Coyote gun

[Kwood]

Just asked about a deer gun, now asking about a coyote gun... someone is going to buy a new gun, haha...

Thinking 22-250. Any opinions? Best value model?

Hoping to eliminate a few coyotes from the property this year.


Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum

 

[catscratch]

Something with cheap and readily available ammo. Nothing worse than a gun that sets most of its life in a cabinet because it costs to much to pull the trigger. Anything will kill them; .17, .204, .223, etc. Take your pick and have fun. I know the smaller rounds are fun on birds and small game too.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[dogdoc]

I don't actually own a "coyote" gun. I just use the same gun I deer hunt with - 25-06. Now if I was a big time yote hunter and trying to save pelts then a 22-250 or a 6mm Remington would be my choice. I don't know if ammo availability is the same for the two.

 

[j-bird]

My "go to" critter gitter - is my browning A-bolt medallion 22-250. Anything from 0 to 300 yards is dead meat - just hold dead on and let it rip! Yotes, ground hogs, coons and all other "critters" run in fear!!!! I tend to be able to find 22-250 ammo pretty easily.

 

[tlh2865]

I own a 22-250 and I have no doubt it would do a number on a coyote but I have never shot anything but targets with it. Thy are flat and they are fast, so if you're hunting fields I'd say that would be a fine choice. I would caution you against a .223 though. It has been my experience that coyotes, even small ones, are some tough SOBs. I have shot two coyotes with an AR-15 both in the boiler room, one at 15 yards, and I have not recovered either one. I tracked one 150 yards in the dark until the blood trail ran out. Another time I shot one with my 270 WSM and put an exit wound the size of a baseball out one side of its chest, and that dang thing ran 100 yards.

 

[Nebraskaz71]

I just got done building a tikka t3 .223 thats sole purpose will be coyote hunting. I almost went 22-250 probably shoulda but heard way to many times it does a good deal of damage to the fur and I wanted to be able to sell some.

 

[Kwood]

How is yours set up?


Sent from my iPhone using Deer Hunter Forum

 

[Turkey Creek]

.22-250 have no idea how many yotes mine has taken. Killed another this morning. Big old male punched him in the boiler room and he never took another step. He is fleshed and on the stretcher as I type. My gun is a tack driver and with the right round I have never had an exit on a yote.

 

[GonHuntin]

I've killed a bunch with the 22-250, the 243 and the 223.......if you have any inclination to save the hides, go with the 223. If the opportunity to take a fox or bobcat might present itself, definitely go with the 223......even the 223 will ruin a pelt on bobcat or fox sometimes. Coyotes are open season year around in Oklahoma, fox and bobcat open in December.......I don't usually skin coyotes so I carry the 22-250 in the off season.

This is common with a 243 or 22-250, especially if you hit bone.

 

[Native Hunter]

An anal entry shot with a 22-250 is somewhat effective:

 

[j-bird]

That's awesome Native!!!!!
I shot one with a 12 gauge deer slug once while deer hunting - that one didn't require any tracking!

 

[Native Hunter]

That's awesome Native!!!!!
I shot one with a 12 gauge deer slug once while deer hunting - that one didn't require any tracking!

J, it was a surprise to me. Never thought about an explosive bullet (55 grain BT) going all the way through the entire body and exiting the face.

 

[Turkey Creek]

You guys are shooting those yotes in the wrong spot or the with the wrong load if you are having serious damage with a .22-250. I cant even remember the last one that I shot that had an exit hole. By buddy and I both shoot .22-250s with 55 gr V-Max bullets. Heck every serious caller I know around here shoots a .22-250 and we have a lot of coyote hunters where I live. I am currently shooting factory ammo because I havent had time to reload but I have shot that bullet both in reloads and factory. My buddy shot one at 10 yards the other morning and it didnt exit. .223 is only popular with the AR shooters where I live and that is because that is the typical AR caliber. I have killed more than 1 bobcat with my .22-250 as well with no exit. Fox are a completely different animal. If you are shooting them and plan to save hides it better be with a .22 mag or shotgun. I used to shoot them with a 40 gr hollow point out of my .22-250 but always had a exit hole of some sort.

 

[Nebraskaz71]

i'm shooting .223 53 grain vmax hornady superperformance at the moment. My longest shots will be under 250 so I still think the .223 was right for me. Atleast I hope, once I get my electronic caller in I will find out.

 

[boot]

You can't go wrong with a .223

 

[GonHuntin]

Didn't know there was a wrong place to shoot a coyote?

 

[j-bird]

Didn't know there was a wrong place to shoot a coyote?

It depends on what your intention is - I just want them dead so I I don't care. Shoot them any way you can as far as I am concern. I don't want them to suffer on purpose, but if it means a less than perfect shot - I'll take it.

 

[GonHuntin]

I'm with you.....just posted that because Turkey Creek said we must be shooting them in the wrong place!

I kill almost all of the coyotes I take by calling them in......sometimes you don't get to wait for the perfect shot on a coyote coming in fast.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Didn't know there was a wrong place to shoot a coyote?

There is if you are fur hunting. Your original post made it seem that the .22-250 caliber was a poor choice for killing coyotes as it causes too much damage. My point being is that if you hit a coyote with a frontal dead center in the chest, a TX heart shot, or through the rib cage area with a 55 gr VMax bullet you will rarely have a exit wound and on top of that you have a dead coyote at least from Nebraska north through the Dakotas. Maybe an OK coyote is a lot smaller or is some how more likely to have an exit hole with a .22-250? The coyotes I shoot can bring anywhere from $20-$100 so I shoot them with the most effective caliber that I know that does the least amount of damage. If someone else has a preferred caliber and bullet that meets their goals then that is fine with me as well.

 

[Paradise725]

Hard to go wrong with either a .223 or a 22-250. If I were planning to shoot out past 300 yds frequently then I would go 22-250. Otherwise, 223 is widely available, cheap, and quite effective in my experience.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk