EVELETH, Minn. (AP) – Through the history of deer hunting, it’s been a general fact that most women aren’t deeply interested in the sport. It is largely been seen as a man’s game.

That is not true for Shannon Nelson.

Today’s hunting shows do feature a select group of die-hard women hunters appearing in places like the Outdoor Channel.

And, like most women of this minority, Nelson started early. She was 12 when she finished gun safety classes, and that same year her dad, John Muck, took her into the woods, which started a 26-year endearment with Minnesota’s most celebrated sport that’s still currently underway.

“He dropped me off in the early morning with a bag lunch,” she said as if dad was testing his daughter to see if she had what it took. She added that he didn’t come back until dark when shooting hours ended.

“It was hard those first years,” she said.

Not just for a kid to sit all day, but back then the northeastern Minnesota deer population was similar to what it’s like heading into this season. It was regularly bucks only or lottery, which meant a youngster could potentially sit all season without seeing a deer.

Nelson said it was a frustrating at that time, but she learned the secret to enjoying everything that surrounds deer hunting.

“You realize it’s not easy and that you don’t always get a deer,” and added that she has come to appreciate the fine things that go with spending time in the woods. “It’s peaceful, and I like the quietness, observing everything around me in nature. I’ve seen coyote, fisher, grouse and just love watching what deer do.”

Not only is she a devout participant every year – only missing a couple of seasons when she was younger – but she’s a successful hunter.

The past five years she has been able to harvest a deer each season.

In 2009, she bagged an 11-pointer that made her dad proud.

“It was bigger than anything we’ve ever shot while hunting together,” she said.

She said that it’s a wall hanger in her Eveleth home. Her father was so elated that he paid for the taxidermy. However, “that wasn’t the biggest deer I ever saw in the woods,” she said as she began to tell the story of the monster that got away.

It was about 11 years ago when she was pregnant with Drew, her first of three sons.

“It was freezing cold, and I saw this big buck walking toward me.”

She took several shots at the deer, experiencing a gun jam in the midst of it, and saw an adult male-deer-trophy that was in no hurry to vacate. After her last shot attempt and an empty gun, a doe joined the buck and they slowly left together.

“I was just sick and mad at myself. I hadn’t sighted-in my gun that year ... I was so upset that I threw up!”

She was quick to add how important it is to make sure you fire and test your rifle for accuracy each season.

She said she’s ready this year, and has target-fired her .243 bolt-action Browning; the gun her husband, Jeremy, bought for her the year after missing the “big buck.”

The 1994 Virginia High School graduate said she averages six to seven hunting days a year during the 16-day season, with full days afield.

“We go sun up to sun down.”

She splits her time in the woods between hunting with her father and her father-in-law, Larry Nelson.

“When I was 20, I met Jeremy’s dad, and that opened up more hunting opportunities for me.” This is when she said she became dedicated to the sport and has made each year a priority ever since.

“I hunt opening day with my dad, and then on Sunday I hunt with Larry and his family,” she said.

She spreads the remaining time out between the two for the rest of the season.

For most deer hunters, there is a moment that each can say they were hooked.

“For me, it was after being successful in getting the first deer, and knowing that it doesn’t come easy; it takes patience.”

These days, she said that deer hunting has also offered her quality family time. She periodically takes her kids up in a luxurious cold-weather stand built by Larry.

She also enjoys the preparation and planning leading up to the hunt.

And while she loves the sport, she said that there is some anxiety involved. She has dreams about forgetting things like ammunition, a flashlight or hand warmers, but all those things are just part of the hunting excitement that she looks forward to.

“I get excited and nervous at the same time leading up to deer season. I have a lot of anticipation, and I also worry if I’ll see anything.”