By Staff
NILES – Niles High School students Nikki and Anthony Horvath keep busy playing sports year round, being part of the cross country, wrestling and track teams. In their free time, however, the two enjoy hunting.
The two have been hunting with their parents, Mark and Lisa Horvath. Nikki has been hunting for four years, while Anthony has for two years, which struck a chord as the new rules this year would have allowed him to start when he was 10 years-old.
On Nov. 8, 2006, Anthony shot his first deer, an 8-point buck, with his bow and arrow Then on Dec. 3, 2006, with his father's old black powder, he shot a very nice spike buck to tag his quota for the state limit at 14 years old.
This didn't sit well with his sister, Nikki, who was sitting with her father at the time Anthony shot his second deer.
"She looked at me and said 'Dad sit with me tomorrow in the same spot so you can watch me shoot my first deer,'" Mark said.
It was a very cold morning on Dec. 12, 2006, and Nikki was using a black powder rifle. At 8:30 a.m., a nice buck presented itself at a distance of 150 yards, quite a shot for a youngster, but she was sure she could do it.
"We waited for the deer to settle down and she shot it at 152 yards," Mark said.
Nikki's buck was a very nice pointer.