Coyotes and Deer

[N80]

Like someone else mentioned, I think a deer would wear down after an hour and presumably the coyotes don't, giving them the ability to catch and kill and exhausted deer.

I'm going to go off topic a little here. I'm probably going to commit a little more time and effort to shooting coyotes. And I know there are perfect rifles and rounds just for hunting coyotes.....but I'm not going to spend money on one of those. I've got a bunch of deer rifles and certainly one of those would do as my dedicated coyote gun for after deer season. Since I have never done any serious long range shooting and my most powerful scope is a 6x I'd say my longest shots would be limited to 200 yards. I'll mention the most likely candidates I own and see what you guys think.

Remington 700 in .270 with 6x Leupold (has been extremely accurate over the years)
S&W (actually a Husqvarna) .308 with a 6x Leupold (the one I used to kill the most recent coyote and seems to be very accurate)
Remington Model 7 (very small rifle) in 7mm-08 with a 4x Zeiss (accuracy unknown as I've never shot it)

I'm leaning toward the .308 but open to the .270. The 7mm-08 has an underpowered scope and is an unknown entity at this time.

So if I go .308 or .270 is there a better bullet than just the typical deer rounds (cheaper, flatter shooting, etc) or should I just stick with my current deer rounds?

 

[tungularafishcamp]

I am not a gun guy but I would think your 7mm-08 is the flattest shooter, just put a more powerful scope on it. All are plenty powerful enough, but I think that would be your longest shooter.

 

[sdkubota]

Like someone else mentioned, I think a deer would wear down after an hour and presumably the coyotes don't, giving them the ability to catch and kill and exhausted deer.

I'm going to go off topic a little here. I'm probably going to commit a little more time and effort to shooting coyotes. And I know there are perfect rifles and rounds just for hunting coyotes.....but I'm not going to spend money on one of those. I've got a bunch of deer rifles and certainly one of those would do as my dedicated coyote gun for after deer season. Since I have never done any serious long range shooting and my most powerful scope is a 6x I'd say my longest shots would be limited to 200 yards. I'll mention the most likely candidates I own and see what you guys think.

Remington 700 in .270 with 6x Leupold (has been extremely accurate over the years)
S&W (actually a Husqvarna) .308 with a 6x Leupold (the one I used to kill the most recent coyote and seems to be very accurate)
Remington Model 7 (very small rifle) in 7mm-08 with a 4x Zeiss (accuracy unknown as I've never shot it)

I'm leaning toward the .308 but open to the .270. The 7mm-08 has an underpowered scope and is an unknown entity at this time.

So if I go .308 or .270 is there a better bullet than just the typical deer rounds (cheaper, flatter shooting, etc) or should I just stick with my current deer rounds?

A .204 Ruger is about the flatest shooting rifles out there capable of a 500 yard shot with very little drop. However, the lighter the bullet the more potential for wind drift. Your .308 is also a good shooting rifle although maybe slightly large for coyotes. Any of the rifles you mentioned will do a fine job...the trick will be getting them within a comfortable range.

 

[N80]

I see that Remington makes a .270 with a 100g bullet and a muzzle velocity of 3300fps.

 

[cqaigy2]

Back in the day, one could pick up 75grain for the .270. Not sure if they are still available, im thinking they were remington. I used they for pelt shooting coyotes at 400+ yards. Turned out they made a bigger whole then anticipated, but much smaller then anything else i could find for my 270. Now i'd need a really good reason to shoot a coyote. They help keep the rodents and rabbits down around here.

 

[dmccarty]

...
Remington 700 in .270 with 6x Leupold (has been extremely accurate over the years)
S&W (actually a Husqvarna) .308 with a 6x Leupold (the one I used to kill the most recent coyote and seems to be very accurate)
Remington Model 7 (very small rifle) in 7mm-08 with a 4x Zeiss (accuracy unknown as I've never shot it)..

Since you said you would be shooting no further than 200 yards, all of the above would work. On our place, I can only think of three places were I MIGHT have enough clear space for a 300 yard shot, most would be 100-200 yards. Heck, if I was in the woods, I don't know if I could get a clear shot that was over a few yards in some areas. Dang Russian Olive.

Later,
Dan

 

[N80]

If I actively go after them I will probably hunt a little more often in my B-I-L's pastures where 200+ yard shots would be common......but I do not have practice or experience shooting that far and would probably just not shoot. I've got a mouth call and cheap electronic call so I should be able to bring them in. Of course I might take the long shots anyway. Coyotes are smart and they know when they are being shot at.

I've also read that a super light .270 (100-110g) probably would not bring any benefit over a 130g and would be more susceptable to wind. So I might just go with whatever 130g bullet I can get cheap.

 

[new jersey mike]

Coywolf? I am not a hunter and have not experienced this but it has been stated that coyotes have crossbreed with wolves in the Northeast.
Coyote + Wolf = Big, Carnivorous Coywolf : Discovery News
Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research | Dedicated to providing education and scientific research to better protect and conserve eastern coyotes/coywolves


If this is true then the new coywolf is a totally different animal. I have a friend in East Worcester, NY who said she heard coyote howling all together like wolves, so I guess coywolfes are in the CNY area.

 

[N80]

Normal coyotes howl like wolves so what she heard does not mean there are coy-wolves. It sounds like a scene from a 1930's horror movie around my cabin sometimes......but I do not know anything about coy-wolves. I do know that coyotes often breed with dogs, producing coy-dogs, which can be particularly nasty, possessing all the qualities of coyotes and feral dogs.

 

[nybirdman]

your .270 would be a good choice if not concerned with saving the pelt.I have several deer rifles that have taken coyotes includeing a 30/06 and 25/06 they put a big hole in them.When hunting coyotes I use my .223 mini-14 with soft point bullets.When hunting with hounds we also use a shot-gun with buck-shot or a .22 magnum.Coyotes are tough.