Frank Coyne and two of his sons have made the Tensas National Wildlife Refuge lottery rifle hunt a tradition during the past several years, but this year’s hunt didn’t start off very well and the trio didn’t even try to go to their primary area on Dec. 11.
“One of my son’s 4-wheelers wouldn’t start,” Coyne said. “We were late getting in the woods. So actually, the spot I went to was Plan B. We figured there would already be hunters in our first choice.”
That change of plans was fortuitous, since an hour after settling into his stand Coyne downed a 19-pointer that later green scored 165 2/8 Boone & Crockett.
Click here to see other photos of the buck.
Coyne and his two sons, 23-year-old Matthew and 22-year-old Patrick, had thoroughly scouted the couple of days prior to the lottery hunt, keying on scrape lines.
“There’s a lot of sign in that area,” the elder Coyne said. “I also have a really good friend who is a bow hunter, and knows a lot more (about hunting) than I do, and he said there is good pressure around the area.”
After the difficulties with the ATV that first morning of the hunt, Coyne finally settled into his stand at 6:25 a.m. He was overlooking a slough that provided a break in the thick undergrowth.
His sons also had located scrapes along the high side of the slough, and had told their father that’s where any deer should appear.
After an hour without seeing anything, movement caught Coyne’s eye. A deer was stepping out of the thick growth.
“He was going straight for one of the scrapes,” the Covington hunter said. “I saw the left side of the rack. It was tremendous. I thought it might be a decent 8-point.”
That’s the last time he caught even a glimpse of the antlers.
When I put him in the scope, all I saw was his tail,” Coyne said. “He was going dead away from me.”
Coyne thought he would have to watch the buck disappear into the thicket again, but the deer finally turned to the right.
However, its head was quickly behind a tree, and Coyne still couldn’t see exactly how big the buck was. That was probably a blessing, as he was able to concentrate on the shot
“He stepped between two trees and stopped,” Coyne said. “I had a little window, and I figured I better shoot.
“When I shot, he fell right there.”
The hunter could only see the buck’s body as he reloaded his .308, and that was his first hint that he had killed a mature buck.
“When he fell, I could see his body, and I thought, ‘Man, that’s the biggest deer I’ve shot,’” he said.
When the deer didn’t budge in a few minutes, Coyne climbed out of his tree and eased the 75 yards to his trophy.
“I was good up to that point,” he laughed. “When I saw it, I was like, ‘That’s my buck of a lifetime.’”
The antlers stuck up over the thick body, and took Coyne’s breath away.
“The first thing I saw was the mass,” he explained. The thickness of the antlers blows out anything I’ve seen or shot.”
And then he started counting the points.
“That was comical,” Coyne said. “I kept coming up with 21, then 20, and I was like, ‘I can’t get it right.’”
He finally settled on 19 scoreable points, with two more stickers that were less than an inch long.
“Immediately, I called (Matthew) and he was, like, ‘There’s no way. You’re lying to me,’” Coyne said.
The father-and-sons team decided that the younger Coynes should remain on stand until 9:30, while their father dragged the big animal to a nearby trail.
“I didn’t get the deer anywhere close,” Frank Coyne laughed.
The boys were stunned by their father’s kill, and Coyne said there was actually only one thing that would heighten his excitement.
“The only that could have made it better is if one of (his sons) had killed it,” Coyne said. “I don’t go looking for that stuff; I’m happy with a doe.”
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