Van Fitch of Bowling Green, Kentucky, was bowhunting in southern Illinois on Oct. 6, 2007. Because it was raining that day, he decided to put up a ground blind instead of hunting out of his stand. "On the way to the field on my ATV I spotted a couple of big white dogs and stopped to look at them.
All of a sudden I glimpsed something else. It was a wild coy dog and it was running right toward me. I couldn't get to my bow in time so I just took off on my ATV and caught up with my buddy. Together we scared him off. Because of the dogs, I decided to hunt a different spot that evening so I headed off on my ATV. While slowing down to cross a ditch, I suddenly noticed a huge buck in the little patch of woods off to my right.
"Leaving my ATV running, I grabbed my bow and started to stalk the big buck through a thicket. When I got within 22 yards of the buck, I slowly raised up, drew back my bow and made the shot. Since the buck was focused on the running ATV, he never knew I was there. I made a great double lung shot with my Mathews bow and Rage broadhead. If it hadn't been for that coy dog, I never would have seen that buck. I lucked up and got my biggest buck ever and first buck with a bow all because of a dog!"
North American Whitetall North American Whitetail is designed for the serious trophy hunter. It provides authoritative coverage of world-class whitetails, the latest approaches to deer management and advanced hunting techniques.
