BEST COYOTE RIFLE????????

[Dominic Barry]

Thinking about getting into coyote hunting? Any suggestions? Am hearing .223 and 22-250. Which is best for a beginner? I know ammo for 22-250 is about $60 a box....Wow!! How many people out there have actually called in a coyote? Would also appreciate any pics of alive or dead coyotes that people have taken....Also need a good scope....6-9 X 40 or up to 16X..Which is better?         Thanks                    p.s. I'm thinking about middle of the road in gun and scope.

[Shane Pinsent]

Domonic, I'm using a 233. Bullets are cheep and has plenty of range, balistic chart that I have taped to the stock gives me the rise and drop at various ranges, It's a savage firearm and not that expensive to buy. I haven't shot one yet, missed one running away. A buddy of mine has shot 4, but he spends alot of time at it and has invested $3000 in callers and his gun. He's shooting 17 remingtion fire ball, bullet is same with as a .177 cal. pellet gun. Real nice if your intrested in the fir. Scope that I have is an old one I took of my 30-06, 3x9x40, works fine.

[Dominic Barry]

Thanks Shane. My buddy just bought a 22-250. There are some in around our cabin, lots of tracks and scat. I'm not sure if they are as plentiful as some people think though.

[Shane Pinsent]

22-250 is a really nice gun, my buddy had one. Kind of over kill to me when it comes to coyote hunting, given that the bullets are not cheep. With the 223 you can proably buy 50 for the same price.I think that there are great number of coyotes around, but working in the woods for the past 16 years I've only seen 5, 3 of them were skidoing. They have a wide range and can travel great distances in a short time. I've heard that they have a range of 200KM or more.I just think that most people are over reacting when it comes to being atacked by these animals.  Just remember not to give them a free meal around the cabin if you don't like them around. But they are quite exciting to hunt!! Good luck.

[Dominic Barry]

Thanks!!

[Mike Smith]

I just picked up a lightly used Stevens 200 in .223 with a Tasco 3-9x40 scope and ugly grey plastic stock.  I sighted it in at the Rod & Gun club and its shooting 1" groupings at 100 yards. I bought this gun as its much sturdier then the newer Savage axis XP.

 

I use Winchester 55grain bulletts which work well and are about $25-35 for 50 bullets.

 

I just had my new stock arrive today, I ordered a wooden thumb hole stock from Boyd's gun stocks in the States. Now my gun isnt ugly anymore!!! Fit & finish is fantastic...its a great peice.

[Mike Smith]

Also, I have called in a coyote with an electonic caller this past spring. She actually stalled the caller which was set up 90 yards away, using a distressed rabbit sound. The same one came back to a female coyotee howl later that evening. You really need something to get them out. I bought a FoxPro Spitfire which seems like a great caller for the $$$. They have alot more models that can get expesive and are feature packed.

 

The spitfire can hold about 24 sounds (which is lots) and has a great remote control with an excellent range (also very important!) The sounds can be changed with recorded sounds of your own or ones downloaded from foxpro's website. They have some free ones there, and some you can buy. The software for changing the sounds is free on their site, just follow the instructions in your book to do it properly, and also to change the labels for the sounds in your remote.

 

The only thing the spitfire doesnt do is play a pre-programed series of sounds (the next model up is about $100 more and can do that), on the spitfire you can change them at any time using the remote, and pause the sounds using the mute button.

[Dominic Barry]

Thanks Mike

. Were you lucky enough to get a shot off or were you strictly calling?

[Mike Smith]

The first time he was too far away and on the other side of a bank or dirt (the one my caller was placed on). When she came back around 1/2 hour later she came between me and the caller and I got her with the shot gun.

 

If I had a .223 I would have had her the first time she came out.

[Dominic Barry]

Right On!! Good shooting.