Many states offer special youth hunting seasons to encourage adults to pass on the tradition to kids, and recently one of those young hunters shot one of the biggest bucks ever harvested in Kansas.

During the 2020 youth deer season in Kansas (Sept. 5-13), 14-year-old Paslie Werth was hunting family land in Kiowa County (south-central Kansas) with her dad. According to an interview with the Topeka Capital-Journal, the Werth family had trail cam pics of the massive whitetail buck. Of course, photos sometimes don’t do justice to a buck’s actual size, which was the case for this 40-pointer.

“When he stood up 25 yards away, I was in shock of his massive rack,” Paslie said.

Paslie tagged the buck on the second day of the youth season (Sept. 6). "I hunted all day Saturday, opening day, and all day Sunday," she said. "It was Sunday evening when I had the opportunity to shoot him."

The buck unofficially measures 282 6/8 inches (non-typical). It’s final official score will be determined when it is measured again after the mandatory drying time of 60 days.

Note: The state’s current non-typical whitetail record is 280 4/8 inches; that buck was killed in 1987. While Werth’s buck might challenge that number after the required drying time, another Kansas buck shot by bow in 2019 measured 321 3/8 inches, but it won’t be officially certified until 2022.

Paslie’s mother said about the buck, "We've actually been watching him grow for the last three years. We feel very fortunate that she was the one that was able to harvest him."

While this deer is certainly a “buck of a lifetime,” Paslie has another whitetail to her credit that also qualifies. "My next biggest was a 12-point whitetail that scored 178," she said.

Paslie is quick to give credit to her family: "I'd like to thank my parents and grandparents for helping me have this experience.”