The Eastern Coyote (genus canas) can reach 80 pounds and will attack a human when in packs. One of the most recent attacks – mentioned in the January 2010 issue of “Fur, Fish and Game” magazine – was when a pack of coyotes killed a 19-year-old female hiker in Nova Scotia.

The coyote population in Virginia in growing and they mostly hunt in the dark – the usual time when bowhunters are going to and from their stands. Archers should be especially alert during these times, especially if they hear multiple coyotes.

My adventure with a coyote was in Rockbridge County in the 2009 bow season. One day I was in one of my favorite tree stands and had noticed that I did not see as much deer sign as in previous years. I did hear turkeys in the hollow not far away and thought it unusual for them to be still in the trees at 8 am. I thought they were just sleeping in until I saw movement on the ground. It was a very large coyote running toward me on the deer trail. It ran past me and kept going, perhaps trying to chase down its breakfast. No luck seeing any deer that day.

I was back in the stand about a week later and around 8 am blew my deer bleat call. After about 10 minutes, I saw brown with a long nose. It was a coyote around 70 yards away heading my way on the deer trail. It would take one step and stop and stare. One stalking step at
a time, obviously looking for the deer that made that bleat, it took him 15 minutes to be within my bow range. I never made a sound nor did I move. Down the hill, at around 15 yards, he stopped and looked straight up at me. I focused on his shoulder, pulled the Fred Bear
recurve bow back and when I touched my anchor point the arrow was gone. I watched the feathered fletched aluminum arrow with the razor head hit him at the back of the shoulder. The coyote ran straight down the hill and disappeared. After about an hour I saw a vulture land in a tree in the direction the coyote ran. I thought maybe I got lucky and he could see something I could not see. After another half hour I climbed down and followed the blood trail, finding my arrow in about 10 yards. In another 30 yards, there was the coyote, stretched out on his belly with his eyes open and tail up, dead.

My idol Fred Bear (a famous instinctive bowman) would have been proud. The tradition continues.

Good luck and be careful. The coyotes are out there.