Shot shells for coyotes

J

john1911

New member
Back story:
We recently moved into our new house on 10 acres. When we originally bought the land from family members, it was part of a much larger tract. A death in the family and the adjoining land is divided into several small hobby farms. These hobby farms are home to horses and ex-urbanites or suburbanites.

Along with the new house, a new puppy for the kids. The pup won't leave our yard, but the 'yotes have no problem entering the yard. I don't want the dog to end up as a meal for the coyotes.

The problem:
I've shot several coyotes with a rifle, but now worry about the neighbors. The coyotes are getting in close (20-30 yards) and I figure the Saiga would be good medicine to cure their predatory ways.

What I would like to know is what size shot would be most effective? I scrounged through the stash and found a couple boxes if Win. #4 buck. I've also got a load of OO buck and the requisite slugs. The largest shot I can find locally is #4 in turkey loads.

Will the #4 buck work or should I look for something else? I almost bought a box of Hevi-Shot "Dead Coyote" tonight, until I saw the price (~$40/10 :eek:).

Thanks for any advice from coyote shotgunners.
 
Depends?

You will have to find coyote shot. After all, birdshot and buckshot are all wrong for an animal that belongs to the canine family. You could always just use white-out and a Sharpie!:D
 
lol... the 00 Buck will kill a coyote quite effectively. You might wanna pattern the gun first though to make sure your sights are regulated correctly.
 
#4 buck will do nicely. However, like zoomie says, you have to know how your shotgun shoots it at 30 yards. Buckshot isn't much good for anything but firefights in a phone booth though. Even at 30 yards the pattern may be too big. A well placed .223 SP would be better.
Mind you, if you're feeding Fido outside, quit doing that.
 
#4 buck is the old stand by for coyotes until the new "dead coyote" stuff came out. #4 buck should be good out to 40 or more yards with a tight choke. Turkey loads aren't nearly good enough and 00 buck sucks because doesn't have enough range due to lack of pellets.

#4 buck is perfect.

LK
 
Nothing shoots tighter patterns than Federal Tactical low recoil buck with FliteControl wad. Ammoman is out right now, with "more coming soon".

Hornady TAP uses the same wad, but uses lead shot, unlike plated for Federal. The wad, not choke, controls the pattern, since it travels a ways down range before the shot is released from the cup.

This ammo delivers 4" patterns at 15 yds and 7" to 9" patterns at 25 to 30 in my Scattergun Tech cylinder bore.

Standard buck pattern is blown and ineffective a little after 15 yds, and all the Low recoil buck shoots tighter than standard, but not as tight as FliteControl wad ammo.

Has dead coyote written all over it. It's 00 buck, but still safer than a rifle. You can Google around and see if it's available in something like #4 buck.
 
The key word for buckshot is tight choke. Long barrel--tight choke. We killed a ton of coyotes out of a Super Cub airplane with #4 buckshot. We used minimum of 30" barrels with full and extra-full chokes. My favorite was an Itaca M37 with 32" barrel and Xfull choke.

Fergitaboudit in these fantasy shotguns with the 18" barrels. You need the length for velicity/energy, and the choke to direct the shot.
 
Nothing shoots tighter patterns than Federal Tactical low recoil buck with FliteControl wad. Ammoman is out right now, with "more coming soon".
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I've got several boxes of this horded away. It shot super patterns through my old 870. Haven't tried it through my Saiga.

Has dead coyote written all over it.
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If the hype is true, Dead Coyote looks like good stuff. I just hate to pay $4.00 a shot.

Fergitaboudit in these fantasy shotguns with the 18" barrels.
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That's all I got. Well, actually its a 19" barrel cylinder bore.
 
Well half the fun of the 870 is the quick barrel swap. Save up and shop around for other barrels. Think of the flexibility of the gun with that feature.
 
Barrel swappin' is easy for the mossberg too but I got a 20ga with an 18inch and a Maverick 88 12ga with the 26 or 28 inch and threaded for chokes...:D...
Brent
 
I got a coyote at 25 yards with a 12 short mag load (1.5 ounce load , lead) of #5's and it rolled him over deader than heck. I was pheasant hunting at the time so that is the reason for that load. if I was going to use a shotgun intentionally on coyotes I would consider a short mag load of BB's (lead).
 
Quote:
Has dead coyote written all over it.

If the hype is true, Dead Coyote looks like good stuff. I just hate to pay $4.00 a shot.
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I didn't give you any hype, John. The stuff shoots 1 hole at 10 yds, 4" at 15 yds, and 7 to 8" (as in all shot contained in, with occasional flyer) at 25 to 35 yds.

There's no difference in pattern size between my Scattergun Tech cyl bore and modified choke duck gun.


The choke doesn't effect the pattern, since the shot isn't released until the "fins" open up and quickly decelerate the wad, while the 9 00 buck keep on going.

This is different from the standard wads that utilize petals that fold back immediately and release the shot. With FliteControl, the "fins" are at the rear of the wad and deceleration isn't as quick.

The consistency of the pattern sizes at various distances indicate Federal did their homework when developing this ammo.

I think Federal may have incorporated FliteControl into their entire Tactical line by now. That would include the 8 pellet 00 buck load and maybe even 000 buck.

Federal developed it as an answer to extending the range of the typical police cyl bore shotgun. It's been around a while and if you want to read more "hype", Google around.

As for $4.00 per shot, $4.00 for a 5 rd. box would be more like it, though I buy it by the case from Ammoman. Prices have risen, like all other ammo, since I ordered it over a year ago.

You can also Google around for Hornady TAP. Their stuff also uses the FliteControl wad, but uses lead shot--while all Federal is plated. They even have low recoil and standard for use in semi-autos, and I think Federal may also have a standard vel. load by now.

Interesting that when using the TAP, with lead shot, about one round out of 8 would go into the target wad and all. Never did release. This only happened with cylinder bore and not with Imp cyl. Maybe it's a pressure at the muzzle issue. No such issues with the Federal.

Tight chokes are fine if they work for folks. Except for Vang Comp, they were the only option if one wanted to extend the range of buck shot. In fact a Vang arrangement is a tight choke device, though a lot more sophisticated.

There's now another option called the FliteControl wad, and I don't believe the best conventional choke method can equal it for tight patterns. Patterns are also relatively uniform.

Federal has now developed Tac shotgun ammo that is designed for the shot to NOT release until it hits the target. I'll bet that would be some bowling pin effect! About like a slug that fragments into 9 uniform seperate pieces. This wouldn't be the ideal coyote load, however.:D
 
You could always use a 22LR. One through the chest, the coyote runs away and dies on someone else's hobby farm.
 
coyote's in oregon

i know this is off subject but can someone please help me. i am wondering if there are currently any bounties on coyote's in oregon right now. if so where and how much. i am at a loss. i have searched and searched and can't find any info. please help... thank you.
 
Need a hand dealing with the 'yotes? :cool:

It's too bad that lead BB and BBB-sized shotshells aren't readily available anymore.. Natchez has the Hevi-Shot shotshells for around $2 per round, but sheesh, c'mon, that's expensive!

I suggest using a scoped .22 Magnum rifle with lightweight high-velocity JHP ammunition over a bait jar if you're located in a populated area.

I prefer hunting the little rascals using my SKS loaded up with 123gr JHP, or my M4 stoked with Hornady 50gr V-Max to reduce overpenetration

I'm available all week on vacation if you're not located too far. I'm itching for more trigger time!
 
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