While only an 11-year-old fifth grader, Gracie Herschell is a seasoned hunter, having taken several large-racked Kansas bucks over the past few years. Under the guidance of her 33-year-old father, Brandon, the Lyndon, Kansas, girl shot a giant velvet buck the evening of Sept. 9 — her 11th birthday.
“She missed the same buck on opening day of the Kansas youth deer season last Saturday,” Brandon told Outdoor Life. “We were in a blind on a field edge, and a buck we nicknamed ‘Ghost’ offered her a shot that day when he was 150 yards away.
“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 and Gracie kept hunting that afternoon, and just before dark they spotted Ghost emerge from timber farther away. Brandon checked the deer through binoculars and confirmed Gracie’s shot had been a clean miss.
“Then we gathered our gear and left the blind because it was getting dark, and the buck was too far for her to try another shot,” said Brandon, a rock quarry worker who hunts family-owned property near his home in Lyndon, Kansas.
Brandon and Gracie hunted together, unsuccessfully, over the next three evenings, but never in the same spot.
“I went to work Wednesday morning (Sept. 9), and it was sunny and hot, but at noon a storm rolled in with pouring rain,” Brandon said. “Work was a washout, so I headed home with some birthday gifts for Gracie, since she was turning 11 that day.”
When Brandon got home, he wished his daughter a happy birthday and asked if she wanted to hunt, since it was her special day. She jumped at the chance to get a shot at Ghost, the buck that for years had shown up on trail camera images but was rarely seen by the family.
“Gracie wanted to hunt at the opposite end of the field where she’d missed Ghost, and we got into a hilltop elevated blind about 5:30 p.m.,” Brandon said. “We were talking and laughing, then she looked up and saw a doe. Pretty soon a couple more does stepped out, and then a spike buck.
“Not long after that, I saw Ghost jump a fence 75 yards out, heading for the field. I told Gracie to get her gun up and be ready — he’s coming.”
Gracie raised her scoped .270 Remington rifle and had it ready when the buck walked into the field to feed. But he wouldn’t turn broadside for a shot.
“I told her not to look at its antlers while we waited and watched the buck for 15 minutes before it finally turned and gave Gracie a broadside shot,” Brandon said. “She shot, and the buck dropped. She was nervous, and while aiming for the shoulder, she hit it in the neck. Ghost went down hard and didn’t move.”
They left the blind at dusk and walked up to Ghost.
“Dad,” Gracie said, looking at the deer, “Ghost’s too big to fit in our car.”
They called Gracie’s grandfather, Richard Basinger, who came with a farm vehicle with a bucket big enough to haul out Ghost.
On a farm scale, the buck weighed 225 pounds. It’s a main-frame 8-pointer in velvet, with three kicker points.
“We’ve already taken it to a nearby taxidermist, who believes it will eventually score around 200 inches because of its huge antler mass,” Brandon said. “Gracie will have three bucks mounted once she gets this big one back.
“She got a 25-pound, double-bearded turkey last spring, and she loves helping with all the work that goes into it — prepping fields and setting up stands.
“She’s got her one Kansas buck for this year, but she has five doe tags, and she’s excited to fill them.”
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