Recommendations for 22-250 variable power coyote scope.

Mine wears a 6x18, 4x12 would be another option. Some will probably say a 3x9 is plenty. Others will say a 1x4. Gonna get mixed opinions for sure. My Creed has a 2.5x15. Lots of variable there.
 
My 22-250's wear a Bushnell Elite 4200 2.5-10x40 and an old Bausch &Lomb Balvar 8 2.5-8x??(I shot it in the EGG Shoot last year). The old Balvar 8 has some really nice optics for it's age and I have it in a Leupold Windage adjustable base and shim it for elevation.

This is a predator hunting sight so I have to assume you are hunting coyotes with your 22-250. Scope selection is a very personal thing. There are those that think a fixed 6x is the cats meow on a calling rifle. If I were limited to 6x and it's restrictive FOV I'd feel very claustrophobic. On a calling rifle I like FOV, the more the better. I hunt a lot of closer cover and most of my calling rifles and combo guns wear 1-4x20mm and 1.5-6x4?mm scopes I find the large FOV adventages to my type of hunting but feel very comfortable with them out to 300 yards.

I have a couple of 22-250's for more open country, rarely take them out but keep them sighted incase I end up having to hunt open country(invites or control work). This question is timely for me as I just ordered an Athlon Optics Argos 2-12x42 w/ BDC reticle(I find dialing distractive on a coyote stand) for one of my 22-250's. It has 55+' of FOV on the bottom end and 12x on the top end for those longer shots. I had a Athlon Argos 2-10x40 last year and while it was a nice scope and I killed a coyote with it I didn't like the tall turrets and gave it to my granddaughter along with a Weatherby Vanguard 233 as she likes to go out and punch paper with her husband and friends. The new 2-12 I ordered has low capped adjustments, it should make a great hunting scope.

Savage 22-250 Balvar 8 out killing coyotes. Killed this one on the way back from the EGG Shoot at about 20 yards.

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The 2-10 Argos with the tall turrets that kept getting in the way.

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For a calling rig, a 3-9x or a 2-7x has always worked for me. Imo, there is no need for Parallax adj or packing the extra weight.
 
Yep he sure did.. Quote-Recommendations for 22-250 variable power "coyote scope".
& I gave my opinion! If your calling actually works, than there is no need to pack around more.
Even if your sniping, do you really need more than 9x???? Its hard to utilize a steady enough rest for such high magnification.


 
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We don't know if he is calling coyotes or just shooting targets of opportunity. Actually many can shoot pretty fine groups off shooting sticks to make higher magnification useable just watch some of the winners at the PM Egg Shoot. Reticles have a big impact also. I've shot a 6x scope in a Egg Shoot, but the reticle was very fine(almost useless as a hunting scope), you could hold very close with it and I've shot higher power scopes that the reticle so fat you had to place the egg in a quadrant as the reticle was so fat it made the egg disapear(great for target acquisition in low light or heavy cover)

If I had a choice between a 2-12 or 3-9 I'd take the 2-12 with its 1/3 larger FOV on the bottom end (faster target acquisition, easier to track a moving coyote in the brush) and a 1/3 more X's on the top end for finer long range holds and load development.

The terrain you hunt, your shooting ability, your calling ability and how you hunt will all play into the ideal scope selection.

Even in open country my scope never comes off the lowest power until needed, if the coyote is far enough away to need higher power there is time to turn it up. If the coyote is charging in or appears at your bootlaces there is no time to turn the power down and reaching up to do so an spook a close in coyote.

Paralax adjustable scopes, leave the parallax adjusted at 200 yard, if they are farther out than that, there is time to adjust, closer in the parallax adjustment won't make a big enough difference to cause a miss on a coyote, nor will having a slightly fuzzy coyote at 20 yards.
 
Quote - The terrain you hunt, your shooting ability, your calling ability and how you hunt will all play into the ideal scope selection.

Even in open country my scope never comes off the lowest power until needed, if the coyote is far enough away to need higher power there is time to turn it up. If the coyote is charging in or appears at your bootlaces there is no time to turn the power down and reaching up to do so an spook a close in coyote.


Well said.. I have a custom 6mm that is my truck gun. It is set up for taking long shots! It's not hard to find 4-600 yrd shots when driving the country side & with a steady rest I have taken my share. But typically,if im out driving the back roads I'm out to call! So targets of opertuninty is second priority.. In calling, my setups are much more commonly around 200yrd max,thats just the way I set up.

To each there own..
 
I ordered a VX3i 4.5-14x50 cds last week to put on my 22-250. I’d say anything 16 power or less will be fine. I like the 14-16 power range just to get that extra zoom on something 300-400 yards out. But don’t have to use that high either if you don’t want but it’s there when you do want it. I had a VX5 HD 3-15x56 on it that I moved over to my new Bergara Ridge SP 6.5 creedmoor. Fits the new gun better.
 
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In Mn,Ia farm country day hunting 12-20x top end. I dial for shots over 250 yards, so good turrets that function in below zero temps are important. Sleepers=Range,dial,shoot.
 
I run a 4-12 Leupold with a custom cds dial on my 17 rem(vx2 fine duplex). My 22-250 has a Sightron 4-20 stac duplex(fantastic turrets). I think the 3-16 stac would be plenty of mag, I just haven't found a good deal on one. I have 4 of the s-tac, 2 of the 2moa reticle. I use them for prairie dog and load development. Mainly because the moa reticle is fine and tough to see after sunset. The Leupold fine plex is also not easy to see after sunset. Both rifles have Lilja barrels,dime to nickel size groups at 300 yards. I use a 3.5-10x56 Sightron S111, with a illuminated dot for full moon hunts, will be changing that to night vision with the new Mn regs(when I can get fur sold).
 
It was legal last winter to have in possession night vision and thermal for coyote and fox hunting only. Other restrictions are still in place, with large fines for trespass while in possession of the equipment.
 
Just looked it up. That’s cool. Finally MN is getting more lenient. I’m surprised it’s not limited to a certain time frame like a varmint light and electronic call. I just don’t get all the regs anyway on an unprotected species. If it’s unprotected then take it anyway you want. Lights, thermal, electronic calls, etc.
 
One of the reason is poaching is such a problem or was when I lived there. If lights are illegal at night no one can say they were predator hunting. When I lived there semis would pick up poached deer in the northern part of the state. It was amazing checking my trapline and seeing lights and hearing shots in the night.
 
Trespass(shooting into private property from right-a-ways) and poaching were the main reasons law enforcement spoke against it to legislators. Still amazed at all the short walk tracks from vehicles I see around the full moons. The only reason I can see to only go 100 yards from truck to call is, no permission, easy to get back on the road quickly if another vehicle lights appear on road.
 
All my scopes are Leupold 4.5x14 AO, they are on all my rifles (5).
I have (2) 22-250's with these scopes and have killed several of them coyotes at close ranges in the woods - 12 to 25 yards.

I just turn the AO to 15 yards and power down to 5 and I am good to go at close range.

Soooo, any scope with an AO should work just fine for you.
 
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