11-Year-Old Kansas Hunter Downs “Ghost” on Her Birthday
Gracie Herschell got a second crack at the buck her family had chased for years, and she made it count on her 11th birthday.
The Lyndon, Kansas, fifth grader dropped a giant velvet buck the family had nicknamed “Ghost” on the evening of Sept. 9. The main-frame 8-pointer weighed 225 pounds on a farm scale and carries three kicker points. A local taxidermist believes it will eventually score around 200 inches because of its heavy antler mass, according to her father, Brandon Herschell.
A Miss on Opening Day
Gracie is already a seasoned hunter, having taken several large-racked Kansas bucks over the past few years under her father’s guidance. But Ghost had eluded the family for years, showing up on trail cameras while rarely being seen in person.
On opening day of the Kansas youth deer season, Ghost stepped out at 150 yards while Gracie and Brandon sat in a field-edge blind.
“She’s a good shot and has taken some other good bucks. But she just missed Ghost, and he ran into timber on the far side of the field,” Brandon told Outdoor Life. Later that evening, he confirmed through binoculars the shot had been a clean miss before the pair packed up in the dark.
They hunted together over the next three evenings without luck.
A Birthday Hunt
A noon storm washed out Brandon’s shift at the rock quarry on Sept. 9, so he headed home with birthday gifts and asked Gracie if she wanted to hunt. She chose a hilltop elevated blind at the opposite end of the field where she’d missed.
Around 5:30 p.m., does, a spike buck, and then Ghost appeared, the big buck clearing a fence 75 yards out. Gracie raised her scoped .270 Remington and waited 15 minutes for a broadside shot.
“She shot, and the buck dropped,” Brandon said. Aiming for the shoulder, she hit the neck. Ghost went down and didn’t move.
Grandfather Richard Basinger hauled the deer out with a farm vehicle. Gracie has filled her Kansas buck tag for the year but still holds five doe tags.
The post 11-Year-Old Kansas Hunter Downs “Ghost” on Her Birthday appeared first on AllOutdoor.com.