Many characteristics make up this level of hunting and are developed over time spent afield.

Story and photography by Bob Zaiglin

As the sun dipped below the horizon, a pair of coyotes ambulated through the thorn scrub intent on satisfying their hunger.  Approaching a small tank, they paused with heads erect, employing their olfactory system to verify the presence of white-tailed deer drinking at the water’s edge.  Abruptly they separated and stealthily maneuvered towards the tank from different directions to increase the odds of taking down their prey.

One-quarter mile away, a hunter sat patiently inside an elevated blind scanning the area around him in hopes of harvesting an old buck supporting an above average rack. 

Man and coyote are predators.  Both are meat-eaters, but the major difference between the two is coyotes hunt in order to survive and hunters live to hunt.

At one time long ago this was not the case, but today man has evolved into a consumer of appropriately wrapped cuts of meat from the local grocery store.  Modern day man has acquired the taste of meat prepared by others, thus the chain of events beginning with the harvest of an animal, butchering it, cooking it and to consuming it has dramatically changed.