Choice of caliber for coyotes

[Howard Van Horn]

I've used it quite successfully on thin skinned varmints and predators even at ranges exceeding 400 yards.

With an MV of 2,700fps or higher There's more than enough remaining energy at 400 yards for anything from Prairie dogs, to Bobcats and Coyotes.

View attachment 345079

.22 Hornet Load Data - Shooting Times

The .22 Hornet officially turned 90 in 2020, and it is still one great little cartridge to reload; here's some load data information to get you started.

www.shootingtimes.com

Further with the 40-45gr soft points there's little danger of ruining the hide even with an exit hole.

I use a 220 Swift Ackley Improved with a 50 grain bullet. Good past 500 yards. The last coyote I shot was running away from me. I was using a .44 Special 3" Bulldog firing a 240 grain Lyman 429421 slug. The 3rd slug hit home at 75 yards and rolled him.

 

[Ohlongarm]

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

Very true thermal at this stage is not in my opinion what it's cracked up to be, some are running 10000.00 units and I kill more with a Wicked Light and don't miss.Maybe one day but too risky now. If I can get their eyes I can usually drop em, most nighttime shots at least around here are 100 yards, rarely much more than that.

 

[pupdistress]

For a Calling rifle the most efficient killer for me is 6x45 shooting 70 varmegeddon or nbt. 8208 is your powder over capacity. I run a trail xp50 at night with a dlok mount and swap out during the day. I throw my brass and don't care the reload process is easy as any thing else and I get 3000fps on 70s with a 18" barrel. No spinners unlike 55 grain 223 that everyone shoots out of 16" barrels.

 

[pupdistress]

It is not my intent to offend anyone here, I apologize in advance, but some of these recommendations are atrocious! A 17 HMR at 400 yards or some other varmint round dropping 4' at 400 yards, are you kidding me! My 20-250 with 40's drops 8" at 400 with a 200 yard zero or my 22-243 has a 10" drop with 55's. A guy really has to weed through the advice given on forums!
You sound as if you just want to kill a few coyote and not make a profession of it? And have an assortment of calibers to choose from. Rather than spending the time and expense to have a dedicated coyote rifle built, that .300 would do it i guess. I haven't looked at bullet weights in 30 caliber Varmint configurations in years, something like 125 grains the last time I've looked into it??? If so, try out a 125 grain. That will give you the flat trajectory needed and also a big reduction in recoil.

I agree I should never click on these I knew it was gonna be trouble. I'm like a groundhog with forums anymore. I'll be back in 6 weeks

 

[Husker shooter]

22-250 with 39gr ww 760 52 or 53gr hornady match. Shot A LOT of coyotes in the last 50 years here in western Nebraska and that's what worked best for me.

 

[Dr. Mac]

Hands down a .22-250 and a good 55gr Spitzer. Lead tipped spares hides better than plastic tipped, inside of 200 yards. I don't want the hides, just DRT.

 

[Danehunter]

I'm limited to:1.) 6.5 CM Ruger Precision Rifle 2.) 6.5 PRC Browning X-Bolt Pro

For close in I have a 12 ga. Benelli M1 shotgun and a RUGER 96/22 magnum lever gun (W/ accurate Green River octagonal barrel)

I DO have a Steyr AUG assault rifle (5.56 of course) but it has a built-in Swarovski 1.5x scope with circle reticle that is useless at long range. So that gun is out for 'yote hunting.

 

[villagelightsmith]

This one's on the edge of the topic, but ...
A few years ago, over on Saubier (the small caliber forum) Blaine Eddy (now gone ahead of us) wrote of killing "14 for 14 with a .14". That's 14 coyotes for 14 shots with a .14 caliber. It's a good read. As Bill Eichelberger, guru of the sub-calibers said, they are mostly a novelty round. Still, most of us shoot for fun, and (just for fun) I'd jump on a .14 Fireball, Bee or Hornet if I could find a barrel. Kept for sage rats under 150 yds, they turn the farmer's pests into "smoothies" for 'yotes & crows. I'm told they are without recoil or muzzle motion and produce neither ricochet on the farm nor hide damage on the 'yotes. The loads are tiny, so the muzzle blast is small, and those little dinker bullets produce a smaller ballistic "crack." And when the trigger-sear slips, the bullet was there a second ago. It's ... "out there."
So ... the best coyote gun is whatever you have behind the seat of your truck.

 

[OrphanMaker]

22 Creed in an AR10 or a 243. Coyotes for whatever reason are twice as hard to kill at night, they must get an extra surge of adrenaline or something. My first year I used a 223 with many different bullets, I had over 10 dogs run 200-400 yards on a double lung shot. I've also blown holes in their chest that I could put my fist in and they still cover 100 yards. A bigger gun with make up for less than perfect shot placement, shooting of a tripod is 10x harder than prone with a bipod plus shooting with a thermal isn't as precise as a decent scope. Most of my shots are 200-400 yards due to my terrain which also why I like a bigger gun at night. In the daytime I use a 223 rem with a VX3 Leupold and they almost always drop dead on impact.

 

[Ohlongarm]

22 Creed in an AR10 or a 243. Coyotes for whatever reason are twice as hard to kill at night, they must get an extra surge of adrenaline or something. My first year I used a 223 with many different bullets, I had over 10 dogs run 200-400 yards on a double lung shot. I've also blown holes in their chest that I could put my fist in and they still cover 100 yards. A bigger gun with make up for less than perfect shot placement, shooting of a tripod is 10x harder than prone with a bipod plus shooting with a thermal isn't as precise as a decent scope. Most of my shots are 200-400 yards due to my terrain which also why I like a bigger gun at night. In the daytime I use a 223 rem with a VX3 Leupold and they almost always drop dead on impact.

Night shots are very hard for sure, but a double lung shot coyote can't make a quarter mile it's a physiological impossibility.
Now ranges are very difficult to estimate at night, I know as I shoot a fair amount at night. Even two hundred yards with no air is a poke.
Not trying to discredit by any means , just food for thought.

 

[WildRose]

Night shots are very hard for sure, but a double lung shot coyote can't make a quarter mile it's a physiological impossibility.
Now ranges are very difficult to estimate at night, I know as I shoot a fair amount at night. Even two hundred yards with no air is a poke.
Not trying to discredit by any means , just food for thought.

That's only 20-25 seconds at "coyote speed", well within the realm of possibilities with a big dump of adrenaline. A human for example can with just a little training hold their breath under water for 3 full minutes without passing out and that's without the adrenaline dump.

 

[skulls1305]

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.

224 Valkyrie 88gr bullet

 

[spladi]

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.

30-06 with a break and 180 grain bullets

 

[tknuts103]

25-06