While most kids celebrate turning 11 with cake and presents, Gracie Herschell added a 225-pound velvet buck to her day! According to Outdoor LIfe, the fifth grader from Lyndon, Kansas, had already built quite the hunting résumé, but a giant buck nicknamed “Ghost” had unfinished business with her. Gracie missed him at 150 yards on opening day of Kansas’ youth deer season, then spent the next few evenings hunting with her dad, Brandon, without another sighting. A rainstorm changed that on Sept. 9, Gracie’s birthday, when Brandon’s workday got washed out, and the two decided there was no better birthday activity than giving Ghost another try.
That evening, Ghost finally hopped a fence about 75 yards from their blind, but he made Gracie wait about 15 minutes before offering a clean broadside shot. With her .270 Remington aimed, she squeezed the trigger and dropped the buck. Walking up to him afterward, Gracie immediately spotted a logistical problem: Ghost was way too big for the family car. Grandpa and a farm vehicle came to the rescue, and the buck later tipped a farm scale at 225 pounds. The velvet-covered main-frame 4×4, complete with three kicker points and massive antlers, is expected to score around 200 inches. Not a bad way to turn 11, especially considering Gracie still has five doe tags waiting for her!
Rock on, and this is just another reason to get those kiddos out there!
Photo credit: Gracie Herschell, Brandon Herschell
Montana's outdoor week, in your inbox at 7am Friday.