"Out on the front 9 at Talking Stick Golf Club, we noticed him stalking an animal," Taplin wrote in the Facebook post Sunday. "When he realized we were watching, he came right up to our cart. It's crazy how gentle a wild animal can be when in need of help...Poor little guy."
Taplin told azfamily the coyote kept approaching him and his three friends, but said the animal kept a safe distance.
"He would just constantly just come up to us like this. But he knew that we weren't too comfortable with him being close," he said.
It eventually became clear to Taplin that the coyote was wounded and he believed the animal was having difficulty hunting.
"We noticed his back right leg was super swollen around the knee area, so it looked like it was broken," he told Inside Edition. "He wasn't putting any pressure on it. He just looked tired."
Taplin said the coyote didn't appear to pose a threat and while the group didn't have any food to offer the animal, they presented it with a glass of water.
"I was rubbing its ear and rubbing the middle of its forehead as it was drinking the water," he said. "I didn't feel it was a threat."
The coyote stayed and drank water with the group for about 10 minutes before scurrying off to another part of the course.
Arizona's Game and Fish Department said the coyote's behavior was not normal, but because it was found on reservation land they were unable to send an officer.
