Mollie Fenwick of Tunkhannock poses with her 10-point, 180-pound, buck she shot on the first day of deer season in Wayne County. She placed in one contest and won another for her kill.

BY KEVIN WOODRUFF

Wyoming County Press Examiner

It didn’t take Tunkhannock Area graduate Mollie Fenwick long to shoot her buck on the first day of deer season.

Because, while hunting with her family on a 300-acre plot of land outside of Beach Lake in Wayne County around 7:40 a.m., a trophy buck walked into Fenwick’s line of sight.

“My jaw just kind of dropped, and I thought to myself, ‘I’d better shoot this one,’” Fenwick said.

So she pulled the trigger, and hit the deer with an accurate shot.

When she came down from her tree stand to inspect the deer, what she found was a 10-point buck, which once field dressed, weighed 180 pounds.

“It’s the biggest buck I’ve ever shot,” Fenwick, 19, of Tunkhannock, said.

Fenwick, who has been hunting for the past nine years, was ecstatic because she was happy to bag a bigger buck than her male hunting partners.

“It was fun for me, because I’m the only girl that hunts with my family,” Fenwick said. “And to be able to say I beat the boys was great.”

Not only did she beat the boys, but she also earned some accolades for her kill.

Marshall Machinery in Honesdale holds its annual Big Buck competition, and Fenwick took second place overall.

Her buck was scored 148 and five-eighths using the Buckmaster Scoring system.

In addition, Fenwick took first place in the women’s division of the Wayne Independent Big Buck contest.

“It felt great to win,” Fenwick said. “You go and get your picture taken with your deer.”

Fenwick said she placed once in the Marshall Machinery contest two years ago, but taking second was her best showing yet.

She got her start in hunting with her dad in Maine when she was 10 years old, and fell in love with it.

“I love the family aspect of going hunting,” Fenwick said. “And also getting to be out in nature, enjoying the quiet.”

Fenwick is excited for what next deer season will bring, but in the meantime, she is focusing on her studies.

She recently finished her first semester at Penn State-Worthington Campus in its veterinary/biomedical sciences program.

Fenwick also loves horses and recently obtained her United States Trotting Association driver’s and trainer’s license, and currently trains horses out of a stable near Honesdale.

She is the daughter of Harry and Billie Jo Fenwick of Tunkhannock.