by Helen Martin
At the prize giving of the Auckland Branch of the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association on 7 July, Year 13 Kaipara College student Brenna Berger, who lives with her family at South Head, won two prestigious awards, best head of any species taken by a hunter aged 16-21yrs and best head of any species taken by a female member.
Brenna takes punching way above her weight in her stride. Having been introduced to hunting by her father Richard when she was nine, she shot her first deer at 11 and that year won her first trophy. “It was such a good feeling,” she says. Included in the many awards she has won since then are two 2016 national titles.
As well as enjoying hunting as a competitive sport, Brenna is pleased to be providing food for the family table – she says she and her father waste as little of an animal as possible - and to be helping keep deer numbers down.
She is also busy taming her first wild Kaimanawa Ranges stallion and has her diving ticket. She is a volunteer fire fighter at the Shelly Beach fire station and as part of that is training to be a medic.
After gaining her gun licence this year, Brenna looks forward to branching out into clay target shooting. She hopes to eventually represent New Zealand at the Olympics in the shooting or equestrian events. She plans to study physiotherapy at AUT with a view to becoming an animal physiotherapist.
