| And on the third day... Sammie got her prize. Oil City ninth-grader Samantha Bartlett, who won a chance at a bow hunt for a bull elk, got one on her third day of hunting. She had earlier opportunities to bag smaller bulls, but chose patience instead. It paid off. Early Monday, just as day was breaking she was able harvest this bull estimated between 750-850 pound, 13-point (7x6) with an estimated green score of 310 inches. Soon after her proud grandparents shared a couple photos of they smiling 14-year old granddaughter. |  |
Below is the story we did prior to her hunt.
"Do you know how much money you cost me?"
Samantha Bartlett was getting ready to march with her fellow Oiler Marching Band mates in the Oil Heritage Festival when her dad, Noel Bartlett, called her to ask her that question.
The confused 14-year old asked her dad "what now?"
"You just drew an archery bull tag for Elk season," he told her.
"I thought he was messing with me because that just doesn't happen. I mean my grandpa got one, but he'd been hunting for like 50 years. My dad has never gotten one and he's been hunting for like 30 years and I've been hunting for three," Samantha said.
Later that night her dad was doing some research and told her she is the youngest to draw an archery tag and the first girl to draw an archery bull tag.
"I still thought he was messing with me until the next day when he woke me up at like nine o'clock and said 'we're going to buy you a crossbow.' Because I had never archery hunted before. I usually rifle hunt," she said. That's when it set in that it was real.
So for the last two months she has been practicing shooting her new cross bow behind her grandparent's home in Oil City.
Samantha Bartlett was getting ready to march with her fellow Oiler Marching Band mates in the Oil Heritage Festival when her dad, Noel Bartlett, called her to ask her that question.
The confused 14-year old asked her dad "what now?"
"You just drew an archery bull tag for Elk season," he told her.
"I thought he was messing with me because that just doesn't happen. I mean my grandpa got one, but he'd been hunting for like 50 years. My dad has never gotten one and he's been hunting for like 30 years and I've been hunting for three," Samantha said.
Later that night her dad was doing some research and told her she is the youngest to draw an archery tag and the first girl to draw an archery bull tag.
"I still thought he was messing with me until the next day when he woke me up at like nine o'clock and said 'we're going to buy you a crossbow.' Because I had never archery hunted before. I usually rifle hunt," she said. That's when it set in that it was real.
So for the last two months she has been practicing shooting her new cross bow behind her grandparent's home in Oil City.
| She has become quite efficient and appears confident and ready for this weekend where she will head to Bennezette with her very jealous, but proud dad to meet up with an Elk hunting guide to begin looking for the right opportunity. The season lasts a couple of weeks, but the ninth-grader will be trying her best to use her first weekend wisely to get her Elk. Chances of getting drawn are small. Registered hunters get one chance put into the drawing for every year they have hunted. Samantha has hunted deer three years, each year having success. She had three chances of being drawn compared to her dad's over 30. She is hoping she can take advantage of her fortune getting the opportunity so early in her career. Her granddad, John Bartlett, got drawn in 2017 when he was in his 60s and he said he had been hunting since he was little tagging along with his dad. Samantha said her plans for the Elk, if she gets it is simple, to "eat it." She remembers having some of her grandad's Elk for Christmas dinner when she was quite young and is hoping to provide family meals with this hunt. The family said they will also likely get the rack and head mounted though mom, Sandra, admits they really don't have the room for it. She also admitted this is something they will make room for somehow. "I really like hunting because it is something my whole family does," Samantha said. "I also like that I'm the only girl in my family that goes out. It's like my grandpa, my uncles, my cousins and my dad all go out and I just tag along with them." Last year she said she was the only one in her immediate family to bag a deer. Though she has only been shooting the crossbow for six weeks her mom said she has very steady hands and Samantha admits she has gotten pretty accurate already. "I don't breathe. I'll be there focussing for like 15 seconds and I realize I wasn't breathing that entire time and I'll take a big gasp of air and realize I wasn't breathing or thinking about anything," she said. "I don't know, I have this little box in my mind that when I focus there isn't a single thought I am having." Her steady hand and her focus are why, when she hits her target in practice her grandfathers face swells with happiness as he compliments her shot. It's not only about the hunt, but her family are conservationists and she is carrying on that tradition. "(Hunting) is a a huge tradition throughout Pennsylvania and I like a person that keep it alive and help maintain the forests and the wildlife because hunting is something that kind of has to happen to maintain a healthy ecosystem." She'll be up bright and early Saturday beginning her quest with her dad by her side knowing this experience is worth every penny. |  Exhibition is still on display in the gallery.    |
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