Patrick Guyette walked up to this scene (see video below) while going on a short hike in a wildlife sanctuary on Jan. 12. According to his YouTube video description, “coyotes are the only animal allowed to hunt here and they took advantage of the iced over swamp and trapped this buck out on it where he was vulnerable.” 

Coyotes are persistent and work systematically when they kill a deer. As documented in previous issues of Deer & Deer Hunting, coyotes will sometimes kill younger deer by cornering the animal to the point where one coyote will move in and bite down forcefully on the deer’s muzzle. The coyote will then maintain its grip in an attempt to suffocate the deer, or hold it in place long enough until others can move in and help. This behavior, although common among large cats, is uncommon behavior among coyotes when they attack adult deer.

When attacking adult deer, a pack of coyotes will work systematically and attack the rear end of the deer. Their goal is to disembowel the animal. A burst abdomen and/or bladder will immobilize the deer and cause it to go into shock. From there, the coyotes will literally eat the deer while it’s still alive. Ten years ago, we published an article in Deer & Deer Hunting featuring dozens of trail camera images of a record-class buck at the jaws of some blood-thirsty coyotes. The buck Patrick stumbled upon also experienced such an attack.

Read the full details of Patrick’s encounter in the Facebook post below.

Read another story like this one below.