Callie Jennings shoulders her rifle after an afternoon of hunting on her family’s land. Callie didn’t see any deer that day but said she’s glad for the experience even though she didn’t get anything. Michael Jennings said he hopes he’s taught her skills she’ll want to pass on to her kids someday.
Michael Jennings shows his daughter Callie Jennings a spot on a nearby tree where a buck has been licking the end of a branch on November 18, 2018 outside Centralia, Mo. “I had never seen that before,” Callie Jennings said, “[They do that] to leave their scent so that way they can attract does.”
Callie Jennings aims at a doe which walked out into the field in front of her on November 18, 2018 outside Centralia, Mo. Callie missed the deer and wound up going home empty handed that day. Callie said she rushed her shot and afterwards kept thinking: “darn it, I should have just killed it.”
Callie Jennings, left, Michael Jennings, center, and Clayton Jennings, right, butcher a deer Clayton shot the day before on November 12, 2018 north of Columbia, Mo. Callie said her favorite part of hunting is how much time she gets to spend with her family.
Callie Jennings removes fat from a piece of deer meat on November 12, 2018 north of Columbia, Mo. The deer was shot by her twin brother Clayton Jennings, 11, the day before. Last year, Callie’s dad began teaching her and her brother to butcher the deer they harvested.
Callie Jennings, center, plays a board game with her dad, Michael Jennings, mom, Pam Jennings, and brother, Clayton Jennings, on November 26, 2018 north of Columbia, Mo. “Callie is a board game fanatic,” Pam Jennings said. “Yeah but I’m really bad at them,” Callie responded.
Callie Jennings tosses her birthday present, a ticket to country musician Kane Brown’s concert, in the air in excitement on November 26, 2018 north of Columbia, Mo. Brown is Callie’s favorite country music star.
Michael Jennings, right, hands Callie Jennings her Mossberg .243 rifle after she climbs into her family’s deer blind on November 12, 2018 north of Columbia, Mo. “Obviously, having twins, we have personality differences between the two of them,” Jennings said, “and she kind of took the stronger, more outgoing, side of the personality traits.”
Callie Jennings watches for a deer from inside her family’s blind on November 12, 2018. Callie said her dad has passed on the importance of patience, quiet and focus. She has taken some of those lessons with her into her every day life outside of hunting.
