Griess tags first deer, wins Super Shot contest

Having grown up in a family of hunting enthusiasts, shooting his first dear was a very big deal for Jackston Griess of Aurora. Being chosen as the winner of the News-Register’s first-ever Super Shot Contest was just icing on the cake.
Eleven-year-old Jackston was all smiles when he and his parents, Luke and Sara Griess, stopped by Schneider’s Hardware to collect his prize — a Ruger model 10/22 .22 caliber rifle.
“If you could draw up a scenario on a deer hunt, it was perfect,” father Luke shared as the hunting duo relived a story that will no doubt be told many, many times in the years ahead.
Having tagged along on deer hunts with his father, grandfather and other family members for several years, Jackston said he was looking forward to the chance to finally carry his own gun. He and his dad were up early on opening day, Nov. 11, when they headed to a spot north of Sutton and quietly waited.
“We saw some does and then in a little bit a buck came by and my dad tried to grunt it in but it didn’t stop,” he said. “We waited a while and didn’t see anything so we were walking back and we saw two doe and a buck running in the cornfield. I tried a shot and missed from like 130 yards.”
The hunters took a mid-day break at Luke’s uncle Jim’s house (long enough to watch the Huskers lose a heartbreaker to Maryland) then headed out for an afternoon hunt near Roseland. Jackston needed little prompting to recall and share his memorable moment, which came at about 4:30 p.m.
“We went through a corn field and then sat there for a little while,” he began. “We saw one deer way far away and then about 10 minutes later a different deer came walking straight out. We moved my stuff to the right spot and then I shot it,” using a .233 owned by grandpa Eugene Griess.
The shot went through the top of the heart, as it turned out, from about 80 yards away.
“He tried running out of the blind the first two seconds and I said let’s give him just a minute,” Luke recalled. “We watched him run a little ways, though he stayed in the cornfield. We walked up to it and had a high five, maybe a couple of hugs, though I think I was more fired up than Jackston was.”
Asked to describe his first deer kill, Jackston didn’t hesitate.
“It was an 8 point, 4-by-4,” he said of a deer that will soon be mounted then displayed with other successful hunts in the Griess home.
Jeff Schneider then joined the conversation/interview taking place in Schneider’s Gun Lounge, adding his own dose of good-natured ribbing.
“Jackston got a pretty lucky shot off is what it sounds like to me,” Schneider said.
“He missed one in the morning, so we had to get that out of the way,” Luke added.
“You always have to fire a warning shot,” Schneider responded. “That’s just the way it is with hunting. No, actually the contest was really good, with lots of people entering. Congratulations, Jackston.”
And with that, the prize winner picked out his Ruger 10/22, choosing a gun with a Go Wild Camo design. He’s an avid outdoorsman, he said, enjoying deer and turkey hunting, as well as fishing. A fifth grader at Aurora Elementary School, Jackston also enjoys football, his favorite sport, as well as basketball, baseball and golf.
Jackston has three siblings at home (Kellar, Nash and Lynlee), including two younger brothers who have already been invited to watch and learn on the hunting trail.

Super Shot winners
A total of 26 hunters participated in the News-Register’s Super Shot Contest, which was co-sponsored by Schneider’s Hardware and Winchester’s Saloon in Phillips. Each submitted a photo of their successful 2023 deer hunt, with viewers then invited to log on and cast their votes for the winning entry. Griess was a clear favorite of the 1,203 voters, winning him the grand prize gun, though 10 other participants won prizes as well. Rhett Lorence and Taylor Smith placed second and third, respectively, earning $50 gift cards from Winchester’s. The next eight vote-getters will each receive a $25 gift card from Winchester’s, including Max and Eli Regier, Austin Wonch, Wayne Moore, Jennifer West, Andrew Feely, Stone Ott, Willie Hixson and Carter Wasem. Other participants included Clint Ohlson, Megan Ohlson, William Feely, Donovan Egger, Gage Pfeil, Kimber Majors, Kara Clark, Kaden Menke, Zach Ottman, Tia Smith, Todd DeVries, Hunter Holliday, Caleb Clark, Henry Majerus and Aaron Marlatt.
Pictures of all the particpants are published in this edition’s C Section.