Choice of caliber for coyotes

[alpuig]

.22 creedmoor New King of the 22 centerfire,

 

[AllenRay]

1 more vote for 6.5 Grendel. I would probably take some 90gr. HP.
My back up choice would be a .223. My .02

 

[Gibbshooter43]

222 or 250AI.

 

[Spoonbill]

Looking for opinion on what caliber would be the best for coyotes. At ranges never know anywhere from 10 yards to 400 yards. I'm putting a pulsar thermal scope on the rifle. I will be reloading for it. Thanks for any information appreciate it.

We've had great success in Oklahoma with 22-250

 

[Ranger Rick]

Out to 400 yards max on a nice day, I sure like my .204 No. 1 Ruger. That round is a blink round, especially on rock chunks up to 300 yards. Then a .223 gas gun is very efficient, especially if one opts for a longer barrel. Zoom, zoom 🏎

 

[Eric Muncy]

Looking for opinion on what caliber would be the best for coyotes. At ranges never know anywhere from 10 yards to 400 yards. I'm putting a pulsar thermal scope on the rifle. I will be reloading for it. Thanks for any information appreciate it.

My personal favorite is an oldie but goodie 17Rem the little 20gr pill at 4500 fps always does the trick out to around 1200 or so.

 

[dbevins49]

Looking for opinion on what caliber would be the best for coyotes. At ranges never know anywhere from 10 yards to 400 yards. I'm putting a pulsar thermal scope on the rifle. I will be reloading for it. Thanks for any information appreciate it.

I love my Franchi elite 22 250
With bering yoter 50
Works great

 

[Elfego Baca]

In my 'formative' years I started with a 22-250 and Hornady's 60 grain hollow points.
I then 'graduated' to a 220 Swift!

 

[patrickjr]

223rem for me. Light recoil, plenty of gas to 400 on yotes and my bolt gun accepts AR mags. Not that loud hunting w/o Earpro and even better suppressed. What is not to like haha

 

[C.Fisher]

Depends. I would say 6cm or 22-250 for fast movers. Honestly I don't save hides so I have shot them with anything on me from 9mm-338 lapua

 

[stonehands1]

I personally shoot a 6mm rem with 87v max, enough bullet to buck the wind and plenty violent enough to break them down. We do not keep furs so damage is not a factor for us. The 22 creed with 80ish Berger's is proving to be a killer as well.

I also shoot 6mmai with 87grn at 3500 and its my go to yote wacker for ranges out to 700ish. My biggest problem is when I get multiple yotes that I cant cycle bolt fast enough.
I just put a 6mmarc together yesterday in an ar platform. Its well built and looks to be very accurate. Not quite as fast but plenty good to 600 which is generally as far as I shoot dogs. Not a fur friendly round but ive seen worse.
Ammo very available...for now.
My 22-250 with 55grn see plenty of action as well. Its been my go to out to 400ish till now.
Now lets talk thermal.
Ive been running pulsar trail xp50lrf for a few years now and I can tell you that 400yds is not a gimme shot with thermal. Heck 250 is 2-3 at best. Yes ive made kills at that range but ive also missed plenty of 100yd shots.
The digital reticle just isn't that reliable. I record all my shots and have watched numerous slow mo replays of the reticle at center mass when fired and its a miss.
That is the main reason im going with the semi auto now is faster follow up shots. Till now ive used it on my 5.56 but have had to many get away due to the thermal not being reliably able to shoot moa or better past 100yds. I can hit most times just need more mass on target due to shot placement being not perfect.
I wpuld highly recommend an ar platform with 6mm bullet.
Hope this helps and happy night hunting

 

[6mmfan]

Im always curious to hear so much discussion of bullet drop these days with RF binocs. Dont you guys find wind and BC matter a lot more? Especially out at the extreme ranges you are talking about? But Im much less experienced, mostly PDs and rarely over 350yds. Hard for me to imagine a Hornet >500yds…

 

[Donneric]

I spent a very long time researching the best coyote caliber and bullet for a fur friendly rifle. Prime Montana coyote pelts are my focus and the twenties is where I landed. With much insight from this forum I'm having my first rifle built and it's around the 32 gr Vmax in a reshaped 223 case-the 20 Tactical. 3900-4200ish MV. The Fed hunters who get called in on livestock issues have mostly gone to the 260 here in MT because of the wind and range and that they must leave the fur in the field. Back when they could keep their fur it was the Swift.

 

[7070yshot]

Looking for opinion on what caliber would be the best for coyotes. At ranges never know anywhere from 10 yards to 400 yards. I'm putting a pulsar thermal scope on the rifle. I will be reloading for it. Thanks for any information appreciate it.

First let me say, if you get the XP50 it's fantastic. For the money the XP50 in 4-16x is perfect. I have the 3-24x and the 24 power is basically worthless. Resolution is reduced by 50% each step, 3,6,9,12,24 so 24 is not really usable IME/O. Still it's awesome. Anyway.What are you shooting positions for coyotes? Prone supported? Stand? Tripod? Bipod/bag? Vehicle?

Are you hiking in to a location with lots of gear? If so distance?

Personally I like a big gun, 300PRC, 300WM, 28Nos, 338LM. Etc.

I think an old school 270WSM could rule the day with a fast bullet. Just my opinion though.