Ross Burton knew one buck on this farm was simply different. Not just the size, but the type of cat and mouse game he played. But on November 8, 2024, Burton beat him at his own game.
Ross had hunted this Kentucky farm for years, but he’d never set up in the exact spot where he decided to ground sit that evening. The decision wasn’t random. “This deer knew where every stand on the farm was,” Burton says. “He would always wind check the stands. You could never kill him from a tree.”
So one day, instead of climbing in a stand, Ross sat on the ground right between two known stand locations. He hoped it would throw the buck off.
A doe appeared first, just 15 yards away, and Burton was directly in her path with no cover. “She was coming in head-on, and I was just sitting there,” he says. “Then I saw him behind her. I thought for sure I was going to get busted.”
The buck was locked on the doe and didn’t notice Burton, who managed to raise his crossbow and take a shot no longer than 15 yards.
“When I shot, it sounded like I hit a rock. I thought I missed or hit a branch,” Burton says. “He hardly reacted. Just kind of walked off like nothing happened. Then he laid over about 20 yards away. Didn’t even run.”
There was no blood trail to follow, no crash through the brush—just a surreal, quiet ending to a long cat and mouse game. It took a few moments for it to fully register.
Burton had hunted this particular buck with his brother-in-law, Josh McClendon. The two had shared trail camera photos and patterned the buck all season, trying to crack the 186-5/8 inch buck’s routine.
“We both put in the time,” Burton says. “And I finally caught him slipping.”
He credits the unconventional approach with sealing the deal. “Sometimes you have to change things up. If a deer knows your stands, hunt him from a place he doesn’t expect. I never would’ve seen this deer from a tree.”
Burton’s advice to hunters chasing a mature buck that seems unkillable? “If he’s coming in but always beating you, change the playbook. Be unpredictable. That’s what finally worked for me.”
It might not have been a textbook hunt, but that’s what made it special.
