The Sisterhood of the Outdoors (SOTO) hosted its 5th annual youth hunt in Gillette, Wyoming, from Oct. 28 to Nov. 1, 2021. One of our goals was to get the best gear for the girls. This year, the Tikka T3x LITE rifle became the featured rifle for the event – a mentored antelope hunt.
Sponsored by Beretta
I believe our SOTO team, carefully chosen to mentor these young ladies, is one of the best in the industry. They work diligently to deliver the program, which encompasses everything necessary for a successful hunt: rifle safety, rifle shooting skills, ballistic calculations, spot-and-stalk hunting, quartering game and processing meat. The four specially selected young hunters spent three days with each other, supported by women who are licensed guides, outfitters, shooting instructors and amazing mentors. As a bonus, they could bring their fathers along to watch their hunts unfold.
The mornings began with safety briefs and hunting strategies. After chasing antelope every day, the evenings ended with guest speakers. The SOTO team aimed to share our own life experiences with the girls in hopes of lifting them up and encouraging them to become strong outdoor women. We share our knowledge of hunting and rifle skills throughout the event, as well.
The morning briefings always include gun safety. It is our goal to create safe, responsible gun owners. The next generation must understand the importance of gun safety and ownership.
This year we felt fortunate to have the Tikka T3x LITE to share with the girls. The T3x LITE, chambered in .308 WIN, is perfect for hunting antelope. We love that it is a precision rifle that is budget friendly. Some of the features the girls liked included the drop-out magazine and the grip on the stock. The bolt action is smooth and glides without hesitation. The safety is easy to engage, and the girls had no trouble reengaging safety as needed. The most talked about features were how smooth the action worked and accuracy of the shots.
We fitted this Beretta rifle with a Crimson Trace BrushLine Pro scope and zeroed the combination at 200 yards for the hunt. But first, to get more time on the gun, we set up a 100-yard steel gong on public land to create a range. The girls learned to lie prone and shoot from a gun-mounted bipod and to sit and shoot from a Bog DeathGrip tri-pod. It features a saddle for the stock of the gun that improves accuracy and keeps the rifle steady in strong winds (and, Wyoming winds blew strong during the entire hunt). The girls shot all afternoon and never missed. The report of steel ringing only made them want to shoot more.
Range time ended with a little friendly shooting competition. Five shots at the steel target for each shooter. All three girls went five for five!
We truly believe the best way to improve success at our youth hunt is to put precision rifles, such as the Tikka T3x LITE, into the hands of our hunters and have them experience the amazing quality and accuracy firsthand. It is great to have Beretta as a partner to help us with our mission to empower the next generation lady hunter.
The Women's Outdoor News, aka The WON, features news, reviews and stories about women who are shooting, hunting, fishing and actively engaging in outdoor adventure. This publication is for women, by women. View all posts by The WON
