How far really..... No really....

Thanks ya all..... I am going to put together a graph of sorts representing the replys. I'll post it when this topic dies...... Keep it coming......

fratri: The trick for me at distance is a light trigger, low recoiling cartridge, and a really solid rest. I use a BogPod tripod rest and shoot a pretty heavy Ruger #1. My new round is 17 Rem. Fireball. Have not put it on a coyote this year but will. My others are 6.5 Creedmoor #1 and .270 Browning 78. They will all do the job. Practicing with the tripod makes a bunch of difference. Dont be afraid to alter the rest on the sticks to solid up your gun. Its usually the shoulder fit that is the problem. Lean into it a bit......
 
Me and my huntin partner hunt two ways here, spot and stalk and of coarse call them in. When we call the shots are really no more than 130yds. This past may I got my closest at 16yds, pretty exciting!
When we have some that we have patterned we usually take long range rigs and those shots run 300yds and further. One Christmas he and I took a simultaneous pair at a laser ranged 620yds

For calling I like my light weight CZ .223
For any long range work I usually carry my 22-243 Winchester.

I have 2 heavy barreled .223s that are good to 500yds
I choose the apprpopriate rifle based on time of year, the specific property, and how we plan to hunt.
 
My farthest 405,closest 18. Always use a rifle,cal.depends on how I plan to hunt that day.

Normal set up is field edges, some of which offer some good distance (at least for this area.) The farms I hunt the most have some dead cattle here and there and I do stay back. When calling most shots are inside of 100 yrds.

My off season runs from April till the end of August. This is the time I spend shooting, lots of shooting. Favorite target is my caldwell gong placed at yardages to 500 yrd, mostly on sticks and bipods. I twist turrets and all yrds are marked and checked.

Yes I miss and have made my share of bad hits (been at it twelve plus years.)
 
Another two fell this weekend.. 120 and 250.

Missed another...no time to range shot for 300.. turned out only to be 250..just over his back.. and to answer the question... practice..a lot!,, ][/url] .. I sight my main coyote gun dead on at 200.. puts my point blank aim to 240-250 with my current load.. dope accordingly after that..
 
Quote:Lean into it a bit Amen, and grab rifle & sticks and pull snug into shoulder. Makes for a very solid platform.

Regards,
hm
 
hm1996:

I should add that if you are exerting strength (muscle exertion) to do it you need to be ready to shoot as that tension and your breathing cycle will show up as your muscles fatigue (lactic acid)and you will "shake". I am still able to do a good job of controlling my breathing (though for shorter periods). This other stuff is now happening more quickly to me due to age, my physical self and COPD. But, if you are ready it works.

Edit:..... Jim Byers

Nice shooting. Who is your lifter there ?
 
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Originally Posted By: huntschoolhm1996:
I should add that if you are exerting strength (muscle exertion) to do it you need to be ready to shoot as that tension and your breathing cycle will show up as your muscles fatigue (lactic acid)and you will "shake". I am still able to do a good job of controlling my breathing (though for shorter periods). This other stuff is now happening more quickly to me due to age, my physical self and COPD. But, if you are ready it works.

You sure got that right, Bruce! This gettin' old is for the birds. Fortunately, I learned even before my breathing got so impaired to not "admire my sights" too long.
Not only will you begin to shake, your eyesight begins to fade if you hold too long.

Regards,
hm
 
I would say I kill 50% at around 50-80 yards, 45% of the rest within 250, not very many over 300. Those are just guessing numbers, without going back in my log and looking them all up. I feel though by actually logging distances I do have a pretty good feel for it. I just kill maybe 1 a year or so out around 400 or over.
 
Hm1996

That's my son Lance. He's my main hunting buddy. He turned 9 this spring.. still trying to get him his first coyote. Just haven't been able to get one to ease into us and stand long enough for him to get on him. One of these trips the stars will line up...I hope.
 
I think visibility is everyones limiting factor. I rarely see a coyote coming at less than 800 yards. If I do the mutt catches them backdooring us. Then I screwed up. I shot 2 coyotes this last year at less than 100 yards. The rest were out to 500. But most inside 150. Setup is always looking downwind but scent is always above incoming coyotes. I grew up hunting in Iowa and it is way harder there than here. Here (Wyoming) I would much rather shoot a coyote at 150 yards than 50. They know something is up at 50. At 150 they are still feeling safe. I shoot a .17 almost exclusively. Unless I run out of a good source of bullets.
 
This past season my longest was 180 and my shortest 6 feet. Over the years I've had one sit on the log next to me, another jump over my partners legs(we were sitting back to back), one run right between me and Desert Ram and we were just a couple yards apart, shot one about 10 feet behind my brother in law as it was creeping up on him, another poked his head over the edge of a snow drift right between my BinLs feet and had a fox jump off a snow bank and land between my knees. Getting them close is a rush, to me that's what calling is all about.
 
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I have gotten them close enough to spray blood on me and far enough that I was wishing I had more scope.

The range is determined by the cover that I am hunting in. Thick brush, shotgun, 5-70 yards. More open areas, brushy edges, 100-300 most commonly but I am ready to go farther if I need to.
 
Over the years, I would say that my average shot distance has been about 80-100 yds.

But, a real good quantity have been between 40-50 yds.

I have always made a slef-imposed decision to not shoot past about 250 yds.

Oh, and I have always hunted in north-central Kansas. Pastures are mostly what I would call "low rolling hills", although some have some seriously steep hills/canyon walls.
 
Just took a 400 yard shot this last Monday and missed. Wind was howling! Most shots here in Michigan are between 50-100 yards.
 
When calling, most shots are under 100 yards, even though I hunt fairly flat, open ground. I probably pass up as many shots under 25 yards, than I do at longer ranges. Sometimes I can't stop them, and they over run my position!! I love it when that happens! Gonna work on that next winter.
 
The big majority of shots on called coyotes are slam dunks. Kinda the whole point of the exercise, call them in for an easy shot.

I try and stop them between 150 and 100 if I can. 150 on a standing coyote is a slam dunk. Inside a hundred even better IF he's stopped. But it's only a few seconds from inside 100 to inside 50 and when they get that close that's where the rodeos happen.

Used to think just shooting the kamikazes was pretty easy, but not anymore, not with the rifle anyway. Kamikazes are a LOT of fun with the shotgun though. So now on those days they are just galloping right up to the caller I like to sit right next to it with my Benelli
smile.gif
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- DAA
 
Most my shots are 75-250 yards. My farthest kill is 450 yards. I killed one Monday at just over 200. That's about average for me
 
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