Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints ever found the .22CF's lacking on predators?

i have always been happy with my .221's, .223's, and now & then hornets when calling yotes. last few i have shot were with a 6.8mm i set up as a dog rifle, but not because i had any issues with the .22's, just solely just an experiment with something diffferent, and i started liking it.

i do notice that i talk to a lot of fellows that have gone to the .243, etc....curious as to how many of you have had experiences that made you decide to go to the bigger calibers, was it a lack of performance in the mid-sized .22's, or was it just that you liked the handling of a particular rifle in .243, etc ?

I think the popularity of the larger calibers is partially do to the popularity of calling contests for the simple reason that a poor hit with a larger caliber is going to give a better chance of a recovery on a wounded coyote, and when in a contest loosing any wounded just isn't an option.

I don't do many contest but I've been sliding toward smaller calibers over the years. I started with a .270, then dropped to the .243 and then to the 22-250 and now have settled on a .204 but have an itch that I might scratch soon to one of the hot rod .17 calibers.

I have never had a run off due to a shot with any of my .223s or 6x45.
Its all shot placement not caliber of gun.
I do have a .243 but its my Antelope/Deer gun only.

I like my .22's for coyotes..but I also use a lot of larger calibers..25-06, 270, 7 mags. and .300's...we have a couple calling contests in the county in Nov..that makes calling the rest of the winter pretty tough..so I have gone to spotting and stalking or long range shooting..The bigger calibers are of course better in the wind...and we get lots of it here..35 mph yesterday, and I think it is harder to day..usually, I have a 22-250 or swift in the truck, and a larger caliber when hunting in the winter...

I've used the 22-250 and 223's for years, even started with a 222 and dabbled with a 17 REM. They do kill well when everything is right but given an off angle shot, slightly poor shot placement or just the occasional coyote that doesn't want to die, a bigger caliber like the 243AI throwing a 75gr V-max at almost 3600fps turns their switch off faster than anything I've seen. It's my contest gun if I ever get back into them.

For my everyday hunting I usually use the 22-250 or even the 223 especially when bobcat season opens up here in Oklahoma. If I had to choose just one for everything, it'd be my 22-250.

At least today that is...

Nope, from fox to mountain lions I have never felt a .22 CF was lacking. I don't think I would shoot a cougar in the shoulder with a 40 grain V-max at swift speeds but generally I think .22 CFs are more than adequate.

I've killed more coyotes lately with a .17 Rem and a .204 than all else combined, and see nothing lacking with them either.

I had a 240 WBY made for a coyote calling rifle a number of years ago. Seems that when ever I take the shots are under 100 yards standing broad side. For sure those coyotes died fast. That 240 is retired to antelope hunting and I use only 17, 20, and 22 CFs with excellent results.

I don't like the unnecessary noise, recoil and expense of shooting larger calibers at coyotes.

My go to yote calling gun is a Sako 75 in .17 Rem.

I never find it lacking in anything. It goes bang, and the coyotes drop.

My Swift has dispatched many venisons and a handful of speed goats over the years can't imagine why it would be handicapped on predators...Pdogs,song dogs and fox have never seemed to care for it either!

I use a 22.250 and have never found it lacking for coyotes. I have found certain .22 cal bullets to be lacking for coyotes though.

In the past, I've used a .243 and 25-06 and they kill coyotes like the dickens, but unless a guy is contest hunting or shooting coyotes for control work most mere humans will do fine with a .22 cf for coyotes.

Ive never lost a coyote with a 50 NBT from a 22-250.

I am now shooting a 223 with a 68 HPBT. I lost the last one I shot, but I think it was a bad shot. It was about 275 yards, sitting with my elbow on my knee, facing me.

I've had much better luck anchoring coyotes with a .243 than with a .223 or even a .22-250. The .243 isn't fur friendly, but if you just want coyotes dead, it's more effective than the lighter calibers. I went through .17s, .223s, .22-250, and even a .308. When I tried a .243 I stopped looking for anything else. Nothing has killed more effectively, especially once the range gets long. A .22-250 with a .75 gr. Amax or something like that might come close, but then you need a faster than normal twist. Light .22 bullets shoot nice and flat out to 300 yards or so, at longer ranges they drop like they're falling off a table.

Personally I don't see how performance can be improved when a coyote doesn't take a step after being shot by a .17 Rem or .204 Rug. Its all about bullet choice, but to each his own. To be fair, the .243 (more specifically the 6mm Rem) has been good dog medicine for me too.

I've had coyotes run 50+ yards before dying when hit through the lungs with my .340 Wby and "elk" bullets. That same shot with my .17 Rem with "coyote" bullets reliably drops coyotes instantly, or at most they spin in a couple circles before dying, though they never go anywhere.

I've never had any issues with 222 or 223, but my favorite coyote cartridge is the 6mmBR. I use the 65gr v-max and it hits them hard! I've not had one move more than a wiggle when hit, and I haven't gotten any exits. It's been very fur friendly for me.

Yep.
A 243 has some fudge factor most .224's do not.

I've had great luck with the .22-250 on coyotes sized critters, but not all .22 cal bullets are up to the challenge.

I had some bad luck with Winchester white box 45gr. jhps, but that was my own fault for using such a light fragile bullet on coyotes.

Now I use Nosler CT 55gr. BSTs. I've killed enough coyotes, hogs, deer and wild dogs with that bullet to have supreme confidence in it's killing ability.

55gr sierra blitzking at 3800+ -Mickey Coleman built 22-250 hits them hard.
But with smaller 22cf's yes they get a bit anemic at 250ish w/less than perfect shots.


I do like a 25-06 w/a 75gr vmax if they really need it.

While I most often hunt with a .223 of some sort, my favorite "knock their d1ck in the dirt" cartridge has always been a 6mm Rem.

It just has always been a stellar cartridge for when the wind picks up more than normal and/or the dogs are standing off a ways.

This guy did not even take a single step:

We hunted in Mexico for 12 years, numbers killed by US standards were simply unbelievable. 4-7 animals killed on one stand was not unusual at all, and the all time record was 17. Of course Coyotes, foxes, and bobcats were all killed on the same stand.

We played with all kinds of calibers, loads, and bullets. Mexican gun permits allowed 50 rounds per gun, and you would go to jail for 51 rounds.

The 22/250's were what we used exclusively for some years, 55g Sierra's at 3650 were normal. As the range increases to 250 or so yards on a shot, if you hit them behind the diaphram, they get up and walk off later. We saw this issue on many occasions. On one stand, we had 4 get to their feet in a state of shock and try to walk off.

The 22/250 AI or a Swift with their ability to get the 55's up in the 3800+ fps really stops all the hobbling off when shot behind the diaphram.

The 243 and the 6mm Rem with the 80g Sierra Blitz BT behind heavy doses of IMR 4064 at 3500 fps is simply like dropping and anvil on them. I have shot them in the back of the stomach and killed them, how I do not know.

We hunted with the 17 Mach 4 and 17 Rem for a few years as the bobcat pelts in N. Nevada was in the $450 range. These caliber kill very well, but you have to place your shot.

I killed a butt load of coyotes in Az with a 223 loaded with 26.5g of Win 748 with a 55g Winchester.

Before you judge how a certain bullet/caliber kills, you need to kill at least 50 coyotes with it, which will be shot at various distances and angles. Some bullets do not kill worth a darn at distance as little as 200 yards on quartering shots.

Having killed a goodly number of coyotes, my favorite rifles are the 22/250 AI(55g bullet), 243, and 6mm Rem(60g Sierra-Win 760, 80g Sierra-IMR 4064). The 22/250 shooting the old timmey 50g Sierra Spt at 3800 is a very reliable killer also(IMR 4064, Win 760).

For a guy saving pelts, there is only one choice, and that is the 17 Rem, loaded balls to the wall with a load of 24.0g of 4320 with a 25g Berger, 30g Berger or Kindler would be even better if the barrel will stabalize them. 223 with the 55g Win often does not shoot holes through a coyote.

When hunting just for fun, the 270 Winchester loaded with the Sierra 90g HP at 3500 fps with IMR 3031 is super accurate and will simply cut a coyote in half. I shot a bob cat half in two with one half going 6 feet up in a tree with this load.

If you love a 22/250 with a 14 twist, then the Nosler Combined technology 55g with a max load of Win 760 will get you chomping on 3800 fps(naked bullets will not shoot this fast).

Remember, coyotes may be tough to kill if you hit them too far back, and half the time they are walking, trottting, or running in to the call...may will not stop. If your leade is off, you WILL hit them way back in the body. Speed and bullet weight set up secondary wound channels that simply turn guts to mush within a 6" channel.

When you take the hide off a coyote, there is not much there. It has always amazed me at how you can shoot a coyote to pieces and the pieces parts just keep going. Quartering shots define how a load/caliber performs, especially between 200-300 yards.