Thought I would share a photo/story of my nephew Koty Eggleston. He is 17 years old and lives in Mansfield, Mo.
A couple years ago I had Greg Coffey build me a Shrew. I shopped for months on-line before finding a board worthy of veneers for my shrew. I had the bocote board sent to him to grind the veneers from and it turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous bow. I shot more robin hoods with it than I have ever shot with any other bow, but couldn't get used to the sound from the carbon, so I sold it to my brother (really regretting that decision every time I see it, but it has a great home!). Well, Koty started "playing" with his dad's new bow and absolutely fell in love with it!! My brother saw how much his son loved the bow and relented, giving his only son the bow for his own. Koty has been shooting it religiously for the last couple seasons, but only connecting on frogs and other little critters. He scored some good misses under his belt with whitetails, but stayed true nonetheless! He was a determined young man and loved the bow so much he would not give up on it.
On August 25th this year, shortly after the start of his senior year, Koty collapsed on the gym floor and coded. His heart stopped and fortunately, due to another medical issue, paramedics were already at the rural high school and rushed to his side and began cpr. Had they not been there at that moment this story could have a tragic end. They were able to get his heart going, but he began seizing for 37 minutes while being life-flighted to Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, Mo. They basically shut Koty's system down to stop the seizing and kept him heavily sedated for the next 24 hrs., waiting to see the extent of cardiac and neurological damage. Our family contacted everyone we knew to start praying for healing and that he would not have suffered any major brain or heart damage during the event. Our prayers were answered after Koty spent over a week in intensive care and underwent extensive testing. It was determined there was no lasting effects, other than the original condition that created the episode. God is so good!
To shorten this story somewhat, Koty went through stress testing and discovered he had a heart defect that overloaded his heart, but it was repairable. On September 25th, he underwent heart ablation surgery to correct this problem. Again, after a lot of prayer and excellent medical staff, the surgery was successful and the surgeon told Koty he believed his heart problems were behind him and he should be back to normal in no time. So, although sore and recovering from the surgery, he began to prepare for the upcoming archery season. On Sunday morning (Oct. 11th) Koty was comfortably perched 9 ft. in the air in a super dense cedar thicket in a stand he and his father had hung days earlier. At approximately 10 a.m., Koty sees a buck approaching and prepares for a shot if it should be offered. The buck makes a bee-line to his tree and at 3 yds looks straight up at him. Koty tells his father later that he was at ½ draw waiting for the shot and squinted his eyes tightly fearing the buck would see the whites in his eyes. As the buck paused and turned to leave, Koty let his arrow fly and it struck its mark double-lunging the beast! Koty began trembling profusely as he watched the pig buck leave the scene in a panic. He then called his dad to tell him what happened and promptly told him he had arrowed a pig!!
His father (my big brother Jeff), walked toward his son's stand to join him and take up the trail. On his way, he receives a text from Koty that says "Thinkin back on it, I don't think the buck was all that big but God did he look it when I was pullin' back on him. Man, I'm still shaking!!!" Clearly Koty was amped up during the encounter to say the least! Jeff arrived at Koty's stand and began talking about the shot and where the buck had traveled afterward. Koty tells his father exactly what happened. They decide to take up the trail and find nothing for 60 yards, but Koty stands firm knowing he heard his buck crash. After sitting to discuss the trailing and whether to pull out, Jeff begins glassing the trail and eventually makes out a horn in the brush. After closer inspection by father and son, they determine there is a deer approx. 100 yards from them and is quite possibly down. They stalk up for a closer look, which reveals Koty's trophy has indeed fallen to his well-placed Zwickey No Mercy tipped carbon propelled by his favorite longbow, the Shrew Hunter. I was not there but can only imagine the emotions and joy father and son shared, in a small piece of family property, after only months earlier wondering if Koty would survive his heart attack. Praise God, the power of prayer, and the hunting bond shared by father and son that keeps pulling us all back season after season.
PS, this is Koty's 1st trad bow harvest of a big game animal. It will truly be hard to beat this considering the year he has had. The buck weighed well over 200 lbs and scored just over 143 gross inches. For southern Missouri, a real monster!! What a pig, congrats Nephew, may there be many more in your future!! Proud of you for hanging in there :shaka:
God Bless!
Oh yeah..... some photos would be nice huh!?! Here ya go... enjoy!
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r603/DonEggleston/20151011c.jpg) (http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r603/DonEggleston/20151011a.jpg) (http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r603/DonEggleston/2015-10-11_15f.jpg) (http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r603/DonEggleston/2015-10-11b.jpg)
A few more: (http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r603/DonEggleston/2015-10-11_15d.jpg) (http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r603/DonEggleston/2015-10-11_15e.jpg)
If you notice the hat band and the quiver behind him, Koty is quite an artist at creating very rustic and traditional archery pieces. A very talented young man! Me and your dad will try real hard to get some good ones this year Koty, but we may have a heck of a time besting this one. Congrats again buddy!!! :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:
God certainly is good...ALWAYS!
A little confused on the dates and years but either way a wonderful story...thanks for sharing
Wonderful story. Congrats to Koty!
Oops! My badOctober 11th, good proof reading Stickflinger! :banghead:
WOW!!!
Congrats. God is VERY good. Best of luck to Koty in future endeavors. That one will be tough to top.
Great story and wonderful buck, congratulations to the young man.
:clapper: :clapper: :pray:
Awesome story, congrats Koty.
Awesome story and great buck. Congratulations
Congrats! Great story and pics!
Thanks for the clarification....makes it even more impressive that it all just happened this fall. Koty is a warrior!!! Congrats Koty!
Great job Coty !!!
Pics are awesome too
I'm speechless.... what a wonderful God we serve
Thank God for Koty's return to 100% health and congratulations on a beautiful deer!
Denny
Very cool!
:clapper: :clapper: Great story.
Awesome story! Congrats on a stud Koty!
nice going kid!!--way to hang tough!!
We truly serve a great God. Way to hang tough Koty,and what a dandy buck.
Congrats on a super nice Buck!!
Thanks for sharing that it is amazing and made my day!!
JW
Koty, is the man. The hat is elite, and the buck is a monster. Good for you bud. Praise God for his recovery and for giving him a passion to hunt with a traditional bow. What an exceptional 17 yr old!
What a great job! And a great story. Yes we are all glad he's still with us! And we don't even know him! Get his butt on TG!
Congrats young man!
:thumbsup:
awesome , congrats
Great story.........Thanks for sharing
Congrats on a beautiful deer.
WOW!
Heartwarming Story.
Congratulations All Around.
GOD Is Good!!!
This is a great story on many levels. Congratulations to the successful hunter. Boy, he is hooked now!
I wish the news would show this kind of story! GOD is always at work and an absolute pleasure to read. Thanks sooo much for sharing.
Thanks for sharing... Good job Koty!
Awesome
Great story,deer and bow!! Congrats Koty!
And ummm, a 143" 8pt is a pig anywhere!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Very awesome story. Enjoy that moment!
Well done!!!
Very well done , stud buck , and tough kid , hats off to you sir..
,,,Sam,,,
Thanks for sharing. Congrats to all involved. Great story.
That's so awesome
Awesome!!! What a story!!! Thank you for sharing!!! Well done Koty!!! :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Off the charts! God is good indeed!!
What a great story! We are so fortunate to live in a country that has great doctors and all medical personnel.
That is a super buck and one that your whole family will always remember. Congratulations to Koty, and thank you for sharing this remarkable story with us.
The pictures are awesome also! :clapper:
Bernie
Great looking buck!
Congrats,
Bisch
Congrats Cody, Dad and Uncle.
Blessings are before us, Incredible story.
NOthing worthy to add, other then that is one glorious grin under that hat from that young man and dang...there be a lot of horn on that critter!
Such a treasure to read that tale. You're a good writer, Uncle! :) I was hooked the whole way thru.
Tell Cody to keep the Son in his eyes always...and continue to be a living testament to God's love and Grace!
Doc- your words literally just gave me goose bumps. That last sentence is amazing. Thank you all that have contributed such kind words. It has been the icing on the cake for Koty's experience and a huge reminder of why I love this site and its members. You all rock!
Congrats !
incredible story. Congrats Koty! Mighty fine buck and a nice shot too!
Fantastic!!!!!!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :archer:
Wow! Congrats to Koty on a great buck! Thanks for the story.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: The young man was truly BLESSED,all the way around. Congrats Koty.
That's amazing! Thank the good Lord he made it though okay! What a buck too, congrats!
QuoteOriginally posted by Doc Nock:
NOthing worthy to add, other then that is one glorious grin under that hat from that young man and dang...there be a lot of horn on that critter!
Such a treasure to read that tale. You're a good writer, Uncle! :) I was hooked the whole way thru.
Tell Cody to keep the Son in his eyes always...and continue to be a living testament to God's love and Grace!
Well said Doc :thumbsup:
Many things to be Thankful and Grateful for.....
The Buck is just icing on the cake :archer:
Beautiful Missouri Monarch! Thanks for the story and congrats Koty!
"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lam. 3:22-23
And as perfectly stated by Doc Nock, "Tell Cody to keep the Son in his eyes always...and continue to be a living testament to God's love and Grace!"
Thanks for sharing your story, and reminding us of gods mercy and blessings on us.
Thanks
Jeff
great job!
Very nice story and great pictures, thanks for sharing.
Congrats Koty!!!!! Thanks for sharing Don. That is a beauty of a buck.
That is awesome! A big congrats to Koty, and a prayer up that he gets completely healed!
Bisch
Great work, and great pics!
Thanks for the share of a great story. Congrats on a great buck, Koty. Awesome!
I give thanks to God for all the blessings and your story is full of them... thank you for sharing.
:archer:
Wow!! Congrats!!