McMichael and his step-son, Acts, were in the stand together when they arrowed this deer.
August 23, 2024
By Josh Honeycutt
Steve McMichael started deer hunting when he was 10, and started tagging deer soon after. But this year, he shot a mega 4 ½-year-old buck.
The story started in summer of 2022. McMichael started getting photos of the deer, and he worked diligently to learn the buck’s patterns. Unfortunately, the deer disappeared in mid-September, reappeared in October, and then disappeared for another two months.
Fast forward to 2023. In mid-June, McMichael started scouting heavily. He hung trail cams and archery stands.
“It didn’t take long for Burley to show back up on Camera,” McMichael said. “To our surprise, he had a non-typical rack. The prior year he was a 5x5 typical. From what we could tell on camera, burley added 40 plus inches to his rack from the prior year. I was beyond excited.”
Advertisement
The bad part was their land was only about 10 acres. But it’s surrounded by other properties that appeared good for hunting based on aerial maps. Him and his step-son, Acts, went out and started meeting neighbors. Most didn’t give permission, but one did, and it opened up 65 acres of good hunting land.
Trail cameras photos of this deer helped McMichael learn its patterns. “His tract was 65 acres and only had one farm separating my tract and his tract,” McMichael said. “I contacted the landowner that separated our property and asked if he would allow me to use his land to access the other farm, as it would be much easier for me get to and access a deer stand. Although the farmer wasn’t willing to let me hunt, he was happy to help me out and allow me to use his farm to access the new tract we got permission to hunt.”
A creek ran through that 65 acres, and from scouting, it seemed the buck traveled along it frequently. On August 10, McMichael decided to scout the area during a rain event. He slowly walked up the creek, and eventually, jumped the buck out of its bed.
Advertisement
“He and I locked eyes,” he said. “I just stood in shock and looked at him for about 30 seconds.”
Yep, that’s him, and that was all I needed to know, McMichael thought.
He knew where the buck preferred to bed. The next week, he set up a bow stand nearby.
Once he found the deer, he didn’t spend much time there. He left it alone, in hopes the buck would continue to feel safe there.
“I use HuntStand to drop pins where our cameras are located, pinch points, food, stands, etc.,” he said. “I love the HuntStand Wind direction feature and use it daily during deer season.”
He couldn’t hunt opening day due to other plans. But on September 3, he made it to the deer woods. He saw several does and smaller bucks, but not his target buck, “Burley.”
The next several days produced a couple of afternoons where McMichael and his step-son hunted together. It was his first season of bowhunting, and he was just as excited as his father.
On Wednesday, September 6, McMichael picked his step-son up from school, and they went hunting. While hunting a treestand, they decided to check the cell cam app. Incredibly, it showed Burley about 150 yards away and walking in their direction.
“He knew that if that particular deer came out, I would be the one doing the shooting,” McMichael said. “I stood up on that small platform, bow in hand, and arrow knocked, and waited. My heart was pounding out of my chest. We waiting what seemed to be like eternity, but in reality, it was probably five minutes or so.”
Steve McMichael poses with his huge Ohio County, Kentucky buck. About 7:30 p.m., Burley walked up the creekbank into view.
“I was full draw for about a minute waiting on him to come out from behind a tree,” McMichael said. “He stood 15 yards from us. I let the arrow fly, and he dropped and fell back into the creek.”
He hit the buck in the spine and finished the buck off with another arrow.
“I would have never dreamed that deer would come out during this hunt,” McMichael said. “We originally set up to get my stepson’s first bow kill under his belt, (a doe or a young buck). After we had him down, my wife Jamie came down with the rest of our kids. We called a few friends and family, and to my surprise, some were as tore up as I was and said, I’ll be right there! At one point, I think we had 10 people in that creek bottom celebrating. I was just incredible and a moment I will never forget.”
