Originally Posted By: DAAFor calling coyote as I practice it, fast and flat with relatively light bullets is where it's at. Bullet construction and terminal performance need to be considered and evaluated carefully though. Effective field performance is not as simple as just launching a Vmax at 4,500 fps.
But for me, whatever happens at more than 400 yards is meaningless. The compromises necessary to achieve superior performance at distances beyond 400 yards are penalties I have no reason to pay and am quite happy to be avoiding.
- DAA You should consider yourself blessed to have such opportunities to be happy with what you describe. No doubt if I didn't need capabilities at longer ranges, I'd never be asking for those capabilities. The local terrain and behaviors in specific areas have a tremendous amount to do with all of this. As does what someone's desires dictate.
Where I hunt is huge country. Short grass prairie. I've been on a set and have seen 18 coyotes without once moving my butt. When you're in that kind of country, where you can glass coyotes out to a couple miles... they just don't all come flying in to present close shots. I kill far more coyotes every year between 300-600yds than I do inside 300yds. Short grass plains coyotes put a lot more distance on than I've experienced in real brushy areas. Those coyotes in brushy country, I'm right there with DAA in that I'd want something REALLY flat shooting and in a fast handling rifle. When the dogs are timid, that same setup is a recipe for being skunked around here. The other thing that comes with those big plains areas is wind. LOTS of wind. The wind drift on light and fast is horrific in comparison to heavy and fast.
A 22-243win with 52smk going 4100fps in a 10mph 3:00 wind requires 0.8 mils of hold at 300yds. An 80gr berger at 3500fps only requires 0.4 mils.
Bump the wind up to 15mph and that goes to 1.1mils and 0.6 mils, respectively. That's not marginal, nor is that trivial.
Fact is, this all has to do with the style of hunting you're engaged in, the location you're hunting, and your definition of success... based on your wants and needs. If you simply don't see, or don't want to engage distant coyotes, then clearly you'll never want for anything with a light weight for cal bullet going fast. Though if you do want to engage further coyotes, or simply have an easier time hitting those closer ones regardless of what the wind is doing... then heavy for cal is superior in every way. Drag models, BC's, and proliferation of firing solution calculators makes this information a fact that's very easy to confirm. If you only need to guess the wind to +/- 8mph to still achieve a solid hit, your chances of a hit will be significantly higher than something requiring wind estimation to +/- 1mph. You can achieve those numbers by reducing the range to target, or shooting something that's better in the wind.
It's all pretty simple.