Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints predator calling-shotgun set up

My predator calling-shotgun set-up is a Baikal IZH94 O/U 12ga on top and a 308 Win on the bottom. Fed 3"#4Buck on the top 150gr BT's on the bottom an honest 150 yard shotgun !!!!!!

i use a winchester sx3, factory full choke, and #4 buck. i tried 3.5" but have settled on 3" as i get a better pattern.

A handful in the last decade with either XB12L4 or the DC 3.5.

Shotguns? I rotate through 4 autos and 2 doubles, all 3.5. I'd sell the SP-10. I don't like the factory ammo choices.

I use an 870, with the factory 28" barrel (Im trying to get it cut down, but have not found anyone who can cut it down and then re-tap it for screw in chokes, although I have not looked that hard). I use a hell I don't recall the brand, but it is a tight choke (I think it is dead coyote?) and 3" #4 buck. I prefer the copper plated varitety from Federal and/or the high velocity offering from Remington. Pattern at 40-50 yards on barrel cactus/prickly pears looks good, although I have not shot it on paper. I use 3" BB when I am in cat/fox country.

Good deal. I hear you on factory ammo.

80 yards is a looonnng ways with a scattergun no matter what load you roll/buy. I betcha there was some magic pellet action with kills that long, even with DC and a good choke, or some serious followup action?

I killed a lot of coyotes in Mexico during the late 70's and up until 1989 when politics got spooky down there.

You can sling a lot of lead at coyotes. Your learing curve will start improving when you start shooting at pattern board at 40,50, and 60 yards.

Not many shotguns will hit to the point of aim, especially at 40 y rds and beyond. Much of the time, you are just getting lucky at the longer distances, but that is all part of the fun.

I have been loading my own buckshot and casting my own buck shot from wheel weights for 20 years, it is easy to say the least. Working up a load for a long range shotgun is no different than a rifle or pistol.

Ballistic's Products has all kinds of specialized wads and buck shot loading data...a good investment as prices soar on ammo and may soon get so expensive that it is out of reach for a lot of guys with young families.You can produce exceptional patterns with Rem or Win 3" hulls with Win Red wad that is made for 1 1/4-1 1/2 oz loads.

3" hulls can be had for cheap money, Lee makes a fantastic #4 buck shot mold, and you can cast buckshot that it will shoot many holes slam through coyotes and break bones in the process.

I can emphasize enough that shotguns do not shoot to the point of aim, it is scary at how my 11/87 and 1100 shoot a complete foot low at 40 yards which I adjusted by changing stock fit.

On the otherhand, a cheap Mossburg 500 pump with a Turkey choke shoots to the point of aim, my Beretta 391 and 390 do not shoot to the point of aim either.

So, if you are wanting to shoot coyotes at 40 yards and beyond, find out where the core density of your pattern is hitting at 40 yards. Shooting a pattern at 60 yds is humbling to say the least and is pays big dividends to work with different chokes and shot sizes to see what may work well in your particular shotgun. To keep things simple, just unfold a newspaper and use it for patterning if you have not other large rolls of paper. I would advise you to pattern your shotgun at 40 yards, and mark a bullseye on the center of the newspaper, firing from a rested position to make sure that you have not jerked the trigger.

With all the talk of putting taxes on ammo, you guys may want to look into reloading shot shells, and Buck shot is not hard to load at all, just takes patience and a Mec Size master.You tube has some great videos of some good ole boys loading and firing patterns.

Having said all of this, my longest shot was 80 yards and I have only killed 5 or so at 50-60 yards. If you are using a shotgun, then the shooting is usually close range and they often smell or see you before they get in this close if brush is thicker. My old 3" 1100 has probably taken more than 500 coyotes as it was the truck shot gun for the team as we hunted in Mexico for all those years that I hunted down there.

My 11/87 with a Hastings turkey choke puts 100% of the pattern in a 15" circle of 00 and 000 buck at 40 yards, and 100% of the pattern in a 20" circle with my #4 buck loads. My number 4 buck loads would shoot better if I slowed them down, but at 1350 fps, I can obliterate a coyote. I do not shoot 00 nor 000 buck at coyotes.

Plastic wad material in the choke will destroy patterns, keep it clean.

Good luck

Some serious follow up action Greg. Once in a while one undeniably dies after one shot, but empty shell count is usually 26-30 for every ten animals.

"Personal Field Testing?" I like that one.

+1

If they are flopping, tail twirling, even legs moving, HIT'EM AGAIN!

Without a doubt - Keep shooting until they are on the ground with no possibility of getting back up. 2.6 to 3 hulls a coyote sure is a lot...grin.

My success rate in finding shotgunned coyote runoffs is very, very low and my solution is to keep pounding them.

Ya'll guys have a great New Years -

I wouldn't cut it off. I'd just buy a new 21" barrel with rifle sights on it. Then it can switch back and forth from small game and birds to yote and slug gun.

Any decent semi auto 12 ga with a 24" screw in choke barrel is perfect for me. I like to use a small red dot like the aimpoint micro. Usually use federal premium #4 buck and try a few chokes to get the pattern I want. Gun works great as a turkey gun as well with an ammo and possibly a choke change.

Here's the short version. 3" has 52 ft-pounds of energy. 3.5" has 96 ft-pounds.

So why use 3.5"? Because XB12L4 has 55 pellets. 3.5 DC has 54. 3" DC has 51. 3"lead has 41 pellets. So if, just if, everything is equal and the patterns are the same, the 3.5" fills it a bit better.

Heavier pay loads usually means less velocity...just a rule of thumb...you know how that goes.

Keith

1 5/8 oz at 1350 shoots holes all the way through with many pellets.

I hunted with a game warden that had killed coyotes for years. His load in a 12ga was with 24 pellets of #4 buck with 34g of Blue dot, AA hull, Rp wad if my memory is correct. He killed just as many as I did. He called my loads "consussion loads" because they kicked so hard and were so loud.

I don't know if anyone is at all interested in the longer version on the 3.5 stuff but here it is.

Some facts on Winchester's 3.5" lead #4 buck load:

Advertised as 54 pellets of .24 caliber lead, the shells I took apart actually contained 55 0.239-0.241" pellets. Their total mass averaged 70.5 grams = 1088 grains.

The wad and buffer weighed 5.7 grams = 88 grains

The powder appears to be Hodgdon HS-7 and weighed 39.6 grains.

Recoil calculations are a bit different than energy calculations but they're similar - Newton's 1/2 mv2. The propellant requires a factor and I used 4000 fps which is about average for escaping gas of modern powders.

For many years, the velocity of this load has been listed by various sites, probably copied from Winchester as 1150 f/s. Recently, Winchester changed the listed velocity of this shell to 1050 f/s. I haven't chrono'd the load.

Using the calculator at handloader.com instead of mine and plugging in the weights of the stuff down the tube, the powder and using 7.5 pounds for the shotgun, which is approximate for most O/U and pump guns:

Trap load: 12 gauge 2.75" 1 1/8 oz @ 1200 fps 7.5 # gun - 23 ft-pounds
3" heavy game load: 12 gauge 3" 1 5/8 oz @ 1280 fps 7.5# gun - 52 ft-pounds
3.5" Dead Coyote T-buck: 12 gauge 3.5" 1 5/8 @ 1350 fps 7.5# gun - 62.8 ft-pounds
3.5" #4 buck: 12 gauge 3.5" 2 1/2 @ 1150 fps 7.5# gun - 96.4 ft-pounds

Using 1150 f/s (the old listing) free recoil was 96.4 ft-pounds

Using Winchester's newer more conservative stated velocity of 1050 f/s gives 82 ft-pounds of recoil.

Some useful comparisons:
.223 in a 9 pound scoped rifle - 2.8 ft-pounds
.308 in a 9 pound rifle - 15.2 ft-pounds
.338 WM 220 gr bullet @ 2775 fps, 9# rifle - 28.8 ft-pounds
.375 H&H 300 gr @ 2500 fps, 9# rifle - 39.1 ft-pounds
.458 WM 500 gr @ 2100 fps, 9# rifle - 63 ft-pounds
.460 Weatherby 500 gr @ 2500 fps, 9# rifle - 103 ft-pounds
(9 pounds might be a bit light for a scoped .458 or .460 rifle)
.50 BMG 647 gr @ 2710 fps, 30# rifle - 70 ft-pounds

i shoot a lot of coyotes with a shotgun, i use a benelli, with 18" barrel 7 plus 1 2 3/4 # 4 lead, works for me in heavy brush. most of my shots are inside 30 yrds. tried the heavy buckshot loads but like the #4s better. to each their own. this years score 247 coyotes 28 bobcats, about half with a shotgun.rio7

You guys allowed to use buckshot are fortunate indeed. In the Volunteer State we may use no shot larger than T (.20-cal) which means steel or Hevi-Shot in that pellet size.

Why, who the hell knows? Pretty sure our Wildlife Commission just does whatever TWRA says.

You can buy all the buckshot ya like, ya just can't legally kill anything with it except humans.

We need night-hunting for vermin, buckshot, and a primitive weapon season that allows single shot CF.

Where are the pattern pics? I believe shooting @ 40yds and counting hits on a 9" paper plate is the standard for thrifty predator callers.....Somewhere it has been said that it takes 5 #4 buck pellets on target to cleanly take a coyote, more with smaller shot. Anything above 10 #4 buck pellets on a 9" plate @40yds is considered excellent.


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Here you go.....


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I'm just not sure that the paper plate tells the full story either since coyotes are like waterfowl and the shots are coming, going, and crossing. However, it's a start. Once it's been patterned you've got to transition to game. So I have to ask where are the coyote pics?

This was the result of handful of half-day hunts and a couple of Saturday competitions while getting ready to give a seminar in Mesa Nov 9. I needed current photos to make the point that I could still get the job done and wasn't resting on an old reputation. That isn't a challenge. You have to know that it's hard to get up in front of an audience who wants to know what you did last week and not last year or 5 years ago.

The deal is I could have picked a lot of different pics today but this one was handy and already hosted. These were all 3.5" #4 buckshot or tungsten T-buck. I just can't honestly suggest to anyone that they shoot 3" loads if they've got the gun and the money to shoot 3.5".