I love all these stories. I'm 83 years old, shoot left handed, own mostly .22s, single shot 1885s in .38-55 and .45-70 and no ARs. I'm looking forward to a hunt with my retired Marine son in heavily wooded southern Arkansas and am thinking about buying an appropriate rifle and caliber. Probably won't be shooting over 100 to 150 yards. Hogs and coyotes will be our prey. I'm thinking about an AR15 in either .223 or 6.5 Grendel. Which of these two calibers would be a better choice~?
Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote
- Thread starter DSheetz
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Either one will do what you are describing as your hunt. Shot placement is a key factor. As is bullet selection, coyotes are a softer target and much thinner so are easy to have bullets pass through them or explode and make a mess of them. Pigs are a little thicker bodied, and a more solid animal. The bullets are different for hunting these two different animals. A varmint bullet for the coyote and a more solid big game bullet for the pigs, I would look at trying to get loaded ammo that runs very similar weights of bullets and velocities for the two types of animal bodies so that I had close to the same performance with the two types of ammo from the rifle so that I had good shot placement with both and could practice with them and know what they were capable of. But your 45-70 or 38-50 will do you fine as well, big slower bullets will pass through the coyotes and hit the pigs hard for a take down on a tough animal. I probably would use the 38-50 just because with my neck being fused, I don't like the recoil of the 45-70 any longer. It's one of those things that I like to be able to shoot a few times and not hurt for several days type of thing.
Ammo selection and availability for either of these two chamberings would be my deciding factor at this time. It wouldn't do me much good if I couldn't find readily available ammo, in the selected bullet styles for the job at hand, with the chambering that I chose.
trapper1954
Well-Known Member
well for what its worth I prefer single shots for hunting. Was putting the sneak on about 50 Jakes once , picked out one standing still at about 150 yds aimed above the feathers on the neck and let er rip, Ruger #1v 25-06 120gr bthp.. Lots of floppin, Killed 3 all hit above the feathers in the neck. They got onto me for shootin so many at one time. Mister I think that 38-55 will do the job,
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- Nov 25, 2012
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Dave,
Yes, I've been using the toothed camlocks for a while now. The ones I've gotten from Minnesota Trapline have been very good.
I'm getting my cable from The Snare Shop. It's much better quality than the Chinese junk from most of the other suppliers.
I agree with you on the softness of the Chinese cable,
I've been using more and more Wolf Fang earth anchors for my Leghold traps.
I had a big male coyote actually dig and pull out a double-staked (two, 36" long pieces of 1/2" rebar with 7/8" nuts welded to the ends) 3-N that was set in deep sugar sand.
Unfortunately for him, he pulled it up just as I drove up. I assaulted him with a bullet from my AR (I guess that does make it an "assault rifle"
I carry a small DeWalt cordless drill in my trap setting kit along with an 18" long 3/4" diameter boring bit from Harbor Freight as well as a 2" hole auger that I got from Minnesota Trapline.
I use the 3/4" borer to predrill a hole for my Earth Anchors. It makes driving them MUCH easier and I have yet to lose a critter because I drilled it instead of just driving it.
Driving a stake or an earth anchor into caliche is not a lot of fun.
Ed
I was wondering because I have several dozens of those cam locks. If I find that I like the 1x19 I didn't want to just let them lay around. I still have the 3/4" masonry bit that I used to drill my pre-holes for the M-44 stakes. Frozen and rock-hard dry ground is hard on things like that even if you drive a pilot hole with a rod you have to pull it back out and that can be tough. I made my two inch hole auger bit out of 1/8" sheet medal, used a two-inch hole saw and cut a circle out of some, then silver soldered it to a 3/8" inch square stock, that I pointed on one end, cut a slit to the center of the circle and bent it down then filed it to a nice edge, so it would bite into the ground and used a brace to turn it with.
6 ARC
Agreed BUT, I have yet to see a 6mm-ARC rifle or any ammo being sold at any of the 4 gun shows I go to regularly. I looked for a while and decided that ammo availability was going to be a problem.
Donneric
Well-Known Member
Mr. Sheetz I have a quick question. I remember very early in this thread you mentioned that male coyotes will often have no hair left on their tail due to the pups attacking it in play. I just snared a male last week here in SW Montana that had no hair on its tail. First time in years I've seen that and the last was riddled with mange. I expected this one to have those black specks on the leather side that usually have holes associated with them. (Don't know what causes that but I just figure very mild mange?) This guy's leather was pure white and perfect.
So did he have no hair because back in June his pups wrestled it all off? Thanks
This is my favorite thread here btw
So did he have no hair because back in June his pups wrestled it all off? Thanks
This is my favorite thread here btw
HRM Johnny
Well-Known Member
Donneric; At this time of the year, it wouldn't be from the pups playing with it. That was in a discussion of one of the ways you can tell if a male coyote has been puppy setting and to know that if you killed one in late spring early summer that had its hair pulled on its tail you should then also look to find it's pups and mate so that you wouldn't have a lamb killer that was trying to feed her pups by herself till she got a helper. Mange is caused by mites. If memory serves me right last week you guys were having subzero weather, I know that we were, was its tail frozen so that it looked white? We got to 47 today so I spent some time playing in the garage, I started on a couple of blades for kitchen use my wife has a friend that has some young boys and a daughter that come over to help her make cookies and stuff like that so I thought I would give them a knife or two to give their Mom, for Valentines Day. A guy gave me some live oak that is beautiful that I will use for the scales on the handles, it is very much appreciated and the piece that I turned and put in the wood hardener is dry now, so in a day or so it will be made into a howler. I think it will have a nice tone to it as well as looking like a million dollars.
