Page 44 - South Mississippi Living - February, 2021

SPORTS & OUTDOORS
In her rst 19 years, Kalee Guin already accomplished what many veteran sportsmen can only envy. The 2020 high school graduate hunted with TV celebrities, raised a champion pig and even received video encouragement from country music singers Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean wishing her good luck on her hunt.
Not a bad start for someone who admits to never being invited to parties, sleepovers or other teen social functions. When one considers her physical limitations, the record becomes even more amazing. Kalee su ers from cerebral palsy, epilepsy, a rare kidney disease and other health issues, any one of which would sideline most people.
When Guin was 11 years old, her mom, Sally Long, found out about a hunt in which she could participate and talked it over with her husband. Guin’s stepdad hunted
in his younger years, but got away from it. They both encouraged her to go on the hunt.
“I really wanted to try it,” Guin recalls. “I didn’t get a deer, but I still had the best time. I’m thankful for hunt- ing because it’s part of who I am now. It has given me a purpose.” While she didn’t down a deer on that rst hunt, it began a series of events still in motion. Since then, Guin bagged a big buck in Texas on a TV show called Brush Country Monsters with Lamar Smith, hunted with Tom “Tom- bo” Martin from Buck Commander and bagged deer in several states. She also took a bull elk in New Mexico. Her biggest prize for the Mississippi girl, though, came close
to home when she tagged a 12-foot alligator and plans to mount the head.
“Taking that alligator was probably one of the most memorable hunts because it was so big, and exciting,” she says. “It was just amazing.”
44 | February 2021
www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living
Overcoming the Odds
Mississippi Girl Doesn’t Let Disabilities Keep Her Down
story by John N. Felsher photos courtesy of Kalee Guin