Too much horsepower for coyote?

If you don't care about the fur then use what your rifle likes because accuracy reigns supreme. If you are out on a stand hunting edible game you will not have time to sight in for a different load.

If the coyote is close you could use a very reduced load if it was in the rifle already but the coyote will not stick around for the clickity clacking of switching ammo.

I don't see much of a path for fur with a heavy rifle. I can see a heavy enough bullet for close range edible game with a 7mm TCU and hitting a coyote and not blowing it up.

I understand not shooting for fur because I see coyotes as a pest to our livestock. The only fur I am interested from them would be to get a good one for the dressing up of a decoy. I can rely on a decent hit to get me a useable pelt if and when that happens. But I will just kill anyway that comes out until I get a good one.

Many years ago when I was first getting acquainted with the 22-250 I was running the Sierra 55 gr. Game King for a time. That bullet is a gem! Probably one of the most versatile built for speed bullets for high velocity 22 CF rifles available at a reasonable cost! What I noticed was that coyotes reliably died but the exits were reliable but not spectacular.

In my State the 22 CFer's are not legal for deer, elk or bear. But if they were, the Sierra 55 gr Game King would serve as a very good all around bullet. When you get into the heavy calibers such as 25 caliber and up and certainly by 6.5mm and up that you can help but have bone getting blasted loose and adding to the fur ripping process no matter the bullet construction as long as that bullet is moving fast. Sure there would be exceptions where the placement was just so, but day in and day out you are going to lots of tear up.

Since I am not into fur I use whatever is at hand and that includes 300 RUM or 7mm Remington Mag. However due to recoil considerations I favor 25-06 and down with a great inclination towards 22CF (22-250) and the 204 Ruger with a 32 gr V max in particular. A lot of my 22-250 hits using the Nosler 55 gr Balistic tip produced a fur friendly result (exploding entirely inside) though I was loading for a dead "dog". A friend would come several miles to pick up my kills and marvel at how that bullet performed and take them home to skin and sell. He could not believe what he saw and ask would me how I did that. Every time I told him I just use a near max charge or Varget and hit them in the bread basket like I do not have any better sense!

With the 204 Ruger I have seen it hit the neck broadside at 275 yds. (32 gr max) and not exit but I have also seen on a pup coyote hit high in the back literally grenade.

Thre44s
 
Last edited:
Last year my buddy shot a big old dog with his 300 Weatherby Mag. from his deer stand at about 115 yards..It was dead,,Very dead! All that was worth saving was the tail. He was more interested in getting rid of it than keeping the hide..
 
My brother hit a coyote in the chest head on at 200 yds with his then new 300 Win Mag Browning A bolt at night. The 'ote did a reverse one and a half gainer! The light up eyes told the story!

Three44s
 
Just curious what y'all might consider too much for coyote hunting, if pelt preservation is one of the goal? Right now I shoot a 7mm SS, but haven't shot anything lighter than the Sierra 140gr SBT. I'm wondering if I could use this round and the 110gr Speer HP TNT effectively or if I need something with less gideup behind it.
***********************************************************
You can use that round, but the bullets are still going in one side and out the other. If you use full metal jacket bullets the holes will be small and the yote may run off, but if you get good solid hits they won't go very far. For bullets that don't exit you will need something like a hollow point 22 caliber. I shoot them with a 243 and 58 grain bullets and they go in one side and out the other, and it tears them up on the way thru, but I don't bother with the pelts either, so I don't care.
 
morning, what I use to kill yotes depends on what caliber I am hunting
with. I love my 340wbee. kills very well. some will say the 349wbee
is to much caliber to hunt deer or other game animals. I personally
am very comfortable using and shooting my wbee.
I've seen to many times hunters TV talking about there wonderful
deer on there property, then pass up shooting a yote seen while
hunting. then complain that a shot deer can not b found. then
find the deer had been eaten by yotes. then complain about their
loss. all these TV hunters care about is the deer they harvest.
large the antlers. this is not respecting the game animal
that was killed.
Money money money sponsors watching there own videos.
Jackie bushman is 1 of the worst. there r others I can not
remember. justme gbot tum
 
Just curious what y'all might consider too much for coyote hunting, if pelt preservation is one of the goal? Right now I shoot a 7mm SS, but haven't shot anything lighter than the Sierra 140gr SBT. I'm wondering if I could use this round and the 110gr Speer HP TNT effectively or if I need something with less gideup behind it.

When the end result is ...

1 of 2 coyote.jpg
2 of 2 coyote.jpg

Taken with .270 AI propelling 175 Matrix VLD at 2993 FPS MV at 525 yards. Chest shot, sitting down facing me. :cool:
 
Last edited:
There is no such thing as to much HP for Coyotes. 375 cheytac with a 350grn mth cutting edge vs 223.

Xdeano
 

Attachments

  • 0311191534.jpg
    0311191534.jpg
    1.5 MB · Views: 136
If preserving fur is the game the 7mm is overkill. I have issues with a 223 at times and pelt destruction.
 
If you really want to save a pelt, use a 17 rem and shoot 30grn bullets? They punch a nice little hole and makes Jello out of the inside.

Xdeano
 
Just curious what y'all might consider too much for coyote hunting, if pelt preservation is one of the goal? Right now I shoot a 7mm SS, but haven't shot anything lighter than the Sierra 140gr SBT. I'm wondering if I could use this round and the 110gr Speer HP TNT effectively or if I need something with less gideup behind it.

****************************************************************
Keeping in mind that this is only my opinion, I don't believe there is any such thing as too much horsepower for coyotes. If you are going to hunt them, it seems only proper to make sure that they are killed dead with as little ceremony as possible.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 5 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Recent Posts

Top