She may be only 15 years old, but Breanna Theodore can shoot. While she’s proficient with a rifle, it’s archery that has made this teenager a world class competitor.
This November Breanna and her father will help celebrate the Minnesota Governors Deer Hunting Opener by taking an exhibition start to begin the season. In celebrating Breanna and her accomplishment, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources recently featured the high school student in a recent press release.
The Minnesota deer hunt typically takes place in an area known as the Iron Range, 320,000 acres of the Superior National Forest, three state forests and 500 lakes, rivers and streams.
It was her father Mike’s experience with hunting and growing up in the area that got Breanna into the sport. He said early on she chose a bow and arrow over a rifle. Since then, Breanna has been making a name for herself in archery competitions around the country. In order to attend more than two dozen competitions per year, Breanna does not attend a normal high school and instead takes on-line courses.
The high school sophomore has collected top finishes over the past three years both in outdoor and indoor competition, according to the press release. In June, she and her teammates on the compound cadet women’s team won a team gold medal in the 2015 Youth Archery World Championships. Out of all the girls in the compound bow cadet (age 15-17) class, she’s ranked 7th in the world.
“It’s a sport for anybody, that’s for sure,” Breanna said. “You can shoot a bow and you don’t have to be good at it. It’s just all for fun. If you want to be good at it, you can.”
Her father said it’s a great sport for a father and daughter to participate together. A few years ago, when the two were out hunting Breanna shot a 8-point buck with an arrow. It was just like in competition, a bulls-eye.
“There are no barriers – me being almost 40 and she being 15, we can grab our hunting bows or our target bows and compete,” Mike said.
