With the scalding South Carolina sun hanging low in the sky, Carla Norman carefully picked her way up the 13 rungs to the top of the "Mud Field" stand. Before reaching her final destination, she halted abruptly and carefully studied the muddy soil in front of her that had inspired the stand's nickname.

"There are deer in the field already," she whispered to guide Jason Gardner and myself. "A spike buck and a doe. What should I do?"

Without hesitation, Jason instructed Carla to finish her ascent and wait for him to hand up her bolt-action .270. "I'll wait here on the ground," I whispered to Jason. I didn't want to risk being spotted and ruin Carla's chance for a shot.

It was the last day of our Women On Target^® hunt, and, although a strapping 11-point with a 17-inch inside spread had been harvested from this stand just one day earlier, Carla wanted to return home to Kelso, Wash., with venison to stock her family's freezer. With the pines beginning to cast long shadows across the field, Carla knew that a better opportunity to accomplish that goal might not present itself.

Crouching behind the tall grass that encircled the stand, I could hear the screech of Carla's bolt as she loaded a Remington Core-Lokt shell into the chamber of her Ruger M77. I cringed, half-expecting a sign from Jason that the animals had retreated from the field with white flags in the air. But it never came.

Instead, Carla slowly shouldered her rifle and eased it into position on the edge of the blind's window. Jason looked down and gave me thumbs up, signaling that Carla had decided to harvest the young doe. Three quick grunt calls from Jason were followed by the thunder of Carla's rifle, resulting in a perfectly placed shot behind the deer's front shoulder. I looked up at Carla and grinned. "That happened so fast," she exclaimed, displaying a smile as wide as the 150-yard shot she had just made.

Two days earlier, I had arrived in the Palmetto State with Women On Target Program Coordinator Kristin Godlesky to observe my first women-only hunt, a mid-September excursion for whitetail deer. Women on Target, the National Rifle Association's seven-year-old hunting and shooting program for women, coordinates women-only hunting trips nationwide. This particular jaunt brought us to Buck Ridge Plantation, a beautiful 6,000-acre hunting preserve located just outside of Orangeburg in the sandy South Carolina midlands. Between the gourmet meals, friendly staff, comfortable lodging and pristine landscaping, a more women-friendly location for this trip could not have been chosen.

The hunters in our party -- eight in all -- slowly began to trickle into camp from all corners of the country around 5 p.m. Friday afternoon. After choosing their rooms and renewing old acquaintances and establishing new ones, the ladies headed out to sight-in their rifles. Many of the women were experienced hunters who had participated in Women On Target hunts before. But a few of the women had just recently taken up the sport. And one woman was new to the hunting scene altogether. Buck Ridge's Land and Wildlife Manager, Randy Carter, was unsure what to expect from a group of women with such diverse hunting backgrounds. He soon found out after seeing their handiwork on the rifle range.

"They are very aware of safety, and they all can shoot very well," Randy said approvingly after witnessing the women's marksmanship skills. "These ladies shot better than some men who have come here for the last six or seven years. I was very impressed."

After sighting-in their rifles, the women headed down to the lodge for a hearty dinner of filet mignon, sautéed shrimp, potatoes and asparagus. A once-quiet dining room soon came to life with conversation. Recipes, hunting stories, husbands, children and clothing were the topics of choice. You would have thought the ladies were long lost friends.

"The camaraderie is just amazing," said Lisa Lynn Jasper, a math teacher and mother of two from Dripping Springs, Texas, who began hunting with her husband 16 years ago. "It's neat building relationships with all of the women. You meet people from the east coast, west coast and everywhere in between. Some of the best moments of the hunt didn't come while sitting in a blind. They happened when we were all sitting around the table sharing stories of the day's events and learning about each other."

Buck Fever Hits Camp

The first morning of the hunt dawned dark and cool, leaving each hunter thankful that she had thought to pack heavy clothing, even though afternoon temperatures were expected to soar into the high-80s. Nervous chatter accompanied a hearty southern breakfast, after which we were ushered outside to a motorcade of SUVs waiting to take us to our stands. Kristin and I hopped into the last vehicle, driven by Randy, who took us to a blind overlooking a narrow field a few miles from the lodge.

Kathe Vagt of Arlington, Va., got the hunt started off right when she took this 11-pointer -- her first buck east of the Mississippi -- at 7 a.m. on the first morning.

As night turned into the hazy gray of morning, Kristin and I heard a shot ring out very close to our location. It was 7 a.m. and Kathe Vagt, an attorney from Arlington, Va., had just downed the aforementioned 11-pointer in the Mud Field. It was an auspicious start to the hunt that, unfortunately, did not carry over to the rest of the first morning -- or the whole first day, for that matter. With deer movement stymied by the rising heat, we headed back to camp to swap stories and regroup.

Kathy Moczulewski of Warrenville, Ill., a first-time hunter, was the most excited of the storytellers. "I saw a buck for an instant, and he was a big one," she told the group that had gathered around her. "My heart was pounding. There were a few does with him, but I wanted to hold out for the buck. He just wouldn't step out into the field all the way."

Kathy explained how a series of armed break-ins in her community had prompted her husband to insist she learn to shoot for protection. After mastering the art of shooting, she wanted to put her skills to good use and figured hunting was a sensible option.

With her husband's help, Kathy prepared for her trip to South Carolina throughout the spring and summer months. "We've been shooting paper targets all summer, and right before the hunt my husband declared I was ready to shoot at live game," she said. "I'm glad I decided to make this my first hunt," she added. "I felt less anxious because of the other women."

That evening, Kathy took her first deer. The smile on her face glowed for hours.

South Carolina Horns

After congratulating Carla, Jason and I raced out into the field to recover her deer, knowing that two solid hours of daylight remained and primetime for big bucks was just around the corner. Deer movement had been sporadic at best during the first day and a half of the hunt, so we figured something eventually had to give. We just hoped that something would happen tonight.

After dragging the doe out of sight, the heat had left Jason and me drenched with sweat but pleased with Carla's haul. As we climbed back into the stand, three more deer entered the field. They caught our movement and high-tailed it for the brush, but we were encouraged to see that deer were up and moving.

With three people in the blind, space was limited. I was sandwiched in the middle with Jason to my left and Carla to my right. A long, skinny field that ran to the right of the blind was obstructed from Jason's view due to our configuration, so it became Carla's job to keep an eye on it. Around 7:30 p.m. she informed us that a deer had just crossed the road and was entering the field. A short time later she said, "Here comes another deer. It's a buck! A big buck!"

Jason grabbed his binoculars to judge the antlers. The buck was a beautiful 7-pointer, but downing the tall-racked male wouldn't be easy. For starters, legal shooting light was fading quickly. To make matters worse, Carla would have to reposition herself in the blind to make the tricky angling shot on the buck, which was feeding slightly behind our stand and to the right. Making the necessary adjustments without alerting the whitetails and calming Carla's nerves -- all in the span of a few heart-pounding minutes -- was a tall order. Jason, in his sweet Southern drawl, did his best to reassure Carla. "Only take the shot if you're comfortable with it," he advised.

Carla decided she could make the shot. She had traveled from the Pacific Northwest for South Carolina horns and now was her chance to get them. Her last chance to get them. She took one final breath and squeezed the trigger. As I watched the animal race wildly back into the clump of trees from which he had emerged, I knew that Carla's 130-grain bullet had hit its mark.

Carla Norman of Kelso, Wash., used her Ruger .270 to down this mature 7-pointer in the waning minutes of her hunt at Buck Ridge Plantation.

With darkness falling, we radioed Randy and asked for his assistance in finding the wounded buck. Rattlesnakes and copperheads in the thick brush without snake boots relegated me to the sidelines in the search for Carla's buck. While waiting for Randy to arrive, I asked Carla about her decision to shoot. "I was getting so nervous," she said. "We were losing light, and I really wanted to go home with South Carolina horns. I knew I wouldn't have another chance to get them."

Everyone was waiting when we returned to camp with Carla's trophy. Her handsome 7-point had an inside spread of exactly 15-1/4-inches. All of the ladies congratulated Carla on her successful night. Carla beamed.

"When I went to my first hunt I could hardly load a gun," she said, now a veteran of five Women On Target hunts. "I didn't even know if I could hit a deer. Now I've taken over 15 of them. This hunt has really spoiled me. Some gals get a massage when they want to relax. This is my girls weekend."

For more information about Women On Target hunts, please call 800-861-1166 or log onto www.nrahq.org/women/hunting. To learn more about hunting opportunities at Buck Ridge Plantation, visit www.buckridge.com.

The individuals and companies listed below have opted to leave a lasting legacy by generously making contributions to The NRA Foundation's Women's Programs Endowment. Income generated by this endowment is invested in NRA Women's Programs to address the needs and interests of women in the safe use of firearms, hunting and self-protection.

• Merrill D. and Lillian Z. Martin Endowment
• Cabela's
• Sayler-Hawkins Foundation
• Loon Lake Decoy Company
• State Fund Committee of Michigan
• Estate of Kathryn Henning
• State Fund Committee of Wisconsin
• The Vintagers-Order of Edwardian Gunners
• Michael Murphy & Sons

Call 800-423-6894 or visit www.nrafoundation.org to learn more about The NRA Foundation.