Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Dedicated coues rifle ?

Huh. I quite like my 243 BLR for a pretty light, maneuverable, high-speed rifle for steep, rugged terrain around here. Guess that's not as cool as what lots are imagining, is it? ;-)

My 6.5 Creedmoor Hawkeye Predator is outstanding when I'm okay packing an extra pound or two. Prob'ly still not cool enough... :-)

A 300 RUM or Nosler would be uhhhh, emphatic on Coues I'd imagine...

Is this a factory or a custom-barrel rifle?

I would choose based on the twist rate that would run bullets of interest.

I would think that those bullets of interest ought to include the 6mm from 105 grains and up, and that will take an 8 or better 7.5 twist.

Gonna buy a factory.

Of those you listed,I would chose the .257 Wby and then the .240 Wby.

I have not hunted Coues or Antelope in their environment but...

I can relate to the difficulty of 'finding' a WT EVEN at moderate range IN re growth cutovers. I have posted a pic of a WT buck I shot in the neck at 194 yds. Instant drop. There was NO death run not even a step.

From atop of a hill looking over the re growth things look simple. Once you get OUT in the c/o it looks so VERY different. I had picked out a couple of oak saplings @ 12' tall as landmarks. Once in the c/o there were more oak saplings than I thot. I looked for quite a little while and ..eventually WENT BACK to the stand and REPICKED a landmark.

When I found the buck he had NOT moved, simply dropped straight down. I can re post that pic and you can see the blood on ground at his head.

IF, IF he had run much there were places I could not have seen him ON his feet, much less on the ground.

----That was a CNS hit--- still had difficulty locating it.


Jerry

I went coues hunting in November. 1st deer tag I have drawn in NM in 14 Years.
I'm hooked.
We rode 4 wheelers from camp, parked, and walked short distances from them to over watch locations.
The 2nd morning, we set up just off the top of a hill.
Wind meter said 2 mph.
A bit later a buck was located at 985 yards in a huge grass area.
Could we have stalked closers???
I set up, dialed, checked wind, (2-3 mph) from right to left, and sent a 160gr accubond, at 3,000 fps from my 7 mag.
It hit, what my buddy said, was 10 feet behind him ???
Buck moved a bit, relazed, hit on hill was a small brown spot, which equated to the tip of my left side thick to thin point.
Added a few clicks to 997, held thick to thin on shoulder, and sent it.
The problem here, was the horizontal thick crosshair was thicker than the buck.
My buddy said bullet hit right under his chest.
Buck went over hill !

Will I use this scope and combo for that far on a little coues again ?
Nope , bought a 10x ss mil quad.
Will I shoot that far again on a coues.
Not likely.

Am I a looney and want a new rifle ?
Yep !!
7mm Rem Mag, 160gr Accubond
257 weatherby, 110gr accubond
257 Roberts, 80gr ttsx
And going to try a 90gr Ballistic tip in my hb 243.
Next is a 225 or 250gr Accubond in my 338 RUM.

250 savage

This!

With Hornady 105 HPBT's.

And since you missed the entire animal, twice, you obviously had as much chance of gut shooting the buck or legging it as making a lethal shot. I'd suggest you practice, a lot more, and past 1000 yards until a 1000 yard shot is routine.

By the way, did you hike over to where the animal was and check for blood or just assume it wasn't hit?

Oh boy... nevermind......

Yeah -

I'm with you.

I'd go 408 Cheytac to make sure you get full penetration.

This

David Miller, the custom gunmaker, is perhaps as successful a hunter of record book Coues as anybody--as in 30+ bucks in B&C. I understand that he shoots (at least did) a .300 Win. The big ones are going to be shot at 500+ yds, and he wants to minimize wind drift. I think his Marksman model rifle embodies his ideal Coues rifle.

I think that everyone should have a designated Coues deer rifle...and a designated desert mule deer rifle, a designated Rocky Mountain mule deer rifle and probably a couple of designated elk rifles--one for cows and meat bulls and one for trophy animals. Oh, and a designated pronghorn rifle, too. Then I wouldn't feel so loony sometimes.

TexasPhotog,
I burn alot of powder a year.
Being just under the edge of the hill, gave me a bad true wind reading on my kestrel.
Yes, we did take a stroll of there.

Your right osd , never mind.....

I just wanted a new rifle, and couldn't really decide between a 264 wm, or a 240.

Good plan mudhen..

utah, that might have been the guy I was thinking about when I mentioned the .300 wea..

Yeah, coues hunting doesn't always require 1000 yard shooting. You couldn't give me a heavy barreled gun with an obnoxious scope on top.

I'd trade a few yards of long range potential for the ability to get the gun into action in a moment. I've seen way too many people di cking with gear when a nervous buck is well within killing range.

One of the better bucks I passed on this December spooked from a ravine, walking slowly but steadily. He was within 100 yards, he never stopped. I could've killed him if I'd chosen to, by kneeling down and firing. But not if I had to turn my scope down, or rely on a bipod, or put on ear muffs because i need a brake for my magnum, or fool around with other crap.

I killed my coues this year at 180 yards, steep downhill shot off my tripod, during a rainstorm. I've been packing a remington sporter barrel 700 in a B&C stock, 3-9SS scope, 105 hpbt or 105 amax. Best combo I've used so far. It's worked at 80 yards on running bucks to just shy of 600 yards.

Just my 2 cents, sorry for the essay

You were hunting in the rain? Wow....Aren't you supposed to be at camp?

Grin.....

He actually uses a 300 bee