Berryhill bags 9-pointer

Brittany Berryhill, 11, of Taneyville, harvested this 9-point buck near Forsyth on Saturday morning. Berryhill participated in the youth portion of the Missouri firearms deer season.
submitted photo

By Phil Surratt
Staff Writer
Originally published Nov. 4, 2009

Early Saturday morning, Brittany Berryhill experienced one of the biggest thrills of her young life.

Berryhill, 11, of Taneyville, set out on her first deer hunt on opening day of the Missouri youth deer season with her great-uncle, Frank Dalton, of Branson.

Dalton owns a 110-acre ranch off H Highway in Forsyth, a perfect place for his niece to have a chance for a big buck.

And that’s exactly what happened. Berryhill made a 148-yard shot with a 30/30 rifle to take down a 9-point buck.

“It was still dark when we got into the tree stand,” Berryhill said. “We were up there just before daylight and I fell asleep. My uncle Frank had to wake me up.”

The rest was history, Dalton said. After he spotted the buck, he woke Berryhill. He told her to put the scope crosshairs right on the target and pull the trigger.

“She had never shot the rifle we were using,” Dalton said. “My son and I sighted it in the day before. The buck came out into a little clearing and was about to go onto our neighbor’s land. I told Brittany to take it now or let it go.”

Berryhill fired and wasn’t sure if she hit her target or not.

“I was really nervous because it was my first time shooting with a scope,” Berryhill said. “The shot was really loud and I was really scared.”

Berryhill said it was 7:10 a.m. when she fired her shot. She and Dalton waited about an hour before they went to see the buck up close.

“After seeing where the shot went in, I could see I almost missed. The shot was a little high.”

“I thought she missed, Dalton said. “It was right on the crest of a hill, her shot must have knocked it over on its side. When we got to see it, she was really excited.”