What's with the desire for larger calibers for coyotes?

Originally Posted By: huntschoolShelton573:

Man, you have some open country to shoot in..... brings a new meaning to "bean field rifle" dont ya think..... Just sayin.

Wife's family was from Bernie years ago (gun and knife town back then). I have often wondered, while driving around over there, how the coyote hunting was.

I only get to stretch the legs (mostly) on my 6.5 CM in the Ohio River bottoms South of me towards Paducah.

Shoot well.... maybe some day we could meet for coffee or something...


Sounds good! There is a lot of open area and surprisingly pretty good hunting. Used to do a lot of snow goose and duck hunting over around Bernie years ago before I called it quits on the birds and switched to coyotes. Let me know if you are ever in the area or something.
 
I say this almost everyday. "Why in the he double toothpics would anyone spend $20,000+ buying that little piece of ugly crap and drive around town all proud." There is no accounting peoples taste.
 
I'm a big game hunter and hunting coyotes is just a way for me to "stay frosty" and keep hunting when big game seasons are over. I also enjoy knowing that every coyote I kill saves the lives of native birds and ungulates. Before my buddy's spring bear hunt last year we went out and called coyotes with the rifle he would pack when we would later call in bears.

The furs aren't too good where I hunt, so there's no difference in dead coyotes. I have seen bullets from a 7mm-08 and .375 H&H punch right through like a .223 and other times leave an exit wound you could slide your boot into. If you're shooting fur to put your kids through college...choose a fur-friendly caliber. If you like hunting and shooting, "run what you brung" and have fun. Oh, and wear ear pro.
 
I want my coyotes to anchor. I don't care about the fur. I do it for the killing. Protecting my family's cattle and the wildlife we actually eat (deer, turkey, quail, etc). We hunted our first contest almost 10 years ago, killed 11, lost 4. Would have had first place in the bag and 70% of the pot. Instead we placed 3rd and got 10%. After two more contests with lost dogs and lost places, we upped our caliber. In about 50 coyotes since we've inexplicably lost 3. Sure shot placement is important with any size caliber, but a little more forgiving with the larger calibers with more energy has been our experience. I don't really care what other people use. I wish all of our competitors used .17 HMR or .22LR to be honest.
 
Last edited:
I can tell ya this... even with all of us shooting cannons, anything at night that's not neck or head shot gets retrieved immediately while the stand is still going. It's truly remarkable how many coyotes we have killed with a guy walking around on the ground.

Wormydog, I can remember when 8-10 coyotes would win, those were the days. Now you need a dozen or more just to get a check. Crazy.
 
Last edited:
Even with a head shot I don't always trust those bigger calibers to do the trick. A few years ago I was in a tournament by myself and had one get shotgun close. I shot him in the head and he went to yelping and I kept shooting. That son of a gun took a 100 grain softpoint to the bridge of the nose and took one side of his face off. You talk about a creepy feeling when you lean down to grab a yote that looks like that by the legs to drag him off and he winks at you....

I was in another tournament with my brother last year and had one try to get away. All I could see was his head above the CRP so I tried to shoot him in the back of the head with my .223 and thought I did until my brother went out to grab him and he was still alive. One thing about those shots to the jaw is they tend to get knocked cuckoo so you can shoot them again. They can take a heck of a hit and keep breathing though if you hit them wrong.

That's why regardless of what I'm shootin that day if that coyote hits the ground and flops his tail around more than a few times I'm gonna shoot it again more than likely. I've seen too many make a miraculous recovery. If they ain't hit good and catch a second wind that sumbuck will get up and go.
 
Originally Posted By: OKRattlerEven with a head shot I don't always trust those bigger calibers to do the trick. A few years ago I was in a tournament by myself and had one get shotgun close. I shot him in the head and he went to yelping and I kept shooting. That son of a gun took a 100 grain softpoint to the bridge of the nose and took one side of his face off. You talk about a creepy feeling when you lean down to grab a yote that looks like that by the legs to drag him off and he winks at you....

I was in another tournament with my brother last year and had one try to get away. All I could see was his head above the CRP so I tried to shoot him in the back of the head with my .223 and thought I did until my brother went out to grab him and he was still alive. One thing about those shots to the jaw is they tend to get knocked cuckoo so you can shoot them again. They can take a heck of a hit and keep breathing though if you hit them wrong.

That's why regardless of what I'm shootin that day if that coyote hits the ground and flops his tail around more than a few times I'm gonna shoot it again more than likely. I've seen too many make a miraculous recovery. If they ain't hit good and catch a second wind that sumbuck will get up and go.

+100^^^^^^^^^^

I've shot coyotes mostly with .223 or 243, but all the way up to 375 h&h when hunting the bigger critters. The big bores are absolutely no guarantee of getting the desired results on coyotes.

One in particular comes to mind; he was facing me and I shot him with a 375/300 gr. accubond at about 150 yards. Knocked him down like a sledgehammer! As I walked toward the "dead" coyote got about 75 yards from him, he jumped up and started running clockwise in a 5' circle. Crosswind was gusty and I was having trouble getting on him for a follow up but finally managed to do so. First shot had hit him at the base of his left ear, which remained attached to the skull on opposite sides of an 1.5" gaping hole by two very thin strips of hide.

Problem with the big bores is the bullets are constructed too heavily to expand and they pencil through. Have had to follow up on several with the .338 WM, as well.

Hunting with a .308/125 gr. NBT now and have had no runners to date, but I'm sure if I hunt with it long enough, I will. Amazing critters!

Regards,
hm
 
Back
Top