.308 for coyote?

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well, let me slant this from the perspective of someone that has actually killed coyotes with a .308.
I have killed out to 250 yards with my Remington 700. With proper bullets, the .308 will kill them cleanly as far as you can see them. Remember, this is the same round that snipers shoot folks with at 1000 yards.
I have been handloading the Hornady 130 grain spire point over IMR4895, and getting exellent accuracy.
In my experience, the exit wounds are baseball size, and the animal usually leaps up, and flops down.
 
If you want to save the pelt, use a heavy bullet or a full-jacketed bullet.
If you don't care about the pelt, use a 110 grain soft point or VMAX. :D
 
.308 sounds perfect to me for what you want to do with it. Great target round, cheap ammo, and it will certainly take out a 'yote, albeit possibly not in one piece.

I suspect my .357 Magnum carbine would do a number on a coyote, but accuracy-wise it's certainly not in the same league as a .308. :)
 
I use to use a 30.06 on groundhogs until I got the 22.250. The 06. was a little bit overkill with 150 gr. bullets and would blow them up big time.
 
my .357 levergun is accurate out to 120-150yds with 125gr.. beyond that I would use 243(necked-down 308)flatter shooting. if not handloading then I would go with mil-surplus 308 just for cost
 
I shot a coyote at about 70 yards. Maybe a little closer but I shot it while deer hunting. A doe came out of the woods into the pasture jogging pretty fast so I thought a buck may be chasing her. I waited about 5 more minutes and here comes out a coyote. But anyways, I had 150 grain ballistic tips loaded in my gun and it will do damage. It blew a 4 to 5 inch hole out the other side.
 
Since the coyote hunts are just an occasional thing, I don't see much point in worrying about using other than a good-grouping deer load. The typical 150-grain, zeroed at 200 yards.

For regular hunts, yeah, I'd work up a 110-grain load that provided tight groups. No big deal for a reloader.
 
The .308 is just fine, and can be used on deer, elk, black bear, as well. Ammo is readily available, not so for some of the other calibers mentioned above. It's also a military cartridge, might consider getting used to shooting it, won't hurt you at all when on active duty later on.
 
yote killer

The 308 takes them out just fine. I prefer the 22-250 with 55gr. spire boolets being pushed by 38gr. H380. Works amazing at 400yds. Very little hide damage as long as they are hit in the neck. In the chest.....well it gets messy, but dead is dead.
 
I'll be one of the few to say it...... look elsewhere. Yes the .308 will kill coyotes and you can even manage the damage to the hide by using "deer" bullets instead of light varmint bullets. But when hunting coyotes in semi populated areas I try very very hard to limit my ricochet factor as much as possible. Hard to do with the .308. Top that off with a bunch of better/equal cartridges for LR and target shooting and the .308 becomes a dud. Frankly precision target shooting with a little coyote hunting thrown in means a fast twist .223 or .243. Save the .308 for big game hunters for it offers nothing for you over the 2 I mentioned.
 
6yr old thread, but

All good points above, but a 223 will do all that you want and is cheaper to shoot, since you are a starving college student. You may even be able to sell what you shoot so that you can shoot some more.
 
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