Hunter: Kevin Miller
Points: 11 (6L, 5R)
County: Newton
Season: 2017-2018
Hunt Story
This is a buck I called "coyote buck" because I got my first trail-cam photo of him on July 25th, and hot on his trail in the next picture was a coyote. The last day I saw the coyote buck in daylight hours was when he shed his velvet the first of September. He was a ghost until he showed up over a mock scrape just before daylight on November 14th, and then the land manager said he saw a great big buck chasing a doe the next day and two other people saw him crossing a nearby road early the following morning. That was my key to get in the woods, so I focused on where the does liked to travel through a pinch point. I hunted the afternoon of Friday the 17th and saw 7 does and watched a good 10-point sparing with a crippled up 9-point as they were both chasing two of the does in a big opening. I knew that next morning was going to be good with cool weather and a good wind. So right at daylight I saw a coyote cut down through the woods in front of me and little did I know the irony that this would soon have. Just before 7:00 am I had a mature doe and her two yearlings come through. As the momma does always do, she was trying to figure out that something which just wasn't right when I heard a grunt behind me and then caught a glimpse over my shoulder of a large buck. Then I noticed the small doe he was pursuing coming straight to me, and then he cut over toward me to intercept her. I was almost positive at this point that he was "coyote". Now I didn't know how was I going to get drawn back on this guy with 5 pairs of eyes of me. But that big ol' boy did the work for me causing chaos when he came charging in and allowed me to draw back from a half sitting, half standing stance to shoot between two limbs and make a heart shot at 12 yards. I texted my friend Hank what had happened, and he was just as excited as I was to come right over to help track and recover ol' coyote. It was an awesome celebration as after 30 years of bowhunting I finally would put my hands on a Pope and Young just as my friend Hank had in 2001. I am truly grateful to God for allowing me to hunt and for this awesome experience and for my family for understanding my passion for the outdoors.
