Rood waits for her animals to be mounted by a taxidermist, Eric said the family is already enjoying the meat.
“Our freezer is definitely full,” he said.
Not surprising, Cassidy Rood said she expects to be a lifelong hunter.
“It’s both a hobby,” she said, “and a passion.”
Molly Shelly — 207-861-9256
mshelly@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @mollyshellyyy
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