Coyote Rifle Calibers

[Cousin Brown]

What caliber do you prefer for coyotes?  

[Woodsman416]

.243 win. Because that's what I have.

[Gobblengrunt]

I use a 243 in NJ because that is what I have but it does a lot of damage if looking to keep skins.  My vote would be a 223 because of ammo availability and price (I like to shoot a lot).  I have shot a lot of boar and coyotes in texas with a 223, drops everything like a rock and great ballistics for 300 yd bullet

[Lunatic]

22-250

[Tarhunt]

.22 Hornet

[Haskell_Hunter]

.223

 

That's what I am hunting them with right now. Enough power to reach out and drop one, and not enough power to completely destroy the hide if I want to make a coyote hat...or anything else with coyote.

 

You can find .223 everywhere and have a vast amount of choices. I also hunt them with my AR, so I could use 5.56 if I wanted to, but that's probably too much.

[Bones]

22-250

Preferred choice flat fast and long range if needed

Puts them down in a hurry

[Axiom]

I use a 12 gauge and 00 buck shot.. worked great on the only coyote I ever bagged..

[Cousin Brown]

17 hmr or a 22 lr is to light I take it?  What would be the smallest caliber best suited for these critters?

[Nomad]

22 mag

[06roadking]

I use a .17hmr and never had a problem dropping them where they stand though i haven't shot any out past 80 yards or so. Zero fur damage is a plus to me and they are fairly quiet which keep the neighbors happy.

[Shortfuse]

All I have in my gun cabinet are Coyote Killers 17 HMR x 2, 257 Roberts, AR 15 556/223, 22 Hornet, 222 Remington, Mossberg 500 Predator Hunting is the only hunting I still do and I guess my gun cabinet reflects that. 

[Bmelvin]

.223, .22-250, .204. Those three are the top for a reason. Now are you calling dogs or are you sitting over bait(yes I am aware it is illegal in NJ)?

 

How you are hunting and where plays a role on what cal to use. On a bait you could get away with almost anything due to the distance most likely being shorter and the animal sticking around so you can pick your shot carefully.

 

Roadking the .17 hmr is a great cal but I wouldn't say it's a great yote cal. I am assuming all your shots were head shots?

[Fishman]

22-250

[B B]

.50 cal