January-February 2024 • Nebraskaland 59
guided me in the right direction," she said. "It was also
really nice to hunt with other ladies, too, who either had no
experience or maybe had some but were trying to get back
into hunting. The connections were awesome in meeting
women from all walks of life."
Lifelong Conservationist
Since the pheasant hunt, Harleigh was invited to hunt
waterfowl near Lexington. As an inexperienced waterfowler,
Harleigh took advantage of Nebraska's new two-tier program
and opted for Tier II, which allowed her a three-duck limit with
no species and sex restrictions. She shot her limit of mallards
that day, one of which she sent to a taxidermist to mount.
In January 2023, Harleigh attended another BOW program
to hunt deer during the late river antlerless season. She hunted
on private property near Brady with Geiser and was successful
in shooting her fi rst deer, a white-tailed doe. The hunt was
memorable because Harleigh took her great-grandfather's
.308.
"It was special because I know my grandpa has shot deer
with that rifl e," she said. Afterward, Christiansen invited
Harleigh and a couple of other mentees to a "processing day,"
when they learned how to break down the quarters of the
deer into diff erent cuts of venison.
Today, Harleigh takes every chance she gets to sit in a blind,
whether to view sandhill cranes or prairie-chickens with her
camera or to hunt with a gun. Career-wise, she has taken
interest in conservation photography and communications.
Harleigh is set to graduate this spring with a degree in
fi sheries and wildlife, and wherever her passion ends up
taking her in conservation and/or in hunting, she will be one
to watch.
N
Becoming an
Outdoors-Woman
Nebraska's BOW offers a variety of outdoor
workshops, clinics and camps throughout the year.
Come learn something new or improve existing
skills, including shooting, hunting, kayaking,
fishing, ecological education and more. Nebraska
Game and Parks also offers women-only hunter
education courses.
To view events, visit bit.ly/3MPrUNh.
Lisius shot a doe during the late-season hunt and learned how to skin and process her deer as part of the Beyond Becoming
an Outdoors-Woman program. JULIE GEISER, NEBRASKALAND
