Effective coyote range for .223?

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I have no idea how much of it is private... but hell, we just drove half-a-mile off the freeway and found a place to set up and call. Sometimes we'd go for a ways on the roads... and sometimes we'd just put the speaker on top of the truck, turn the volume up to full blast, and drive down the road at 5mph. That worked as well as anything. ~qb



I now live in colorado and plan on taking a few trips up to Pinedale and Big Piney to do some fishing and hunting and to see the grand parents so I was just wondering what my chances were of being ablr to park right on the ditch by the freeway and walk out a quarter of a mile or so and call. So thanks for the info. I will have to give it a try.

I do understand what you are saying but I doubt anybody looks for yotes at 50 yards only. Most of the time the binos are at my eyes trying to bust them 300-400 yards out and then I can key in on them exclusively and coax them in closer.
 
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If you're looking for them at 50 yards you only see maybe 1 in 4 that you actually call in.



I'd say the opposite is probably more likely than most would admit if you are calling from a stand. If your looking for them at 500 yds you only see 1 in 4 that you actually called in. I'd say that a least half of the coyotes that I called to within 50yds were never spotted coming in, they just appeared in front of me, usually using the little gulleys and dry washes that cannot be seen into from the stand as a means of travel.







Exactly,used to be guilty of scanning the winter wheat fields for the loners that heard screams only to miss the pair cruising 50 yards off to the side.

So many times you hear people talk of the ones that hang up half a mile out.Oftentimes,cause one or more are already working your stand you haven't seen yet cause your too focused on the one in plain view 500 yards away.Maybe he drew the short straw and he's being the 'decoy'dog.Just a thought.
 
I'm using a custom AR in .223 AI, and it's performed pretty well to the 500 yd. mark with 1 dog at 550 on a very calm afternoon. I believe the effective range to be about 500 yds. in my experience. I've probably killed about 4 or 5 dogs at that range. It won't kill them instantly at that range most of the time with thru the lung hits, but they won't last very long. I wouldn't try and shoot 1 at that range when he's close to the top of a hill tho without snow in sagebrush country. He'll get far enuf away he may be hard to find. I think the 69's are good to that range, and the 55/60 gr. polymer tips will do it in no wind scenarios with the right setup.

My load shoots the 65 JLK Low Drag (BC-.4) @ 3050 mv., and has only killed 1 dog at 500 (that was a quick gut shot and had to be finished off). 400 is not a problem with an established system. 10 mph wind to about 300-350, and maybe 5 mph beyond that tho that's still tough @ 500. I use ballistic reticles - calcd., checked, troubleshot if necessary, rechecked and then dope is placed in the ocular cover of a Butler Creek scope cap cover for quick reference/protection.

My favorite optic/ballistic reticle for this application is the 22 Long Rifle Rapid Reticle right here-- http://www.rapidreticle.com/22lr3-9x32.htm recalcd. for the trajectory of my load, as it gives me good windage reference. There are certainly others that will work fine, certainly some (Horus Vision) i haven't tried. My favorite factory ballistic reticle is the Varmint Hunter again based on the excellent direct windage reference.

Shooting coyotes at long-range is not a matter of buying a ballistic-reticled, target-turretted scope and zeroing it at 100 yds. and then expect to hit coyotes @ 400-600 yds. with any degree of consistency. It's an education and learned discipline that opens a door to the most fascinating type of shooting you'll ever do...but the right to shoot game at long-range needs to be earned through a lot of study and practice and is not something approached whimsically.
 
quarterbored,

ChileRojo has probably killed 300 coyotes in a couple seasons of calling and he only calls during fur season.So it is very possible to kill coyotes very effectively at under 100 yards and while calling. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

The reason you have to take those long shots at coyotes is probably because of long shots that have missed in the past and educates the coyotes.lol

Call them in close,kill them with a HIGH PERCENTAGE SHOT,and you won't educate them. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

Good Hunting Chad
 
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I have only 3 nothches on my gunstock, but all three were 125 yards or less, closest being 40 yards.


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Very true, most will be 150 or closer in my experience. I would say 95+ % will be that close. They are few and far between when you take a 200+ yard shot. Usually the only reason you have to shoot one that far away is if they busted you before you bust them and they are not going to come any closer.


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I guess they have some stupid azz coyotes in Georgia, you boys need to spend some time out in the sage brush. Take a look at where DaveD is from... have any of y'all ever hunted in WY? I have, a lot (I grew up in northern CO)... and I can tell you this: a .223 is marginal at best for a coyote rifle in Wyoming. Not because it lacks punch (which it does) but because the wind is ALWAYS a factor. It's open country, not Carolina swamps or something like that. ~qb


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It's not that the S. Georgia yotes are all that dumb. It's a simple fact of hunting pressure. Before I moved, I know for a fact I was the only one in the county who actually hunted them.

My neighbor had them coming up on his back porch and eating the cat food. He keeps a .22wmr by the back door, but the woodline was only 30 yards out. They beat him everytime...
 
My brother in law shot one the other day at a lasered 456 yds. I have shot a couple at 300. Most were 50-200 yds. I have not lost one with the 223...granted I have only shot about 75 with it and I don't take iffy shots, but still don't think that is all that bad.
 
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Shooting coyotes at long-range is not a matter of buying a ballistic-reticled, target-turretted scope and zeroing it at 100 yds. and then expect to hit coyotes @ 400-600 yds. with any degree of consistency. It's an education and learned discipline that opens a door to the most fascinating type of shooting you'll ever do...but the right to shoot game at long-range needs to be earned through a lot of study and practice and is not something approached whimsically.



You're exactly right. Although I'm new to varmint hunting, I've been big-game hunting for a while (I'm 50). I have a .270 and a 300 Win Mag that are great long-distance cartridges. I like shooting as close as possible, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way. Therefore, shooting at longer ranges is something I understand.

I'm getting a chronograph this week which will help me fine tune my dope card. Then I'm getting to the range and practice, practice, practice.
 
Anyone; who boldly states that a coyote in plain sight, at 500 yards is a dead dog, has climbed the tree so far up, EVERYONE, can see his big lyin' [beeep]:)
The average coyote, presenting a broadside shot,(which they all do right) is exposing a lethal target, approx 3 1/2 inches in height, and about a (Im being generous) 10" in length of a target. An error of 25 yards could snuff that shot, much less wind etc. Anyone who can puff his chest, and claim to hit that size target with ease at 500 yards has:
"A" not shot enough coyotes to know better
"B" lives a very sheltered life,and believes that because the local boys down at the coffe shop by his bs, everyone does
"C" Is quite simply, a bad liar; a good liar is an entertaining sob, a bad liar, upsets most fellas, because if we let it go by, the story teller assumes we believe such nonsense, and insults our intelligence:)
500 yards is a hell of a poke, under even the best conditions, but quarterboredout, waves his arms and shouts about howling winds on the vast prarries shooting at 5-600 yard coyotes, and even hitting them with some degree of regularity. Am I the only one that dismisses those stories as unmitigated BS, or is that a chip shot in most minds?
 
I've only been in the shooting sports for a wee over 20 years now, and I've never seen a reason to attempt a shot that long. So, I can't say whether or not 500yds is a chip shot, but I know it would be a lot of vigorous practice before I would evenattempt such a shot. With that said, if quarterboredout makes those shots with that much regularity, I'd say he should practice some more so he can make regular shots at twice that range and get into a different line of work.


Now... if he did it regularly in my presence, I'd have his back all the way and feel ashamed of my meager groupings. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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Gee Wizz ChileRojo, can't you shoot 'em all dead at 500 yards. It's not so hard to beleive, after all, look how many guys shoot these little bitty groups "every day of the week" with their off the shelf guns, without even reloading for it!

500 yards on a regular basis, might be a stretch! I agree! I thought this was a calling forum, not a long range marksman forum!! I don't even concider a 500 yard coyote a "called" coyote! that coyote was just in the wrong spot at the wrong time and you happen to see it! NOW, call it in!
 
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... and sometimes we'd just put the speaker on top of the truck, turn the volume up to full blast, and drive down the road at 5mph. That worked as well as anything. ~qb



Man,,,,,,,,,,That's some good stuff right there...... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I think the original question was in reguards to the effective range of the 223cal. I'm sure the 223 is good out to about 300, and since most of us have no buisness shooting any farther than that, a scope in the 3-9 range is plenty IMO... I'm happy to trade magnification for FOV any day so I use lower power scopes. YMMV..........
I haven't tried putting my speaker on the roof of the pickup yet so that may very well require a whole different set of tools?????????
Man I love this site. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Come on out Chili... we can shoot them all day bud. Your e-Ego has obviously gotten the better of you.

Wrong spot at the wrong time is just as dead as one called in.

Any of y'all running your mouths might want to actually kill a few coyotes before you go talking about it. Untill then, you keep typing... I'll keep killing dogs. ~qb
 
quarterbored:plain sight at 500 yards is a dead dog... not a decoy dog! ~qb

LMAO!!!! Sounds like you're the one doing most of the talking and tooting his own horn.....lol

300 coyotes in your lifetime is nothing to really brag about,especially out west here.

Good Hunting Chad
 
quarterbored..you sir are the one with the E.G.O. darn it my temper's gettin the best of me again !! i'm 100 % with ChileRojo..yes i've called a few..yes even a few @ 500 yard's..guess what..i can't hit em..not only that unless they are on the move..i can't see them either !! "therefore" it doesn't matter !!
 
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Am I the only one that dismisses those stories as unmitigated BS, or is that a chip shot in most minds?



No your not. Not only does it insult everybody's intelligence but for me the worst part is that it is just passing bad information.

Driving down the road with the e-caller on the hood and shooting 500 yard dogs is just a method of a road hunter. You can read that as a hunter with no skill or desire to gain it.
 
It has been my experience that while you can pretty easily hit them at 300+ yards, nothing is more heartbreaking than knockin' one down at a distance only to have him get up and run off. I use my AR as a fox gun pretty much exclusively. As for coyote- 22-250 and now I'm even kinda lookin' in the direction of my 243- just sighted it in after having it accurized- goin' out tomorrow morning and when I make my coyote stands, the 243 is what I'm bringin'. I know lots of people kill them with 223 and will disagree with me- this is just my experience.
 
quarterboring...............Don't lead with your chin and you won't get punched in the face.

Listen, I don't know how far you are from Lewiston Idaho, but if you're hunting the wide open sage in WA you'r probably pretty close. I'm a Range Officer at a nice little range out of Lewiston. We have a gong set up at 530yrds. Why don't you come on over and we'll spray paint a 6" circle in the middle of it and you can demonstrate your ability. You can shoot off of a bench instead of the hood of your truck (while at the same time being careful not to knock the speaker off of the roof of the truck), so this should be a piece of cake for a man with your abilities.
Heck I'll even give ya a free pass to the range. PM me and I'll send ya a map. We're only open Fri., Sat., and Sun. but some of the RO's get togeather and shoot on the off days so I'm sure we can accombidate you.
Let me know when I can expect ya.
Thanks
 
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