Toby Burdette smiles with his big Kentucky buck. (Photos courtesy of Toby Burdette)
July 18, 2024
By Josh Honeycutt
A taxidermist and big game tracker (with a German wire-hound daschund), Toby Burdette knows deer. In 2023, he arrowed a massive Kentucky buck, one that he guestimates was 4 ½ years old. This was the first year he hunted the farm, and the only photo he received of the deer was the morning of the hunt in the pre-dawn hours.
He’s been deer hunting for 32 years. So, when he received photos of this deer, it immediately registered as a once-in-a-lifetime type of buck. On the night of September 1, he left home in Ohio and drove to Kentucky. On September 2, 2023, he arrived in time for a short nap before the morning hunt.
The weather wasn’t ideal, and the highs for the day would reach 100 degrees. Hunting in big hills and hollows, the area didn’t offer easy-to-navigate terrain, either. Sweat was inevitable.
Around 4 a.m., he walked into his hunting area. He’d put out a camera and some corn about a week before. He knew what tree he wanted to hunt from and got settled well before daylight.
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His stand location was in a bowl next to a funnel. Settled into his perch, Burdette was surrounded with maple trees, and white oaks that were dropping acorns. It was all hardwoods, but he had ample cover and vegetation around him.
Due to warm temps, unwanted scent, and potentially swirling winds, he climbed to about 28 feet high, and had about 100 yards of max visibility.
That morning, he saw a 1 ½-year-old 3-pointer and a small doe. Nothing else. Around 11:30 a.m., he climbed down and met his friend at the truck for a quick lunch. At that point, the vehicle read 101 degrees Fahrenheit.
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The lone trail camera encounter Burdette had of this massive deer, which hit his phone just a few hours before the hunt. About that time, his phone started beeping. The cell camera did a photo dump, and that big buck was up there Saturday morning at 2:35 a.m.
“My guess is, I bumped him out of there walking in that morning,” Burdette said.
Nonetheless, he and his friend, Todd Fogress, went back to their stand locations. Burdette even carried in some Lucky Buck attractant for the smell.
Upon arrival, he climbed back in the treestand.
“Lord, let me see this buck on the hoof,” he prayed. “I just want to see him in person.”
He was getting hot, and sweat was inevitable, so he sprayed down. Then, he settled in for the afternoon sit. Unfortunately, the wind wasn’t great. A 3-pointer walked in and started stomping and snorting. The buck put its nose to the ground and bird-dogged Burdette’s scent back to the base of his stand location.
“He found the Lucky Buck bucket and started kicking the leaves and debris off it,” Burdette said. “He got the handle caught on his antler, ran off, and started blowing again.”
A few minutes later, Burdette caught a glimpse of movement. He thought it was a squirrel. With bow already in-hand, he was ready, though. Seconds later, he spotted five bucks walking toward him. The third one was a 140-inch 8-pointer, but he could see the bigger deer in the back.
Eventually, the 8-pointer ran off the 3-pointer, standing about 30 yards away. Then, the bigger deer walked in. “My wind was blowing straight to him,” Burdette said. “I don’t know how he didn’t smell me. I’ll chalk it up to the good Lord and Ohio Ridge scent spray.”
A beautiful sight at the end of the blood trail. The buck hooked into his shooting lane, walking left to right. The deer stopped, turn broadside, and Burdette took the 15-yard shot. He double-lunged the deer. It ran about 10 yards and fell over.
“He was covered in horseflies,” he said. “It was almost like he thought he got bit by a horsefly. But his tail started going 100 mph. He actually reached back and was bighting at a horsefly when he fell over.”
Of course, this deer means a lot to him.
“It means a lot,” he said. “It’s my first out-of-state buck. Normally, I stay in Ohio because of the businesses. I plan on doing a full-body mount on him. But all in all, it’s not the kill, but the memories. I can hunt and not harvest a deer and be just as happy spending time with family.”