I got a call from a buddy recently to bowhunt his property. It’s a 60-acre farm that is full of live targets. The place has never really produced much for big bucks, but it always seems to hold an ample supply of does, making it the perfect spot to punch deer tags for the freezer. The farm also holds its fair share of coyotes. In fact, as I climbed my way up a tree with my climbing stand, I was planning for shot opportunities on coyotes as much as I was for deer.
Bloodtrails are always fun to follow – no matter the critter at the end of the trail.
I finally got settled into the stand in a bottleneck of woods between two standing cornfields. It was the perfect ambush point for deer – and coyotes – making their sneak back to bed. And it wasn’t long after I settled in to my stand that I heard the sound of critters running in the dry leaves. I initially thought it was a buck chasing a doe. I quickly stood to my feet and snatched my bow from the hook. I turned just in time to see a coyote running up the draw. I lip-squeaked to him, and he began to cut across the draw in front of me. Like they typically do, the coyote was trying to circle downwind. I knew when that happened the game would be over. I barked to stop him and he immediately came to a halt. With a slight quartering-to shot, I floated my pin for 40 yards and dropped the string.
Tough times in the treestand are always made better by coyote in bow range.
The arrow struck between the base of the neck and front shoulder dumping the coyote in his tracks. He rolled once or twice and was done. It was a quick and clean kill on the biggest coyote I’ve ever shot.
If there was a record book for coyotes he would have certainly made the cut. He was huge. The boss dog, no doubt. He had chased his last rabbit. He had eaten his final fawn. It was the perfect morning for a deer hunter stuck in the rut.
