Calling scope power

AWS

Retired PM Staff
What is your favorite predator CALLING scope power, your usual shot distance and the type of terrain do you hunt?

I hunt out in the west but I like to call I thicker cover, pockets in tall sage, mesquite thickets, and treed ridges. Most of my shots are under 100 yards, many inside 20 yards. I like to shoot combo guns(shotgun/rifle 12ga/5.56x50R Mag 12ga/22 Sav Highpower and shotgun/shotgun/rifle 16ga/16ga/6.5x58R) when the cover is really tight and my go to scopes are 1-4x20mm, on 1x the FOV is huge, target acquisition is fast, I've killed ducks and pheasants with the shotgun barrel returning from a stand and 4x makes for a pretty easy 200 yard shot on a coyote if needed but rarely do they ever get off 1x.

When the country is a little more open with shot range out there a little further my bolt actions(20P/222Rem/22-204/6.5G) wear 1.5-6x40mm scope, just a slight reduction of FOV and a little more power on the top end. Even in this type of country I find myself trying to stay closer or in any available cover as it seems to me it is easier to get coyotes to come in if they don't have to expose themselves.

I do have a couple 22-250's that I set up for really open country with 2.5-8/10x40mm scopes. I rarely take them out and the couple times I have my kills have been around 20 yards, I've never taken them off 2.5x to kill a coyote. You know how it is your in a big open country, you know you'll be able to see one coming a mile away and the coyote you call in sneaks all the way into the caller in tiny crease in the terrain and pops up right at the caller.
 
The good ole 3-9x quality scope is my general purpose. I also run 2-7x scopes alot.
I like the 6-18x scope for load development.
 
I chose the EOTech HSS-1 system. EOTech with a very wide Field of View and then a flip to the side 3X magnifier. The EOTech has a reticle designed for the M855 bullets 62 grain 5.56 caliber. It's calibrated for 0 to 300, 400, 500 and 600 meters. I don't shoot any further than 200 yards with it and when shooting of a bench is pretty accurate. My only problem is having an astigmatism in my right eye which is my shooting eye. So sometimes I see double reticle images.

When in thick cover I just flip the magnifier off to the side or take it off as it's a quick detach type.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K4LIwMcL5g&ab_channel=MrgunsngearChannel
 
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The gun that I've killed the most coyotes with is a 223 bolt gun with a 6X-18X. I leave it on 6X most of the time but I have turn it up to 18X for a longer shots on coyotes many times. Even if the coyote is only 150 yards away, I've turned it up to 18X to help me "aim small to miss small". I built an AR 223 wylde about 3 years ago and put the same model scope on it and have killed a lot of coyotes with it as well. I've never had an issue quickly finding a coyote in that scope at 6X. If they are closer than 40 yards, I often pick up my shotgun instead.

I have a 22-250 bolt gun and another AR with a 3X-9X. An AR with a red dot and another AR with a 3X-12X. I've used 20X to shoot several coyotes with a bolt 6mm 5X-20X but it normally stays on 5X. I have an 8X-32X on an AR10 6mm Creedmoore and I have turned it up to 32X to kill more than a couple coyotes but normally it stays on 8X.

My average shot distance on a coyote stand with a rifle is around 100 yards. I'll generally take the first good shot on any coyote when I have called it 200 yards or less. Even though I have many opportunities to shoot at coyotes at longer distances, I rarely take shots more than 200 yards. Even for western coyote calling, I don't think more than 6X is really needed. The high power scopes are really nice for long shots at coyotes and prairie dogs. 32X was really nice last year for shooting at prairie dogs at 400+ yards.
 
1-4x20mm,1.5-6x42,2-7x35,or 3-9x40. I'll take field of veiw and good glass over magnification. I hunt Northwest Indiana. No need for a telescope around here. I sight in all my calling rifles at 200 yards. That covers pretty much all my hunting properties.
 
This is kind of interesting, BrianID and I hunt a lot of the same area and are on opposite ends of the spectrum of scope power.

This area has a quite varied terrain from rolling hills, mountains, open desert, thick mesquite covered dunes&flats and brushy bottomed arroyos/canyons/gullies. Most of the time I call coyotes in areas that I wouldn't even see them at 100 yards. I'm thinking that stand selection has a lot to do with preferred scope selection. I'm looking forward to doing a couple stands with him next winter, we were going to get together this past winter but it was just when I crushed my foot.
 
AWS,

In a few months we will have to get together for some calling.

I often try to select my stand location for a spot that gives me some elevation so I can see them coming from a long way off. Occasionally I'll make stands in places I can't see them until they are 100 yards or less but I really enjoy seeing coyotes 800+ yards out and watching them come all the way into shotgun range. I do call some up in the Gila mountains but most my calling is in the lowland desert.
 
Most of the terrain we hunt is open grain fields with rolling hills. When calling, my scope is at low setting depending on the gun being used. My .223 has a 3 x 9 and my .243 has a 4 x 12. Most shots are under 100 yards, but have taken a few at 200+
 
I have had (4) 22-250's over the years and they have all carried the Leupold's 4.5x14 AO 50mm. Although a couple in the 70's were the Leupold 8x AO.

Have never missed a yote at close range with them yet, with 8' being the closest and several at 12 to 20 yrds. I just dial it down to 4.5 on the power and then dial AO down to the lowest setting which is clear at 10 yrds.

Shotgun - I just use open sights for the Beretta 303.
 
I shoot more over 200 yards than under. Coyote are often in small isolated pieces of cover,less than 10 acres. When the snow is noisy, you just can't approach within 250 yards, usually 300. During the daylight hours, typically they will only come to the edges of cover. I think to pinpoint sound location and then come in close when darker. Our new night vision laws will make a difference, as I wouldn't have to worry about it getting to dark to shoot. Day spot and stalk shots are usually longer also, as coyote out in the open don't sleep like red fox. You absolutely cannot let a coyote see you, fox not so much. Fox typically lift their head to look around, coyote will not. Always better to take a long careful ranged sleeper shot, then a closer runner.
 
Most of my rifles sport a 3-9/3.5-10. I usually set up and call in the corner of a field/opening bordered by woods so shots are typically less than 100 yards and often inside the woods. Some of the area here allows for more open shots in the hay fields and larger pastures. If I’m going to be in those places I’ll take my 22-250 or 243 which both use a 4.5-14. I recently purchased 2 new scopes to try out though, a 1.5-5x20 with a German 4 reticle and a 1.75-6x32 with heavy duplex. One of them will go on my 18” 223 AR for hunting in the denser cover so I can have more FOV since high mag isn’t really necessary. Haven’t decided which one for sure to use and what to do with the other yet.
 
AWS, when I hunted AZ, I had two scopes ranges that I liked depending on the terrain.

A. when hunting in the weeds, like you show a lot of pictures of, I use a Leupold 3.5x10 A.O.and Burris 3x12 which I dearly loved.

B. when hunting the edges of fields, I like the 4x14's and the Bushnell 4200 in 4x16.

People will have a huge number of reasons they like this or that kind of scope and this is a person thing, no right or wrong, just what is right for you at that time in your life.

With my favorite 22 Magnum, I had a Leupold 3x9 compact.

With all the guys I carried over the years, guys that had experience shooting a lot of skeet or sporting clays seemed to handle a little bit higher power better as they had developed good hand and eye coordination with a shotgun swing.

I was always picking up a novice to hunt with me, never liked to have more than one in the truck at a time. I had a 222 set up with a 1.5 x 5 , and another 22/250 set up with a 2x7 Leupold.

I made one heck of a mistake in getting rid of some Jap Tasco 3x9's with a 30mm tube and 50mm front objective...one heck of a field of view...Euro Class I think they were. Also, I had a couple of Tasco Titans that were remarkable in their optics. One of the early Titans had a bubble on each of the windage and elevation mark indicating how far off center you were adjusted.
 
Well I ha e a 2-10 on my 6x6.8 ar15. On my bolt 22-243 I carry this for most my calling. We have lots of open land with educated dogs that don’t like to come in. Close shots are 200-300 yards we can take shots out to past 1000 yards. So the fast wind bucking heavy for caliper bullets we choose on our bolt actions. I use a Leupold 3-15 vx5hd has good field of view down low and upper magnification for longer shots. Plus it has an moa wind plex reticle and a licking elevation turret.
 
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