By Gita Smith

It's hard to say who is the most excited hunter in the Harris family when deer season rolls around: Lauren or her parents. The night before opening day, all their clothes are laid out: gloves, zero hoods, boots, camo -- all of it! The alarm goes off at 5 a.m., and Lauren is sure to call out, "I'm up and already dressed. You two need to get a move on it."

The Harrises live in Navasota, Texas, on a 190-acre family ranch, though they only hunt an open 40-acre hayfield with a little brush around the edges. Their treestand is made from some boards on a tank dam, and it seats three. Lauren calls their stand "The Condo." It is comfortable and lets the whole family - Lauren and her parents Scott and Debbie - share a day of hunting.

On the opening day of Texas' youth season in 2007, Lauren was in the Condo's "shooter's chair" by daybreak. Her parents were there, as well, keeping a lookout for big bucks. If a giant buck came into view, they would quickly estimate its distance.

"We have a strict rule in our family," Lauren explains. "Never, ever take a shot unless you are absolutely sure you can make it. Do not shoot just for the sake of shooting because you can injure a deer. That's a waste of a deer, and that's wrong."

With that rule firmly in mind, Lauren knew that her Remington .243 could make a perfect shot at 150 yards. Anything further away would need a second opinion from Scott, who was carrying binoculars and a camera. The Harrises like to film the deer on the property so that they know what size deer they have from year to year.

A wildlife feeder, filled with corn, sits about 200 yards from The Condo, and Lauren watched it go off that morning. Soon, does and yearlings came out to feed. Lauren's parents spotted a huge buck across the hayfield, about 400 yards away. "Much too far for a shot," Lauren recalls. "We have seen him several times, and we named him 'Big Daddy.' He is at least a 160-class deer. (That means his antlers would be 160 inches when measured by a deer scorer).

"Later that morning, we saw a nice 8-pointer running some does, but he never came close enough for a sure shot," she says. The rest of Saturday was spent watching small bucks and does, but Lauren didn't get a chance to fire her rifle. At one point, her gun got knocked over, and the scope was jostled. Because of that, Lauren knew she could not shoot on target until the scope was sighted-in again.

On Sunday morning, she resumed hunting with just her father. This time, she carried her late grandfather's rifle, a Remington .270. It's a heavier rifle, with a little more kick than her .243. "The gun is about 30 years old. I had never pulled its trigger, but I wasn't worried," she says. Meanwhile, Scott was trying to manage a gun, camera and binoculars. The big buck made another appearance, and this time Scott got him on film.

At 7:30, they saw the good 8-pointer again. Scott told her not to shoot until he was able to film the buck. He was aiming his camera while Lauren was aiming her rifle, telling her to wait until he got the buck on video.

"Now?"

"Not yet."

"Now?"

"Not yet."

"Now?"

"I clicked my safety on and off about a billion times thinking the buck was almost in range and just as I was going to shoot he ran into the bushes."

By Sunday afternoon, Lauren was starting to feel the pressure. There was just one hunting period left in which she could take a buck before youth weekend was over. She had to get a sure shot before the sun went down.

"We went to the stand about 4 o'clock. We had seen a couple of nice bucks earlier, and then a big 6-pointer came out at 275 yards. I tried to get Dad to give me the 7mm mag because it has a much longer range. But he just told me to wait for my shot."

For at least half an hour, Lauren kept her eyes trained on the 6-point (which they named "Junior") as he ran does in and out of the brush. He also munched around the feeder. Lauren was shaking so hard she almost couldn't breathe. Finally, he turned and walked straight into range in full view of Lauren's scope.

"I took a breath, held still and squeezed the trigger, putting the shot about two inches behind his shoulder. The buck took maybe 10 steps and went down."

One phone call later, Lauren's mother, grandmother and Aunt Lynn were on their way to see her trophy. Junior, it turned out, had an 18-inch spread between its right and left antlers, which is wide for a 6-pointer. Scott aged the deer at 41/2 years old. A perfect deer for Lauren's last hour on stand.

Lauren says that hunting is her favorite thing to do, although she is a champion-class swimmer and a horse rider as well. She loves to take her quarter horse, Dude, to barrel races.

YBO asked Lauren what tips she would give other kids who hunt deer. She advises, "Be patient and be very quiet. Don't shoot unless you know you can make a clean shot. Wait for that chance, and you will be successful every time."