best caliber for coyote hunting

[Gutpile]

I refuse to believe that anyone in their right mind would rather have a .22/250... than a .243 loaded with 55-70 grain bullets.

Go ahead and believe it.

[dbllunger]

Exactly...my 700ADL shoots 55's at 4k and is a lazer beam on coyotes.  Not as good as my 7mm STW, but they don't run at all. 

[demontang]

.223 or 22-250 are my picks, ammo is every where (normaly) and its cheap to shot them. I would go with the 22-250 in a bolt gun and .223 in an AR.

[SagebrushStalker]

I have nothing but confidence in my 22-250, w/ a 50gr ballistic tip at 3950fps it flat smokes yotes out to my longest kill which is 448yds
If you want to shoot yotes past 500-600yards, and want a slight ballistic advantage then go with a 243 or even better a 25-06 either way you still have to do your part, and it better be a damn good part. Just my 

[wastickslinger]

All depends on how far your shooting and if your saving pelts to sell. Any thing under 400 yards is a dead dog with my .204 and no exit hole. I grab it instead of my 22-250 now.

[JoshT]

243 the best uh, Ill have to check all the dogs Iv shot with a 223 and see if they are realy dead. I always thought dead was dead but evidently Iv been wrong all these years and if your basing your opinion on the ballistics then why not say 338 lapua would be the best or 300 winny or or or.

Dead is dead... but there's a whole lot of situations that a .223 doesn't even allow you to try and make them dead... where a real caliber would be anchoring dogs. I'm not saying it wont kill coyotes... I'm saying it sucks hind teet because it can't cover all the bases like a bigger caliber can. Hell, I've killed (or witnessed) about 150 or so coyotes with a .223... but I also lost a lot of dogs... I even had dogs take multiple rounds and run off. I switched up to the .22/250 and killed (or witnessed) another 150 dogs or so... better than the .223... but still not what I was looking for... or used to seeing with the .25-06. On to the .243 and 6mm Rem... 99.5% of the run-offs stopped... coyotes were easier to hit (that laser beam 55 grainer is the schitt)... and probably 95% dropped on the spot... even with hits that were marginal. The .22 centerfires just don't offer enough performance on dogs... that's how it is. I guess if all you worry about is taking shots at coyotes for as little money as possible... and you don't really care about results... then sure... a .223 is the way to go. If you're going to make something go bang... you might as well have a little horsepower to go with it.

[JoshT]

All depends on how far your shooting and if your saving pelts to sell. Any thing under 400 yards is a dead dog with my .204 and no exit hole. I grab it instead of my 22-250 now.

That's on what... 10 dogs... jury is still out brotha... and if I recall... that didn't happen the first time or two... now did it? I know the 40 grainers are better medicine... but lets wait for a sample a little larger than 10, I know you'll get there... you're a coyote slayin' animal!

By the way... thanks for not killing all my Moses Lake are dogs!

[wastickslinger]

All depends on how far your shooting and if your saving pelts to sell. Any thing under 400 yards is a dead dog with my .204 and no exit hole. I grab it instead of my 22-250 now.

That's on what... 10 dogs... jury is still out brotha... and if I recall... that didn't happen the first time or two... now did it? I know the 40 grainers are better medicine... but lets wait for a sample a little larger than 10, I know you'll get there... you're a coyote slayin' animal!

By the way... thanks for not killing all my Moses Lake are dogs!

Are you saving pelts?

[trotterlg]

Could I be the only one in WA state who shoots a 17 Remington?  The 17 CF's are the classic Coyote rounds, don't see any of them on the list.  Guess all the youngsters have gone to the big bore stuff.  Larry

[wastickslinger]

I get a kick out of polls and statements that refer to "the best".  So much depends on your criteria.  Is it pure balistics, availibility of ammo, availability of bullets, etc?  Of the guns listed I voted 223 just for the blend of performance, availability, and affortability.  As a general rule most of the 22-25 cal center fires are gonna do the job just fine.  The 22 cal stuff IMO is more versitile overall as a varmit gun (not strickly coyotes) from the sense of just not wanting to bang away w/ a 24 or 25 cals on ground squirrels.   

This one seems pretty specific to me... BEST CALIBER FOR COYOTE HUNTING. The question doesn't ask 'most economical coyote caliber' or 'best varmint/coyote caliber'... not even 'most widely distributed coyote caliber'... it implys nothing about saving fur, calling, road hunting, glassing, baiting, etc.

Why did I state .243/6mm? Because it is the best... how do I know? Hundreds of coyotes were harmed in the name of science. Emperical evidence has shown the 6mms absolutely dominate ANY of the .22 centerfires... almost no run-offs, superior down-range performance, superior trajectorys, superior projectiles, etc. If given a shot at a coyote... under nearly any field condition... I refuse to believe that anyone in their right mind would rather have a .22/250... than a .243 loaded with 55-70 grain bullets.

So why not a 7mm mag, 300win mag, 338 win mag. Those will knock em down too right? I think even better than a .243 or 6mm. But the one I shoot with my 7mm usually have a basketball size exit hole.

[wastickslinger]

All depends on how far your shooting and if your saving pelts to sell. Any thing under 400 yards is a dead dog with my .204 and no exit hole. I grab it instead of my 22-250 now.

That's on what... 10 dogs... jury is still out brotha... and if I recall... that didn't happen the first time or two... now did it? I know the 40 grainers are better medicine... but lets wait for a sample a little larger than 10, I know you'll get there... you're a coyote slayin' animal!

By the way... thanks for not killing all my Moses Lake are dogs!

Were trying to kill em all but those things populate so fast we cant keep up. 

[JoshT]

So why not a 7mm mag, 300win mag, 338 win mag. Those will knock em down too right? I think even better than a .243 or 6mm. But the one I shoot with my 7mm usually have a basketball size exit hole.

Actually... they don't. I saw 3 shot this weekend with the .300 RUM running 208 AMaxs at 3200... all 3 of them moved at least 15 yards after the shot... this seems like a common occurance with anything bigger than about a 7 mag. Plus... you don't get the velocity... and as a .204 guy... you know how nice that is. I think the .243/6mm are superior to even my beloved .25-06 for pure coyote medicine... I just like the performance I get on deer with the .25... that's why I shoot it. AND... the recoil level on the big guns doesn't let you watch what happens with the shot. I'm only so convinced of the superiority of the 6mms... because I've been there... done that. I've killed coyotes with everything from the .17 HMR to the .375 H&H... they all worked to some degree... the 6mms and the big .25 just plain work better than anything I've shot... and we're talking about many , many, many more coyotes than the 10 shot with your .204 (which I think I killed a few coyotes with... I only recovered one though... and that was after switching to the 40 grainers like you). Truth be told... I'll shoot a coyote with anything I happen to have... hell, I've pulled over and thrown rocks at them because I didn't have a gun... but I definately have a healthy respect for the tenacity and toughness of coyotes... twenty plus years of hunting them has galvanized this belief... and my choice of caliber reflects these observations.

[wastickslinger]

So why not a 7mm mag, 300win mag, 338 win mag. Those will knock em down too right? I think even better than a .243 or 6mm. But the one I shoot with my 7mm usually have a basketball size exit hole.

Actually... they don't. I saw 3 shot this weekend with the .300 RUM running 208 AMaxs at 3200... all 3 of them moved at least 15 yards after the shot... this seems like a common occurance with anything bigger than about a 7 mag. Plus... you don't get the velocity... and as a .204 guy... you know how nice that is. I think the .243/6mm are superior to even my beloved .25-06 for pure coyote medicine... I just like the performance I get on deer with the .25... that's why I shoot it. AND... the recoil level on the big guns doesn't let you watch what happens with the shot. I'm only so convinced of the superiority of the 6mms... because I've been there... done that. I've killed coyotes with everything from the .17 HMR to the .375 H&H... they all worked to some degree... the 6mms and the big .25 just plain work better than anything I've shot... and we're talking about many , many, many more coyotes than the 10 shot with your .204 (which I think I killed a few coyotes with... I only recovered one though... and that was after switching to the 40 grainers like you). Truth be told... I'll shoot a coyote with anything I happen to have... hell, I've pulled over and thrown rocks at them because I didn't have a gun... but I definately have a healthy respect for the tenacity and toughness of coyotes... twenty plus years of hunting them has galvanized this belief... and my choice of caliber reflects these observations.

Wow so your like the Jim Shockey of the coyote industry. Do you have many, many, many, pictures too.

[jjhunter]

I do 90% of my 'yote hunting with my .204 and 40 grain v-max.  This thing is a killing machine to about 425.....past that, I get runners and subsequent follow-up shots (follow-ups are hard on a spinning 'yote at 400+).  The beauty of the 243 is:  1) It is an inherently accurate cartridge (like all .308 based cartridges) 2) Easy to load for  3) Extreme velocity with light projectiles  4)  Low recoil  5) And last but not least, the availability of LAPUA and Norma brass!  This is a true load and shoot caliber that has many of the benefits of pain-in-the-ars wildcats.

[JoshT]

I've got a few... most were lost in a spooky fire... along with my 6/284 and some other stuff I really wish I had back. Truth is... for a long time I wasn't much of a recovery and hero picture kind of guy, I just liked hunting and shooting coyotes. I didn't shoot all the coyotes in my massive sample of terminal ballistics... but I was there... and I saw what happend. There was about 15 years between high school and kids... when that's about all I did was hunt coyotes. I hunt deer a little... and bears a little... but like I said, coyotes are what I love to hunt. I've personally only shot a couple hundred. Besides... if  was Jim Shockey... I'd have shot them all with a muzzle loader!

Here's a picture of one day back in 2005... that's about as many  coyotes as you've killed with your .204... all killed with 55 grain Noslers in the 6mm Rem.