Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Best shotgun for shooting from a plane?

Have a friend who wants to get a handle on the coyotes, he's got the plane but not sure what gun to get. There's some concern about ejected shells coming back into the cockpit.

Surely someone here has done this?

First, I have no experience with gunning coyotes from an aircraft. All the videos I have seen the shooters are using a semi auto AR or shotgun. If you are still concerned about semi auto ejected shells, then a bottom ejecting Ithaca M37 or Browning BPS would seem to make sense.

weaselsRus;
Good morning to you sir, I trust you and yours are well and warm this morning down there.

With the understanding that the information is very dated and my memory isn't what it was - maybe even wasn't who's to say?

A good friend who sometimes posts here related how he ended up chatting with a fellow who did some aerial wolf shooting in northern BC for the MoE back when they did that sort of thing.

Again as I can recall, since it was an MoE sanctioned activity they got all the permits for the firearms, etc. as he was using an 1100 with an extended mag tube.

The plane was a two seater with a STOL kit so it'd stay aloft at slower speeds.

I believe the choice of load was #4 buckshot?

The method was they'd find a pack running on a frozen river - yah they did it all in winter so it's a frosty occupation - then the pilot would come up on them from behind, the shooter would hang out the right side of the plane and they'd attempt to shoot as many as possible starting from the rear and working forward.

I'm not sure if that's useful or not, but I'd think that a STOL kit or really slow fixed wing would be an asset.

Good luck with the aerial gunning regardless and all the best.

Dwayne

Animal control guy I know shoots a Benelli. Why worry about a few empty shells in the cockpit? Clean the out when you land. I've done it years ago from a Piper J33 and it is harder than it looks. IMHO you can't shoot enough coyotes to make a difference.

What kind plane?

Paraglider

lol

You need a Warthog lol.

ADFG uses a Benelli with extended magazine and red dot for wolves and bears. Bears are usually taken from a heli.

Anything that consistently misses the prop should work. If buying one with someone elses' money, Benelli is the way to go.

I'm a Benelli M2 guy as of late. I got the pistol grip model with the 18.5" barrel. It has very good sights and comes with a series of screw in chokes. I'm running the IC choke and it holds tight with 00 Buck. (some 00 Buck is designed to hold tighter patterns than others) It weighs 6.7 lbs empty and is very balanced and ergonomic.

If I was to decide on an autoloader to shoot from the confines of an airplane, I'd definitely get the M2 with the pistol grip and the 18.5" barrel. It's compact, light, and you can select the choke that works best for the purpose.

It will also go "bang" as fast as you can pull the trigger without any drama.

Rem 1100 with mag extension holds 8

Been done. A guy showed me a video of someone doing it years ago.
To the OP, have the guy order up 4-5 dozen snares and get them out. They’ll do the job. Fly for other fun.
For all the cost and learning curve of reverse lead from a fixed wing aircraft there’s time better spent.

Osky

Edit to Slum… the video I saw was a motorized hang glider, I’m not sure that’s the same as a para glider?

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm not sure why empties in the cockpit are a worry, he's talking about using an over/under so the shells have to be plucked out.

It's an older plane, fabric skin, seems to run well but what do I know? I've been invited to be a gunner but the owner/pilot is a cowboy and I'm worried about that combination.

Brother shotgunned wolves in Alaska from a Super Cub (i think?) back in the 70's... It wasn't too effective IIRC as the wolves would scatter and hide behind trees ect... Don't recall what shotgun was used, But they upgraded to an American 180 Full Auto (pilot was in law enforcement)... That worked some better i guess (don't know for sure)... There's still a broken "A180" magazine winder spring in the basement somewhere... Pro Tip: Wear your seat belt, Bro almost fell out once when the pilot banked to line up on a wolf!...

I asked this very question to my pilot when he signed off on my aerial gunner’s permit. A non ejector single shot 12ga was his answer. Rarely time for more than one good shot on a pass and only having one made the chance of getting tunnel vision and shooting a ski or the prop off less of a possibility. He also didn’t want a bunch of hulls rolling around in the SuperCub and possibly jamming the controls.

Buck shot or 2 shot will work from a full choke shotgun.

Learning to shoot behind a running coyote and hitting it is a learning curve on the shooters timing. After a few misses you catch on. An 1100 or a 870 works quite well. The 870 was better than the 1100.

You have to remember that the semi auto shotgun will freeze up hanging outside an airplane and then you have a single shot.

I don't believe a shotgun will be effective at all from altitude. Try an AR-10 in .308 & damn the ejected brass.

I know a feller that does this numerous time throughout the year from both plane and heli (for coyotes) - he uses a Benelli and buckshot.

A buddy of mine did it in Montana in the early 80s. Used 00 buck. Had to lead behind them. They were on skis. Would land and pick up the dogs until full. He said they got 20 a day