Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints What caliber for coyotes?

A buddy of mine has been shooting coyotes on his farm. He tried his 17 Hornet with bad results. They run off, and he wants pelts. He intends to use his 22-250 with 40 grain bullets, and has also borrowed a rifle in 17 Remington. Any suggestions on which caliber and chambering to use, or other ideas to keep them from running off? He has blown big holes in them with bigger guns and still had them run away.

I told him to shoot for the shoulders, but it is hard to aim carefully at a nervous coyote.

Unless his shots are to long for the 17 Hornet, it should work well with the right bullet. I use a 17 Rem and a 204 with great results, but I reload. With a 204 you could get by with the 39gr. load from Federal. I don't know what is available for the 17 Rem. Remington used to offer a 25gr. Hornady hp and that would work great.

The .22-250 is a classic coyote killer. I don't have experience with 40 gr. bullets, but 55 & 60 grain bullets are pure poison on coyotes. If you shoot the shoulder you might tear a bigger hole in the hide. Combine high velocity and bones and it's not great on hides.

If he wants to save pelts but drop them quickly I'd load the 22-250 with 40 grain nosler ballistic tips. I'm sure there is a factory load with that bullet. Don't substitute any 40 grain tipped bullet for the nosler though, the nosler has a much tougher bullet than the others.

If saving pelts dont shoot them in the shoulder. Go for tight behind the shoulder

Pretty big clue right here.

HSM makes 204 ammo with the 35gr. Berger. Great Coyote round and caliber.

EXACTAMUNDO



No variety of calibers is gonna help you with that.

I think that a 270 is best for coyotes.

The 22-250 with a 40 grain Sierra BlitzKing worked for me on a couple of coyotes but I still liked a 50 grain bullet of some flavor or even better yet a 55 grain Ballistic Tip since i am a high forward shoulder shooter on most of my critters and the Ballistic Tip is just a little tougher than some poly tipped bullets.


The 17 will work but I am pretty sure he better be able to place the bullet more precisely.


As to the blowing big holes in them and had them run away I am cocking my head a bit to that one, especially if bigger than a .224 diameter bullet.

If hit anywhere from the diaphragm forward I have found them pretty easy to kill.

The .17's drop coyotes dead as Dillinger.

You just need to know how to shoot and the respective round's limitations.

Shoot the 17 Remington and never look back.
Close as you can get to the perfect "fur friendly" round.

Just like with deer and whatever else...bullets matter.

I've had stellar results with a .17 Rem, as well as various .22 centerfires. In anything .172" I'd avoid the 20 grain VMAX as I have seen it stopped by coyote shoulders multiple times. Maybe slowing it down to MACH IV speeds would keep it together better. I dunno.

Most anything else you'll be OK with. The .25 VMAX has been alright, but I can't say I have used it a lot. The 25 grain Rem HP has been absolutely awesome, though I did blow one fox's leg off with it. Never tried the 172" berger.

I've never seen a more effective and fur friendly combo for coyotes than the.17 Rem and 25 grain Rem HP.

Tinman,

You look great today.

Per always.

Before the pigs moved into our area, I used 55 gr Nosler BTs in the 220 Swift and 40 gr BTs in the 223. That 40 gr BT dropped coyotes amazingly fast. I was very surprised. Then the pigs showed up and I needed more bullet, and went to the 65 gr Sierra GK for general purpose use.

That 65 gr. Sierra is a good one for a general purpose use. So is the 63 gr. SMP. The 60 gr. V-Max is a stellar coyote bullet for me in the .223.

My goto coyote bullets are the 52gr Speer Varmint bullet in the 222 Rem, 223 Rem, 5.6x50R Magnum and 22-250. My little 22-204 just loves 40gr NBT's and they have preformed well for pelt hunting also.

The 17Rem is the only cartridge I’ve never seen blow big holes in one side or another of a coyote at some point in time. It does require precise shooting but kills like a sledgehammer if you shoot them behind the shoulder.

I like the .243 for coyotes myself. Use a good hunting bullet if you want to save hides, a varmint style bullet if you want to kill and not care about the hides. My goto now is the .240 Weatherby, but I don't keep hides.

>17 mach4 has been plenty of gun for my coyote hunting for some time. Ive never understood why some guys can't resist shooting them square on the shoulder.....bad idea?

https://imgur.com/MnniCy8

How big of a hole are we talking about? Needle and thread...

Hard to beat a 30-06 with a 165gr Nosler Ballistic Tip

How far did that one run?




Take care, Willie

Duh...I always looks good.

Why even bother asking?

DRT.The other side looked fine.If you look near the top of the hole you can see the tiny green tip.

I would have no doubts about using the 17s myself but your last statement sums it all up.

Thanks for the replies. My buddy is a handloader, and is going to try the 40 grain Nosler BTs in his 22-250. He probably will try the 17 Remington first, as a friend loaned him the rifle.

I once owned that rifle, and it shot great with several loads. I will pass on the information about 17 caliber bullets. As I recall, the 20 grain VMAXs shot great, but from what was said above a heavier bullet is called for. I tried 30 grain Bergers on the recommendation of an acquaintance, and they stabilized. I think he has some 25 grain Bergers.

I have only killed one coyote, back in 1998. I hit him amidships with a 100 grain Speer HP out of my 257 Roberts and blew him about in half. He didn't go anywhere. The pelt was worthless, and mangy before I ended his days. That was when we had decent woodchuck hunting here in NJ and lower NY State. Now the fields are either housing developments, corn, or "green acres" where you can't hunt.

Same here. Had a 222 40 or so years ago and had too many runners. Prior to that I used 270 win.

A 270 is too light, everybody knows that. Plus, it's gay. A 270 just ain't enough rifle to anchor a coyote.

Bare minimum is a 300 RUM, with a 338 Win being preferred, or prefurred.

Deflave, and Ingwe, have spoken.

Bottom line is, if your friend can't shoot, he can't shoot. Tell him to get a 22 LR and go to the friggin range and practice.

It doesn't matter what he shoots one with, if it's a crap shot, it's a crap shot, and he will get negative results.

17's have been killing coyotes for decades. If he wants pelts, learn to shoot accurately and use a 17 centerfire. It's that simple.

I bought four fifty round boxes of 22-250 hollow point ammo for three bucks a piece a couple of years ago just in case I ever run across a deal on a "coyote rifle". 45 and 50 grain.

I have used both the 17 Rem and 204 Ruger to me they are pretty much interchangeable. No problems killing coyote and bobcat with them.

204 would be my choice

So many variables...

He wants pelts? .204 and 35 Berger is smallest I'd go for reliable kills with good placement under 400....