Best bullet for coyotes outta my .243?
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well first thing is your twist...
I shoot the heaviest bullet with the highest BC available
I can shoot them in the ditch or @ A HALF MILE
I like the 105 hpbt
very little fur damage
I havent tried the 115s yet but they are next
we use 2 rifles
a road gun and a bed rifle, (for when they are layin or sitting way out there)
bullet selection is based on need or use
your road gun should be a fast fast bullet
your bed rifle
the hheaviest and best bc you can stabalize
Good lck brother
I shoot the heaviest bullet with the highest BC available
I can shoot them in the ditch or @ A HALF MILE
I like the 105 hpbt
very little fur damage
I havent tried the 115s yet but they are next
we use 2 rifles
a road gun and a bed rifle, (for when they are layin or sitting way out there)
bullet selection is based on need or use
your road gun should be a fast fast bullet
your bed rifle
the hheaviest and best bc you can stabalize
Good lck brother
elmerkeithclone
Active Member
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- Jan 22, 2018
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Your thinking like I'm thinking. I have just the "road" gun. 58 grain VMaxes at 3800fps take a lot of the guesswork out of leading them when on the go. Some guys around here use the longer .224 bullets in their short barreled AR15s. They have twice the lead and sure shoot a lot of bullets to get one on the ground. My new Howa will be my "bed" gun and I want to set it up accordingly.
I don't know what part of the country you hunt but in Iowa I can sometimes glass them laying out in the open from a mile away. I like to sneak up on them and roll them out of their nest. If I can't get where I am shooting into the wind and have to shoot with a cross wind then I have to get within a 300 yards and preferably 200 or that 58 grain pill wanders something awful.
I don't know what part of the country you hunt but in Iowa I can sometimes glass them laying out in the open from a mile away. I like to sneak up on them and roll them out of their nest. If I can't get where I am shooting into the wind and have to shoot with a cross wind then I have to get within a 300 yards and preferably 200 or that 58 grain pill wanders something awful.
Hornhunter32
Well-Known Member
The 105 Berger VLD is a great bullet for coyotes. It doesn't tear them up nearly as bad as the old 105 AMAX. I've shot coyotes as close as 100 yards and as far as 600...all were DRT.
I live on the iowa border
Austin MN
23ELKHUNTER
Well-Known Member
Hornady 75 gr vmax! Absolutely love them! In those kind of winds, no going to that big of a difference, they all are going to drift. Unless you go to a bigger caliber gun.....
ERIC K
New Member
I have been shooting coyotes for 40 years and a lot has change in that time. But ballistics and physics do not. If you are keeping or selling the fur I would suggest using smaller high expansion bullets to limit exit wound size. Now that being said speed also enters the equation as it pertains to distance how long are your shots. if you live in the Dakotas, Montana, and Wyoming pretty good chance you will have longer shots use a bullet with a high B.C. will fly a bit better in the wind with less drift. But that's half the fun is getting to know your bullets abilities in the wind best to set aside some range time in the wind and shoot, experience is the key here. I normally shoot 50-55gr vmax out of a number of .223 cal guns and found to have great success with little or no exit wounds which helps fur price. Also I have found with a 200yrd zero and knowing wind drift tables usually in the 10-20mph range will allow you to do most of your work. I see so very few coyotes on the plains in winds exceeding that. Although there might be some, I find days like that better for reloading and call stand planning produces more coyotes on another day with a better controlled environment. I agree with jdg300rum an 87gr vmax will reach out do the job just don't plan on any" fur money " most buyers like to buy pelts without the "Swiss cheese" effect. I have used a 243, 25-06, 22-250 over the years all do a great job killing the coyotes but for the money I pretty much use 55 gr vmax in a .223 AR15 platform. I have had great success last ten years calling em' in at night in multiples and getting more shots on target usually inside of 200 yards had fun saw a lot of dogs made a bunch of money doing it. Go read my story Here last years Jan edition "Mooning coyotes on the night shift" I just got back today from a weekend trip saw very few dogs during the day, terrible luck on call stands in the day light no snow here lots of wind 20-30 mph. Then I went out Sunday night and had 7 dogs come in on first three call stands better results than the previous three days combined. Just have fun use big long bullets for long range and if your not keeping he hides, use smaller light weight bullets and speed them up so they come apart inside the coyote so no exit wounds and get good and knowing your wind drift holds.
elmerkeithclone
Active Member
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Here in Iowa there is nothing to stop that Northwest wind this side of Canada. If we stayed home when the wind was blowing 20+ then we'd never get out. A steady wind is our friend...so to speak. With a steady wind you can predict where the coyotes will be and that is obviously holed up out of the wind. No wind and they are apt to be anywhere. The wind doesn't let them hear you coming either....if you do it right.
It's like you mentioned, us old timers that have been at this a long time have seen a lot of change. The habitat around here has certainly changed, the coyotes have adapted to how they deal with stinky 2 legged critters and the number of people now hunting coyotes has changed. This time of year in Iowa you can hardly call a coyote. They have all been introduced to the call all ready. If you are calling and you have hawks dive bombing your position then you are doing right. At night you may get a unwanted visit from a horned owl looking for that dying rabbit but the coyotes are so wary by now that they will circle you and smell you before you can get any shooting. I have seen unaware coyotes actually bolt the other way at the sound of a call and that comes from over exposure to calling. Calling works well in the early fall when all of the young dumb coyotes are coming off the nest and they haven't been educated yet. However once deer season starts school is in session for the coyotes and they get educated fast. Granted Iowa is a lot more settled than the states that you mentioned and getting more settled all the time. It's to the point where the coyotes are coming to town at night for vittles. A few weeks ago there was a coyote curled up out of the wind behind the big pine trees at the highschool. He was sound to sleep right under football scoreboard. One of the custodians tried to sneak up on him and got to within 50 yards. The custodian came back to the building saying that there was a half eaten cat laying next to him. I jumped on the Gator and drove out to where the coyote had been sleeping and there were tracks everywhere and a half dozen places where he had curled up for a snooze. He was going to stay put until someone bothered him and once they did he was gone for good and hasn't been back. For what it's worth that scoreboard is exactly 150 yards from my front door. I think that yote was laughing at me!
It's like you mentioned, us old timers that have been at this a long time have seen a lot of change. The habitat around here has certainly changed, the coyotes have adapted to how they deal with stinky 2 legged critters and the number of people now hunting coyotes has changed. This time of year in Iowa you can hardly call a coyote. They have all been introduced to the call all ready. If you are calling and you have hawks dive bombing your position then you are doing right. At night you may get a unwanted visit from a horned owl looking for that dying rabbit but the coyotes are so wary by now that they will circle you and smell you before you can get any shooting. I have seen unaware coyotes actually bolt the other way at the sound of a call and that comes from over exposure to calling. Calling works well in the early fall when all of the young dumb coyotes are coming off the nest and they haven't been educated yet. However once deer season starts school is in session for the coyotes and they get educated fast. Granted Iowa is a lot more settled than the states that you mentioned and getting more settled all the time. It's to the point where the coyotes are coming to town at night for vittles. A few weeks ago there was a coyote curled up out of the wind behind the big pine trees at the highschool. He was sound to sleep right under football scoreboard. One of the custodians tried to sneak up on him and got to within 50 yards. The custodian came back to the building saying that there was a half eaten cat laying next to him. I jumped on the Gator and drove out to where the coyote had been sleeping and there were tracks everywhere and a half dozen places where he had curled up for a snooze. He was going to stay put until someone bothered him and once they did he was gone for good and hasn't been back. For what it's worth that scoreboard is exactly 150 yards from my front door. I think that yote was laughing at me!
ERIC K
New Member
I hear you about the wind I live in North Dakota and wind is a very real pain in the butt here for coyote hunting. It will help you sharpen you skill not only as a shooter but as a caller as well. Not only learn wind drift but how to set up with e caller , use mouth calls to move sound around, place decoys so that coyote sees it before he circles around. we try as often as possible to put some kind of natural barrier that forces coyote to come around in front of us without going through scent cone we are making. I have found calling using the wind to extend call range works good also by putting call out in front using cross wind hopefully get coyotes in and committed to decoy before coming round far enough to scent us. We have also seen how smart these critters are now that they are worth something lots of hunters and trappers afield making them very wary. we have switched almost completely to night hunting near full moons as we cannot use artificial light and our success has been great. its the one time the coyotes are so bold that they tend to make a lot more aggressive decisions in the dark. I only wished I could afford a thermal scope. At least then I would not need the moonlight as much and that would help as we have seen winds last couple weeks up around 30-40mph and although that is miserable put snow and -30 to -40 degrees below windchills and it almost pointless to try you just don't have very high success rates and its hard on you and equipment at hose temps. just not worth it. Too bad I have a real job that is cutting into my hobbies.
elmerkeithclone
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I have had my best luck calling in the Minot/Velva ND area. My son lived on a farm south of Minot for several years when he was an insurance claims adjuster for that area. I loved it up there. Tons of pheasants and we even jumped a big bull moose out of a coulee. The thing that I like most was the vast open space where you could get at a vantage point and see for miles.
We were up there for a visit and I was bored stiff one evening and the sky was clear and there was a good moon for howling so I grabbed my son's AR15 and headed over the hill to one of those windbreaks that still had a patch of sunflower seeds next to it. I didn't even have any whites with me and my son's whites were in his truck in town. I put on as many warm clothes as I could find(top layer even smelled like businessman perfume) and grabbed his mouth call and out the door I went. Once I got to the end of the windbreak I could see for a long way. I settled in and waited quietly for about 15 minutes and then let loose with a lone howl and to be right honest I was not at all used to that reed call so the alpha coyote in the area probably thought that sick son of a gun needs a butt whoopin. Within minutes I had three of them closing the distance and the front one was big and coming hard. He was quartering to me and I kept thinking he is going to smell this stinky coat any second and do an about face. I had the Rock River Predator Pursuit laying across a downed tree and was swinging on him when he slammed on the brakes and looked right at me at a distance of about 100 yards. The trigger broke and he started spinning in a circle biting at what ever had just bitten him. One of the other two ran right past the spinning coyote and into the small patch of sunflowers(I think it was a wet spot where they couldn't get during harvest). The other did an about face and ran straight away. You know those shots where they are running straight away on a flat plain and they look like a still target. I hit him right where his tail hooked on and heard that distinct kerwhop! It's funny how that sorta thing can make a fella warm right up on a brisk night.
The hard part of calling in this part of the world is that we have one mile sections with a road going east and west and north and south every mile. It is hard to get a coyote to cross a road when coming to a call. This part of the world is getting more densely populated all of the time. Gunshots at night are not always welcomed and there are few places where you are going to be out of earshot of someone. I am really thinking about getting a suppressor just for that reason. That is a lot of money to invest for an old man getting close to the end of his run. A generation 4 night scope would be nice to but not sure that I can justify that expense either.
It is what it is but I am open to any advice that will put song dogs within range as it's about my favorite old man thing to do!
We were up there for a visit and I was bored stiff one evening and the sky was clear and there was a good moon for howling so I grabbed my son's AR15 and headed over the hill to one of those windbreaks that still had a patch of sunflower seeds next to it. I didn't even have any whites with me and my son's whites were in his truck in town. I put on as many warm clothes as I could find(top layer even smelled like businessman perfume) and grabbed his mouth call and out the door I went. Once I got to the end of the windbreak I could see for a long way. I settled in and waited quietly for about 15 minutes and then let loose with a lone howl and to be right honest I was not at all used to that reed call so the alpha coyote in the area probably thought that sick son of a gun needs a butt whoopin. Within minutes I had three of them closing the distance and the front one was big and coming hard. He was quartering to me and I kept thinking he is going to smell this stinky coat any second and do an about face. I had the Rock River Predator Pursuit laying across a downed tree and was swinging on him when he slammed on the brakes and looked right at me at a distance of about 100 yards. The trigger broke and he started spinning in a circle biting at what ever had just bitten him. One of the other two ran right past the spinning coyote and into the small patch of sunflowers(I think it was a wet spot where they couldn't get during harvest). The other did an about face and ran straight away. You know those shots where they are running straight away on a flat plain and they look like a still target. I hit him right where his tail hooked on and heard that distinct kerwhop! It's funny how that sorta thing can make a fella warm right up on a brisk night.
The hard part of calling in this part of the world is that we have one mile sections with a road going east and west and north and south every mile. It is hard to get a coyote to cross a road when coming to a call. This part of the world is getting more densely populated all of the time. Gunshots at night are not always welcomed and there are few places where you are going to be out of earshot of someone. I am really thinking about getting a suppressor just for that reason. That is a lot of money to invest for an old man getting close to the end of his run. A generation 4 night scope would be nice to but not sure that I can justify that expense either.
It is what it is but I am open to any advice that will put song dogs within range as it's about my favorite old man thing to do!
ERIC K
New Member
I'm with you got kids getting high school and college ready a retirement to keep putting into and always looking for a way to up my game and solve some of the time limiting factors so I can go at a moments notice an be able to still have a good chance at knocking some song dogs down. I have been looking into thermal scopes but wow hard to put that much cash into a scope that can only be used for predators. my next option might also be a lit reticle as when there isn't much snow hard to see cross hairs in my mark AR. We'll see I take time almost every full moon each month dec jan and feb. just to night hunt mostly because it afford best opportunities.
elmerkeithclone
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I have been off to Indiana watching the grandkids play hockey so I didn't get back to this thread as soon as I wanted!
We got 8 inches of fresh snow on Monday so I grabbed my Primos Dogg Catcher and headed for a patch of woods known to have coyotes. As often happens with woods coyotes he caught wind of me before I got sight of him and it resulted in me seeing a nice dark coyote zig zagging through the trees in a hurry putting distance between us. I had just hunted a wide open area and had my scope cranked to high and by the time I found him I was able to get one shot off....close but no cigar.
I stayed put because the sun was setting and there wasn't time for another set up. I switched from the female invite call to a dying rabbit call and within minutes every horned owl in the woods was hooting above me. It was three degrees and the air was fresh. That rabbit sound was reaching a long way. One of the owls started making threatening noises and then swooped out of the tree to the north and went low to the ground and then back up in a tree. I saw movement where the owl had swooped but couldn't make it out. Then I saw snow fall from a log. Then my 10x binos picked it out. In this neck of the woods we have some huge feral cats that are nasty enough that a lone coyote will stay clear. This one was hard to see as he was snow white and was coming to that rabbit call with bob cat like caution. He climbed up a dead tree leaning against another and took a perch on a branch. He was in the open and maybe 85 yards away but he was skylined. I will not take a chance of launching a bullet off into the wild blue yonder even if I feel certain that I can make the shot hit fur....So I waited. I turned the rabbit call off as he was climbing the tree as I wanted him to investigate further and not spot my call from up the tree. As he sat on his perch I was losing light and there was going to be no moon to help me out. I hit the rodent call button and that was enough to bring him out of the tree. I lost complete sight of him until he jumped up on a stump not 15 yards from the call and 60 yards from me. I laid my 243 across the fallen elm tree in front of me and at my movement the big kitty cat faced me. I shot him right between the eyes facing me. That 48 grain Vmax explode that puddy cats noggin and got in as deep as the front shoulders.......there was still plenty left for the coyotes to eat for dinner. Nothing makes red stand out like white fur and snow.
We got 8 inches of fresh snow on Monday so I grabbed my Primos Dogg Catcher and headed for a patch of woods known to have coyotes. As often happens with woods coyotes he caught wind of me before I got sight of him and it resulted in me seeing a nice dark coyote zig zagging through the trees in a hurry putting distance between us. I had just hunted a wide open area and had my scope cranked to high and by the time I found him I was able to get one shot off....close but no cigar.
I stayed put because the sun was setting and there wasn't time for another set up. I switched from the female invite call to a dying rabbit call and within minutes every horned owl in the woods was hooting above me. It was three degrees and the air was fresh. That rabbit sound was reaching a long way. One of the owls started making threatening noises and then swooped out of the tree to the north and went low to the ground and then back up in a tree. I saw movement where the owl had swooped but couldn't make it out. Then I saw snow fall from a log. Then my 10x binos picked it out. In this neck of the woods we have some huge feral cats that are nasty enough that a lone coyote will stay clear. This one was hard to see as he was snow white and was coming to that rabbit call with bob cat like caution. He climbed up a dead tree leaning against another and took a perch on a branch. He was in the open and maybe 85 yards away but he was skylined. I will not take a chance of launching a bullet off into the wild blue yonder even if I feel certain that I can make the shot hit fur....So I waited. I turned the rabbit call off as he was climbing the tree as I wanted him to investigate further and not spot my call from up the tree. As he sat on his perch I was losing light and there was going to be no moon to help me out. I hit the rodent call button and that was enough to bring him out of the tree. I lost complete sight of him until he jumped up on a stump not 15 yards from the call and 60 yards from me. I laid my 243 across the fallen elm tree in front of me and at my movement the big kitty cat faced me. I shot him right between the eyes facing me. That 48 grain Vmax explode that puddy cats noggin and got in as deep as the front shoulders.......there was still plenty left for the coyotes to eat for dinner. Nothing makes red stand out like white fur and snow.
elmerkeithclone
Active Member
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A long time ago I decided that I needed a woods rifle. Something that offered fast follow up shots at relatively short distance on fleeing coyotes. My buddy Jimmy has always said that anyone that would shoot a coyote with a shotgun would also French kiss his own grandma. Jimmy is full of hooey as a dead coyote is a dead coyote. I however prefer to used a rifle so have been in the market for an AR 15. I had a Mini 14 that actually shot inch and a half groups but my son-in-law who I think the world of borrowed it to hunt with a group of guys just west of Des Moines. He killed the first coyote that he ever shot at with that Mini 14 so I deemed it his.
I just ordered a new Ruger 556 MPR with my wood cutting earnings and have enough cash left over for a decent scope. The rifle shows up on Friday. I will play with it a while and then start another thread concerning that rifle!
I just ordered a new Ruger 556 MPR with my wood cutting earnings and have enough cash left over for a decent scope. The rifle shows up on Friday. I will play with it a while and then start another thread concerning that rifle!
