Uproar over girl’s bite in hunter’s first rite

A proud father says he isn’t worried by critics upset at photographs of his 8-year-old daughter taking a bite out of a deer’s heart after her first successful hunt.

Johnny Yuile and his daughter went hunting on a friend’s bush block in Hawke’s Bay, earlier this month.

Yuile – a police constable – said he had been hunting with his daughter since she was a toddler and when she was little he would strap her in a front-pack during bush missions.

His daughter, using her dad’s Remington 7mm-08 rifle, shot a young stag from 40 metres.

He sent a couple of photographs to a Facebook page, showing a smiling father and daughter beside the stag and his daughter taking a bite from the deer’s heart.

For many people, tasting a freshly killed animal, whether it is by taking a bite or drinking blood, is part of hunting.

Yuile said he hunts for meat for his family.

‘‘She made tricky downhill shot using my shoulder as a leaning rest and shot with dad’s 7 mm-08 at about 40m.

‘‘Then she took a bite from its warm quivering heart,’’ a Facebook post said.

The Facebook page quickly attracted ‘‘haters’’ who criticised Yuile for taking his daughter hunting at such a young age, branded the hunt ‘‘sadistic’’ and wrongly accused the pair of killing an animal for sport.

Yuile said: ‘‘This is just the first time she has shot a deer.

‘‘She’s been coming out with me since she was 8 months old with a front pack. ‘‘She loved it. ‘‘There was a bit of walking for her. We stayed the night and got up early and hunted most of the day.’’

His daughter said she thought her first deer hunt was really cool.

‘‘I thought it was really cool because I like hunting with my dad and we can get some meat for my family.’’

She said she first saw an uncle taking a bite from a deer heart.

‘‘I saw my uncle bite the heart so I thought I might bite it too. ‘‘It tasted quite nice.’’ Yuile said he understood some people did not agree with hunting but he was particular about firearm safety and only hunted for meat.

His daughter was keen to learn and hunt, he said.