Two trophy bucks with a bow in two weeks is quite an accomplishment
It’s a rare accomplishment for an archer to take two big whitetails in the same season, but it’s even less common for a female hunter. Consider Burlington’s Lynsey Koury an uncommon hunter. She took up hunting in 2008 when she and eventual husband Carson started dating, and last fall, she killed two trophy bucks in the space of two weeks.
After they were married 2½ years ago, Lynsey Koury became immersed deeply in hunting. Her husband opened an outdoors shop, Buttermilk Creek Outfitters, and started a hunting television show that airs on the DISH network.
Lynsey Koury bagged a 10-point buck with a rifle in 2009, which ignited a fire to hunt. After that buck, she moved to archery, using a Bear Motive compound set at 54 pounds draw weight.
“I work out because it builds up your arms and shoulders and helps you with the poundage,” said Koury, 27. “Shooting once a week also helps.”
Lynsey Koury hunted Nov. 17 with her husband’s best friend, C.J. Gantos, who was filming a segment for “Southern Trophy Hunters,” Carson Koury’s television show. They were in a 2-person ladder stand when a big buck arrived.
“C.J. heard him first, then he walked within five yards of (us). I put the 20-yard pin on his shoulder, but the shot was almost straight down,” she said. “It happened so fast C.J. couldn’t film it.”
After the shot, the buck ran, so they got out of the stand and headed off to have breakfast. When they returned, Gantos found the buck, which had come to rest in a creek. His father, taxidermist Chuck Gantos, scored the rack, which was a main-frame 4×4 with split G2s on both beams, at 147 7/8 gross inches.
Koury and her husband hunted a different property in Alamance County the morning of Nov. 30, climbing into a buddy stand 22 feet off the ground in a nearby tree with his camera.
Her husband first spotted a big 8-pointer walking toward the stand from the left.
“The buck walked right under us, and I thought his (pelt) was so thick there was no way an arrow could penetrate it,” she said. “I had to take a quartering-away shot.”
After she released the arrow, the buck ran away.
“I was crying because I thought I’d made a bad shot,” she said. “But Carson said, ‘You got him!’”
While taking a break to let things settle, they looked at Gantos’ images on a television at the Koury’s house, but that made her felt even worse.
They returned that afternoon, and Carson found a blood trail, but she hung back. Then, her husband and Gantos motioned for her to come forward.
“They said, ‘We want you to follow this trail,’ and when I did, I found the buck on the ground,” she said. “I felt so blessed and excited; I couldn’t believe it.”
A green score of the 8-pointer’s rack revealed about 130 inches.
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