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YOUTH SPOTLIGHT: Sibling hunters practice patience
Patrick displays taxidermy ducks he has harvested while his sister Esperanza shows off the record-breaking 26-point antlers from the buck she shot in 2023.
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When Esperanza Lopez, 16, pulled the trigger on a hunt in 2023, she had no idea it would be the kill of a lifetime. When she walked up to the kill, Esperanza and her father, Richard Lopez, were flabbergasted to see the 26-point Rocky Mountain mule deer buck that had been at the end of her sights. Esperanza said when Safari Club International sent an official scorer to assess the rack a couple of months later, she found out it was the third largest in the world to be shot with a muzzleloader. The scorer measured 250 inches on the deer’s antlers, Esperanza said.
“It was a leftover youth muzzleloader tag, and we went to this unit in Reserve that we had never hunted before,” said Esperanza, who was 15 at the time. “We were up on the horses, and we just kind of stumbled across him. I just saw horns, and I shot.”
What’s more, not 50 feet from the spot the buck died, Esperanza found his antler shed from the previous year.
Esperanza joined the Socorro County 4-H archery program five years ago and the shotgun program three years ago. She says her favorite part of hunting is riding her horse, Freckles, in nature where she can escape from day-to-day things.
Esperanza’s younger brother Patrick, 13, prefers to hunt duck near their home in Luis Lopez. While his sister enjoys the solitude in hunting, Patrick likes being able to hunt duck with a larger group of people.
“You feel different when you get something. It’s a happy moment,” Patrick said. “It takes a long time, and it’s hard, but you just prove that you worked hard enough for it.”
Esperanza encourages other youth who are curious about hunting to give it a try, especially girls, who she has heard are better shooters because they stay more calm.
It’s a good learning experience, she said, and every time she is out hunting with Freckles she learns something else about him. The siblings agree that one of the most valuable lessons their father has taught them about the sport is patience. They have both learned the hard way that if you try to rush the process, you’ll come home empty handed.
Youth interested in the different shooting programs can contact the Socorro County Extension Office at 575-835-0610, or at 198 Neel Avenue, in Socorro.
