Kilgore’s Kids Make Hunting Dream Come True For Two Sisters

By Josh Preston

In my family, hunting, fishing and spending time outdoors is just a part of life. I have always loved the idea of deer hunting since I was a small child watching my grandpa and my uncle bring deer home to be skinned and processed. Some of my best memories are of my grandpa teaching me how to process meat. 

I have been around hunting throughout my life, but it was something my dad was never interested in doing, so I was never able to go. The last few years I have been trying to learn as much as I can about deer hunting through books, magazines, (GON is our favorite), TV shows, listening to stories and advice from my late grandpa and speaking to local hunters around west Georgia. 

Kilgore’s Kids made a dream come true for sisters Lyric and Kyla Preston. Lyric has cerebral palsy and epilepsy and used a special shooting bench made by David Kilgore to take her beautiful 8-pointer.

Through reading and watching hunting TV shows together, my youngest daughter, Kyla, 7, started to become more and more interested in getting out into the woods. This year Kyla and I started to scout a local WMA in hopes to at least see some deer in the upcoming season. The more we went out, the more my oldest daughter, Lyric, 9, became interested in hunting. Lyric has always loved fishing and being outdoors, but until this year hunting or even shooting was something that hasn’t really caught her interest. 

The day before one of our trips to the WMA, Lyric told me that she would really like it if I could take her hunting this year. Lyric has cerebral palsy and epilepsy and is not yet independently mobile, so she requires the use of a walker or wheelchair. I told her that no matter what, I would try to figure out a way to make it happen. 

For months I was trying to figure out a way that she would not only be able to get into a blind but also be able to hold a hunting rifle stable enough to shoot. 

A couple of months went by and I still hadn’t figured out how to make it happen. One day we were all reading GON magazine together and we saw an ad for the Outdoor Blast and decided to go check it out. We had a great time and were enjoying visiting the different vendors, and that’s when we found Kilgore’s Kids (or should I say, they found us.) Some of the Killgore’s Kids staff saw Lyric from across the room and flagged us down. They explained to us that Kilgore’s Kids is a non-profit organization that specializes in creating adaptive shooting benches for children with physical challenges at no cost. We were able to see one of the shooting benches, and they even had a demo set up for people to see how it works. We were amazed, and Lyric was so excited! We were able to meet David Kilgore, who gave us some information and an application. 

After we left, all Lyric could talk about for months was that she might be able to start hunting soon. She told everyone she saw about their shooting benches. She even started having dreams at night of shooting a big buck. 

In December 2021, we got a call inviting us to come to Kilgore’s Kids for Lyric to use a shooting bench and go on her first deer hunt. Every day we would get up in the morning and she would ask, “How many days until my hunt?” She was so excited she could barely stand it. 

When the day came for the hunt, we arrived to a warm welcome. David and Sandra Kilgore are some of the kindest people you will ever meet and treat you like family. Shortly after we arrived, David asked Lyric if she would like to go hunting. She started jumping around and obviously said yes. David took all of us to a beautiful hunting property and got us into a blind that was easy for Lyric to access. He had a shooting bench set up and showed us how to use it. The benches are safe, stable, and easy to use. They can be controlled and adjusted with switches that change the direction and height of the rifle and can be fired with the push of a button. She was able to use the scope on the rifle with an attachment that connects a cell phone camera to the scope so that she can aim using a cell phone screen. I can not put into words how amazed I am with these benches! 

After everyone was settled in, the deer started to show up. Lyric started to get so excited. She was starting to jump around at just the sight of the deer. It didn’t take too long for a nice buck to show up. David helped Lyric line up the shot, and when it was time, she fired and was able to harvest a beautiful 8-point buck.

She jumped around and squealed and said, “This was just like in my dreams!” 

After everyone calmed down, within 10 minutes the deer started to show up again. David also let Kyla take a shot, and she was able to harvest a nice 7-point buck. Both girls were so happy that they were able to share this experience with each other. 

David really went above and beyond what we could have ever imagined. Not only did he create and build this amazing piece of equipment, but he took the time to give Lyric an experience she will never forget. I don’t think this hunt could have gone more perfectly! They’re going to be smiling and telling this story for years to come. Lyric was presented with her own shooting bench and will be enjoying hunting with the family for years to come. Words can’t express how grateful we are to everyone at Kilgore’s Kids. 

This would not have been possible without them. If you would like more information about Kilgore’s Kids or would like to contribute to their foundation, please contact them on their website, by email [email protected] them and follow them on Facebook.