.17 on coyote

They are not huge or heavy game and if a wounded one gets away he usually gets eaten by the others.
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If he gets away, then you did not do your job of making a clean kill. Just my thoughts, but that is why I gave up the .17HMR. I had one that got away with good shot placement and I cannot continue to use what I think or had experience with being insufficient.

Now for the head shot with that little bullet, I could not and would not ever try it, because I know how little energy it has after 150 yards and how much the wind blows that little sucker around. I shoot it at 200 yards on our range, and from my own personal experience, it had better be a calm day to keep them with in a 4" box on paper, huge difference at the 100 yard berm. Some of them, in the moderate wind, do not even hit paper, just hit the berm. Now, I am not saying it can't be done or didn't happen, just that I know I couldn't do it and would not try it.
 
My coyote shooting is coming to a close for this year. The last one I shot was a week ago today.
The shot was a standing broadside shot with a slight angle, the distance was just short of 300 yards.
The gun I used was my bull barrel 243, the one shooting the 95 grain BT bullets at a little over 3200 fps.
I placed a good hit in the kill zone and with the slight angle the coyote was standing the bullet exited on the far side just behind the last rib.
Exit wound was about 1.5 inches in diameter and there was parts of internal organs along with a good deal of blood spray.
When the coyote was hit she spun around three times and took off over the hill like her butt was on fire. I was totally shocked that she did not drop as I knew my hit was good.
The coyote ran 100 yards before she folded up and with out the exit wound leaving a good blood trail there's a very good chance I would not have found her. My experience with light bullets is that in most cases there's no exit wound, very little if any blood trail and the coyotes will run much farther when hit with them.
I'm a big fan of heavier bullets and I'm even considering going to heavier bullets in my 223 and the 22-250.
Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com
 
Hunter>>

Kinda sounds to me like you are using a poor choice of bullet for varminting. A .243 performing correctly on a good shot is gonna fold anything that small. I'd say you're using a deer load or possibly FMJ. You really need something more along the lines of a 65gr. Hornaday V-max. There isn't enough chest cavity depth in a yote for a bullet to perform correctly if it isn't a high velocity/rapid expansion design. Choose better bullets, not necessarily heavier ones.
 
A good 300-yard bullet for the .243 is the Sierra 85-grain HPBT. I get very tight groups with it, and it is very destructive inside a coyote.

Coyote results can be weird, however. Using a Federal Premium High Energy load in my '06 (165-grain HPBT Sierra at 3,150 ft/sec), I blew a chunk of heart and lower ribs completely out of a coyote at a distance of no more than fifty yards. He spun around a time or two and ran nearly fifty feet before dropping. Even after leaving nearly a pound of goop on the ground!

Other times, similar impact points, DRT. Damfino.
 
Critters can do weird things. I've seen fox hit hard with .243's run for 200 yards and I've seen them hardly nicked with the same gun drop over DRT. I chased a heart shot deer (12ga, front of chest) that even after waiting a bit before tracking, would get up and run 100 yards everytime I got close. Did that 3 or 4 times before it gave up the ghost. Sprayed blood everywhere as it moved. We shot a coyote a couple years ago that had 2 missing legs. All healed and healthy.

Like I stated above, sometimes big enough isn't. But take the right tool for the job. This does not mean I won't take a shot of opportunity with a lesser gun if the time arises. But I'll do it with in what I believe are the limits of me and the gun. But to go out hunting a certain animal with a lesser gun just doesn't sit right.

LK

BTW, Art.......Have you ever tried those on deer or antelope? Just curious. I'm looking getting a .25 or 6.5 for general purpose varmint and deer hunting and want to find a bullet for that may work well for both but still be somewhat frangible to limit ricochets. While I realise yours is a 6mm the info may help when I step up a size.
 
The bullet I'm using is a Nosler 95 grain BT. With this bullet and load the rifle is shooting 3/8 inch groups at 100yards.
This is the only coyote I've shot with this load that ran off, that's why I was so surprised. All the others shot with this load dropped dead in their tracks (and that's been many through the years) and never so much as ringed their tail like some do when they are dying.
I'll stick with this load for this rifle and I'm still considering going with heavier bullets in my two 22 caliber guns.
I do have another 243, it's a shorter barrel lighter weight gun that I'm going to try some Sierra 85 grain hollow points in.
Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com
 
after 150 yards
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Havent shot one that far out. Farthest shot I have had on a yote was 100 yards with my 30-06. Shot one a month ago 40 yards out or so with a 12 ga slug. Dropped in his tracks. He was eating on a dead deer, saw him the day before so I took the shotgun next time and got him.

Later on there was a bald eagle eating on that deer.
 
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