Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Shotgun loads for coyotes and fox??

Do any of you have a prefered 12ga load for coyotes, fox and bobkitties set up over a caller? I bought a choke for my Maxxus and want to have it close by when calling for up close encounters or when I have a buddy manning the rifle.

Is there any factory loads you guys have found to be good for this sort of application? Distance and setup will vary so I would like to find something that will work for a wider variety of applications. I have thought about the dead coyote and similar loads but thought I would ask for real world experience.

Thanks all!!

Reno

I've never used the Dead Coyote loads, though I know several who have and like them. I've shot quite a few with #4 buck and lead BB's. Both are solid performers. Mine have all been handloads but #4 buck is available in factory ammo. I haven't seen any lead BB's in factory ammo in a long time.

I prefer #2 or #4 lead shot pellets. JMO, though. Always worked well for me.

High Brass Lead fours work about as good as anything if you keep your shots under 40 yards and if over forty yards you should be using a rifle

Agreed!

http://www.federalpremium.com/products/details/shotshell.aspx?id=191
Here you go, #2's or BB loads. Oughta be what you are looking for.

#4 lead for coyotes? Surely you mean #4 buck.....

Lots of runners there if so....

Choke in the .650 to .700 range and #4 buck is the best performing calling shotgun load IME all things considered.

Personally I would go no smaller than BB for coyotes. Foxes can be done up nicely with #2's though. 10guagemag is on it, try the Federal Premium stuff in either BB or #4 buck, and use whichever patterns best in your gun!

Guys with way more experience than me will tell you that 5 or so #4 buck pellets on a 9" paper plate indicates the minimum pattern density to reliably anchor a coyote. It's probably three times that for BB's.. For some choke/gun/ammo combos that may be 35yds, or others 50. Just have to pattern to see!

I would PM MOCG, he has done a lot of testing and patterning predator loads and is certainly qualified to recommend a choke and constriction to get you started.

Here is a pretty good 40yd pattern. I'm comfortable with this set up to about 50yds...





X-VERMINATOR

I've not done any scientific testing other than shooting varmints with what I had in my hands when I saw them. But I've killed probably 6 coyotes, one fox, one bobcat, and a coon a last weekend with 2 3/4" #4s in 12 or 16gauges with either IC or skeet one chokes. All but one coyote and the bobcat were incidentals while pheasant hunting and shots were from 3 feet to 30 yards but none of them ran anywhere.

Knowing what I know I would think lead 2s or BBs would be the ticket if you could choke them down without blowing patterns. Need to acquire a couple boxes for my SP10 and try them out I guess.

Not looking for an internet argument here but at the same time I'd hate for a new predator hunter to enter the field with #4 birdshot expecting great results. IMO, good predator loads start with copper coated lead BB's and end with copper coated #4 buckshot.

Lots of good loads in between with the non-toxic stuff but going smaller or larger is going to cause significant heartache...


X-VERMINATOR

I've killed coyotes and coon with #4 birdshot but, if there was any distance involved, it has never been a pretty undertaking. Three inch BB loads are a lot more effective. I have never tried the #4 buckshot loads on live animals - but - a friend who uses a 10ga swears they are quite effective.

I've shot a bakers dozen coyotes with 3" magnum plated lead buffered #4 turkey loads through a good patterning 12 gauge with pretty dismal results if the range was beyond 25 - 30 yards. There are much better options available.

I wasn't implying that lead 4s were the end all be all predator load, just that they do work if the range is close. I did say that I thought BBs or 2s would be a better option.
I will say that I've had better results with 4s than I have with large buckshot, ie 00 and 000.

Too few pellets in the large buckshot. Anything that patterns from shot sizes BB, T, Number Four Buck to no larger than Number One Buck does the work reliably.

I took theses coyotes at around 30 to 35 yards with my LC Smith 16 gauge and Rem Number 5 shot high brass loads. Both dropped in their tracks using the Full Choke Barrel. Head shots.

Very nice!! A couple of good looking dogs there. I agree that when a target of opportunity presents itself then whatever I have is what is gonna get slung at them. But, if packing the bag to set out with predators as a mission it sounds like some large copper plated shot is what works well for most of the guys.

Reno

And that isn't what Bea goes out the door with when he is purposefully coyote hunting either.

These two greys came into the Foxpro woodpecker in distress . Old LC Smith 12 ga Federal High Brass # 4 shot. Shots at around 25 yards . The came in about 10 min apart and fell within 10 ft of each others.
If taking the shotgun just for Coyotes i have three loads i use , 3.5 inch Dead Coyote loads with Hevi Shot T's , Fed 3 inch Premium Buffered # 4 Buck and the Hornady 3 inch Coyote Load with Nickle Plated BB's,

I have killed lot of coyotes, with about every caliber, and chokes in 12ga with all kinds of 4's, 2's, BB, F, and #4 buck since the mid 70's. We hunted in Mexico back in the day and 13-57 animal three day hunts were the norm.

Cut to the chase, Turkey chokes in 12 ga, 3" mags only, #4 buckshot in Remington, Federal, and Winchester all work extremely well.

Shotguns are another matter as many shotguns do not have shot imprint where a guy aims due to gun fit, I can not stress this enough. When you pattern, using something to prop on so that you are assured that you did not jerk the trigger, your aim was off, etc.

For instance, Remingtons of all brands shoot low for me, beretta's shoot a tad high and right, etc. Mossburg 500's are one of the few that are dead on, and a Carlsons' Turkey choke in a Mossburg 500 is about as good as it gets with 100% of the pattern in a 20" circle at 40 yards. I shimmed the stock on my Beretta's to get the point of impact correct.

Heavy shot will carry the freight a long ways out there, but at $3 per shot, that is out of my league. Natchez shooters supply has the Remington 3" on sale for a buck a round from time to time, so I would suggest that you buy a case and be done for a while.

Some mention BB's and 2's, I have shot a lot of them. I have had two 10 ga that I shot the Federal 2 1/4 oz of BB loads in, and usually they do a very good job. BB's will however not break shoulders and hips on coyotes, but with the pattern density, they will penetrate the skull.

Fox and bob cat do well with BB's.

If you are a freek on shotguns, then pattern your shogun with more than one shot at the same distance, you will be surprised at the results. With the right turkey choke, you will be able to connect at 50 yards, and that is a poke with any shotgun. Once in a while you will get lucky and kill one way out there with #4 buck, but with BB and #2, that will not possible unless that coyote catches that lucky Golden BB!

X-Verminator gave a very good, and brief summary of my feelings. I thought that I would expound gun fit in addition to his post.

In addition, for the guy that reloads his own buckshot, I would advise you to buy two lee #4 buck shot molds, get some wheel weights and linotype. The buckshot that you mold will be much harder than factory, will produce tight patterns as the shot deforms less in the barrel. Contact Ballistics Products for wad components. I use the same data for my regular bird shot as I do for buckshot, pay load is a pay load. You just have to pattern this and that to come up with a winning combo for your gun, just like working up a load for a rifle.

Good luck!

I very seldom use a shotgun when calling except in the thick brush or pines and then only when my primary prey is foxes and maybe a occasional coyote and i know the shots will be under 40 yards . I'm a rifle man when predator hunting and have very little use for a scatter gun in open terrain.