Proper Coyote caliber?

I think the 223 would work just fine. I use a 25-06 or a 12 gage pump. I think you need to check out the laws better. To my knowledge Michigan only closes the season on coyote during the firearm deer season and that is to protect the very bad for wildlife timber wolf. Pelts are really only worth anything in the later fall and early winter. If you hunt outside of that time use what you will as the hide is not worth the chances you have to get fleas, ticks, or mange from them.
 
For the distance you want to shoot the coyotes at you might consider a .357 Mag carbine with 158 gr soft point ammo. This will definitely address your safety concerns (obviously you still need to be careful), but I'm not sure it will be the best as far as pelt preservation.
 
22 mag will go just fine if it under 70 yard shots like you say. Ive been hunting coyotes for a long time and have just recently started using a 22 mag, only because it was a gift. Before hand, I used my 22LR and have killed nearly 75 yotes or more from varying ranges closer and farther than 70yrds.
 
anything bigger then a bb gun is to much:rolleyes: seriously, 75yrds+ you need a bigger gun, but, for under 75 a 22lr will work just fine, choose a heavy bullet-stingers are not what you want, they bleed energy waaaaaay too quickly and are too light to sufficiently and reliably penetrate. use a velocitor 40grn GDHP at around 1430fps, or the eley hvhp, winpp work ok too, regular MM or Super x or American eagle wont do, these rounds acount for the 22's poor kill stats, I have killed yotes cleanly, only shot 2 yotes in my life, both drt or within 30ft
oh,hollow point is a must! along with a bullet heavier then 36grns and faster then 1255 fps
Good luck, let the torch blow, I've got ceramic-tile armor!
Chase
 
Been shooting Yotes for years ,must have shot 50 or 60 over the last 20 years always used an AR15 with 5.56x45 55 grain xm193 or Q3131 ball ammo and never had a problem it realy tears them up .they are varmints after all.
 
I don't think there's ever been a finer coyote round for shots over 250 yards than a .243/6mm. The 25-06 will work too, only with slightly more blast and muzzle jump.

For under 250 yards -.204 ruger!!!
 
The big question in this is wether or not you hunt for hides.
If you are just exterminating 'yotes, the 223 will do fine. If you are hunting for the hide market you need something that will not blow holes in them. The 22 Hornet or the 22 WRM will both do fine for a hide hunter but use the fmj loads in the WMR and reload 55 gr surplus fmj in the Hornet.

SamD
 
Sam, you sound like you know what you are talking about...but. Try the 35gn Vmax, push them around 33-3400fps. I did alot of testing for the purpose of anchoring and minimal hide dammage. My target for testing, 2L bottle 3/4 full of water at 50yds. The 35s will explode the bottle but not exit the far side. On coyotes from 30-110yds, I have not cut the hide anywhere except the entrance hole. Bullet frags and makes jell of the vitals. Fragments hang up in the meat of the ribs, I have not tried it closer of further than the above ranges, but have taken 32 with this load, all good hides. Try it, you may like it.
~z
 
I like the 30/30 for yotes. Dead right there (DRT) if I do my part. Plenty of range and quick pointing, they don't stand still for long. Not easy on pelts though.

The 357/38 lever carbine or handgun would be fun too.

The guys over at www.coyotegods.com seem to like the 17 cal rimfires. I haven't tried them but their results look pretty good.
 
I use my 30-06 Remington Semi-Auto for killin coyote's. It is very good practice for moose hunting. Here in Newfoundland, coyotes are not native. It is believed that they came across on pack ice or ice drifts during the winter. They are really doing damage on the wildlife, expecially the caribou population! $25 dollar bounty for them makes them worth while to kill. Nothing brings me more satisfaction then to blow one of those stupid creatures brains out!! Ok, I need to calm down now...lol:rolleyes: A buddy of mine hit one running with a .338 win mag. What a mess that was! Split the thing in two! One of the most fun shooting sports IMHO. I really hate the creatures.
 
go over to the rimfire Central web site and there are people there that use the .17hmr for Coyotes, i would say its good up to about 100 yards
 
For what it's worth, I talked to a guy yesterday who swears that the .17 MACH 2 works far better on yotes (head shots) than .17 HMR, because at the slower velocity, the mach 2 bullets don't explode upon impact like the faster HMR rounds, so they give better penetration. And of course, you extend your range a bit over .22lr. I'd still use .22 hornet or up for a coyote myself, however.
 
Hello!! You bowhunt deer, your uncle loads .22 Hornet, your shots are close, the Hornet will smash them to 150 yards.
Order an NEF Hornet, put a good scope on it GIT-R-DONE!!!!
 
you are right about the 17.HMR mach 2 but i think if you used the 20 grain 17hmr it wouldnt explode..i think your better off with a center fire..i dont know much about it but what about the ruger 204??? anyone know anything on it?? i think i read someplace that its travels at 4000 FPS...
 
My experience with the .30-30 only gets me within about 200 yards of them, and I can't calculate bullet drop correctly off my iron sights with 170gr bullets.

I am experimenting with 100gr and 110gr bullets from hornady and sierra for velocity and accuracy. I'm hoping for about 2600fps and more or less level shots at 200 yards, rather than 2100fps and a foot of drop at 200 yards.

We'll find out what happens in another couple of weeks:D
 
Since you are looking at the 17HMR why not consider the 22WMR? It should work pretty good out to about 100yds on coyote but won't carry as far and retain energy like the 223. It expands pretty violently and will drop coyotes pretty good. I have a large coyote, fox, bobcat and even cougar problem in my area as well. I saw a full size coyote while parking my truck at work today about 35yds away. The 22LR would work but only at extremely short ranges. Less than 30yds due to its lack of velocity for proper bullet upset and penetration.

The .223, 22-250 or .243 would be the ideal coyote calibers in my opinion but if you are looking for a cheap and affordable short range pest control rifle, I can't think of anything better than the 22Mag. Ammo is cheap and widely available and there are quite a few rifles chambered for it. A 270 and 30-30 for coyote? Sounds like using a 338WM for white tails. Some people will always recommend way more gun than you really need. Don't use something too anemic though because coyotes, although small can be dangerous. If they bite you, you could get pretty sick from it. I've found that 124gr. 9mm JHPs at about 1180-1220fps are pretty good coyote medicine. 357Mag drops them like a sledge hammer.
 
I would seriouly check out the 204 Ruger. That is a very good coyote round. These are the gun I would choose in order:

204 Ruger
220 Swift
22-250
17 Rem (center fire)
218 Bee
221 Fireball
223
243
25-06
222

I mainly use my 25-06 because yotes in my area are worth little to nothing. I shoot 75 gr v-max and it sure does the job on a yote. Once you shoot one yote, you will probaly be hooked!
 
If you shoot a LOT, the .204 is a great yote killer.
Prarie dogs and range time will wear the 22-250's out in about 5200 rds.
Most of the calibers start to open there groups at about 5000 rds because of throat erosion due to the massive burn behind the bullets.
The .204 uses lots less powder and a lot smaller case, so the throat erosion
shouldn't be nearly as bad(I expect to get 10,000 or 12,000 rds out of mine before the groups start to spread)
For most guys that would make your barrel last through several generations
of kids and grandkids.
Excellent gun for predator hunting since it shoots so flat and fast.
Re-loading ammo won't be much of a speed advantage on this round because factory powders can't be purchased(Special blends are held as a tight secret by the factories) and the factory powder already pushes this ammo at over 4200 fps.
If you re-load, your probably not going to get your loads any better than that and stay within a safe chamber pressure.
Biggest advantage with re-loads will be the cost, should be able to get your cost down to about 20 cents per round if you hang on to your Brass.
I shoot the 40 grain bullets by Hornady called V-Max, I like them better than the 32 grain, even though you loose a little speed, it doesn't change your trajectory hardly at all and it has a better ballistic coefficient.
Right now you are fairly limited as to what you can buy ammunition wise, but that will get better as the popularity of this caliber increases(and believe me IT WILL INCREASE).
Don't have a lot of info for you yet BUT I WILL as soon as I can.
I will post my findings based on shooting the gun, as soon as I can.
 
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