Coyote Capper

This may not seem like a percussion question at first, but it is.

First off, I have to explain my hate for coyotes. I used to live in Big Bear Ca. It's a mountain town in the San Bernardino mountains. It's a ski resort in the winter, and a nice lake in the summer. It used to be a nice town, but it went commercial and sucks now.
Anyway, it has thousands of coyotes. There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't see at least 20 coyotes. They had a ton of rental homes that people from LA would rent for the week/night etc. Of course they'd bring their dogs with them. I love dogs and will fight a gorilla to protect them. The coyotes loved then too. They loved to eat them. Every night, and I mean every night I would hear packs of coyotes killing dogs. It drove me nuts. They would try and get my dog too, but he was a 90 lb pit bull and he'd kick their ass. They kept on trying though.
I wanted to kill the coyotes, but the stupid town protected them, and if you killed one they would fine you and take your weapons. I was frustrated.

So, when I moved to Colorado I could still hear those dogs being killed in my head. I started to hunt coyote. The best part is I can hunt them year around. I guess Colorado doesn't like them either. :thumbsup:

Now to the question. I've been using a .223 up until now. I'm getting rid of my non ML guns. Only one to go. I want to use nothing but ML from now on. I need a coyote gun. Obviously I can shoot at the distances I could with the .223, but I want to reach out as far as I can.

I know an inxxxx is the best choice, but I don't consider them ML. They aren't any better than smokeless. I see they even have a smokeless model. Why even bother?

Give me your suggestions. What can I use that will give me the most distance and accuracy? I know i'll have to call the coyotes in closer than I have been, but some of them are too cautious to come too close.

Whatcha got?

I've shot enough (actually a whole lot) with shotguns and #4, 0 and 00 buckshot to 50 yards, I'm absolutely certain well placed small caliber MLs like 32, 36, and 40 cal will be dandy and to much longer ranges. I almost never recovered any of those buckshot pellets even at 50 yards- the issue was accuracy with a shotgun and not power. A rifled bore firing single versions of the same projectiles would be fine.

But if you're trying to stretch the range beyond 100 yards, I'd be looking for something a little bigger just so you could buck a little wind, and probably a conical. In my book that puts 45 cal and even 50 cal on the list.

Idaho Ron who posts in the hunting section mostly has had to stretch range a bunch for his deer hunting simply due to terrain. He's put a lot of thought and research into it with TC Hawkens as I recall, and is undeniably a great source of inspiration and info. Look for his posts in the archives, and he'll sure open your eyes about what's possible at longer ranges.

From one ex-Californian to another, it would depend on how close you can call them. anything from a .40 to a .54 should take them out to 100 yards. I use to live up in the gold country and nailed a few with my .45 Pedersoli Blue Ridge flinter at about 75 yards. I know your feelings. Good luck on your quest :thumbsup:

We have beaucoup coyote hereabouts, also. The hungry, screaming pups begging a bunny carcass off ma sound like a pack tearing up a dog.

Anyway, I raise chickens and keep a few turkey around and I don't put much sport on killing a coyote. That is to say: when they are in sight of the house I want to act quickly and without regard for fun or challenge. This is business. I use a .223 single shot with scope.

That said: do you keep the skins? If not, and you want to muzzleload after them - go with a .50 or .54. If you sell the skins go with a .40 or .45. I hit one with a .650" ball once at about 20 paces and it dropped him . . . in several places where the trees didn't snag parts.

If it boiled down to a choice between an inxxxx and a .223 I'd take the .223 every time. Neither are really muzzleloaders and the .223 is flatter shooting.

I like to shoot round balls but the first thing that came to mind when I read your post was .40 or .45 conical with a fast twist barrel! :idunno: just something to research!

I wouldn't waste my time skinning them, and the meat will make you sick. Even if you could keep it down. I don't feel this way about any other animal, and I give all the rest a lot of respect.

I talked to a DOW ranger and he told me to let the other animals eat them. I guess he didn't like them either.

The only thing I like about coyotes is they're smart and not easy to kill, but dead is how I like them.

Choices in calibers for a MLing rifle to shoot coyotes depends on range, and what you choose to shoot. A .40 cal. RB is ideal out to 125 yds. The ball is heavy enough to retain good energy out there, so you can kill these small dogs fairly easily with any good chest hit.

A .45 Bullet gun would be my choice for shooting coyotes at longer ranges, out to 200 yds. We are talking fast twist- 1:14" to 1:22" ROT, with shallow grooves of no more than .003" deep. Paper patch them. Bullet weight should be no less than 250 grains, and the gun will shoot much heavier bullets- twice that minimum weight-- with the fast ROTs. Use a tang Peep and a globe front sight for best accuracy. Hang around BPCR shooting ranges, and talk to the boys, who shoot Long Range Silhouette bang plates, about bullets, bullet weight, powder charges, and loading procedures for long range work. Any of these bullets will pass completely through a coyote, killing them quickly.

Make the butt wide, and don't hesitate to put a recoil pad on a bullet gun shooting heavy bullets. The recoil won't be as sharp as you get from large caliber smokeless powder cartridges and loads, but you definitely know when the gun goes off, particularly if you choose to shoot the 530 gr. Postel bullets in your mler.

You have a far more limited choice of mostly pistol bullets for the .40 caliber rifles, and they will shoot flatter than the .45s, if only by a little bit at 200 yds. The .45s have the edge when you are dealing with cross-winds, however. Since you are in Colorado, winds will be a daily factor, and they often change direction and velocity throughout the day.

You could also go to a .36 cal. bullet gun, and that opens the door for .358 cal. pistol and revolver bullets, as well as a variety of rifle bullets for which molds are available. The smaller caliber, and lighter weight will lighten recoil, and flatten trajectory, but your bullet is even more subject to cross winds, than a .40.

Thick, winter coyote fur makes great coats and jackets. MY Brother bought an expensive, Commercially make long coat made from coyote, for his wife, and she wore it proudly in her travels. She dared the goofs at airports to come near her with blood, or any other substance they were throwing at women wearing fur coats, and she shut them down when they claimed they were merely protecting " endangered species", by loudly telling them that the Coyote is so far from being endangered that most state allow them to be killed 365 days a year! That coat cost him about $4,000, and that was less than half the price the furrier had on the coat originally.

When I was working in a liquor store when I was in Law School, a customer came in wearing a fur jacket, made of coyote. He was a bit light in the slippers, but he told us he "rescued " the coat from a woman friend, and then had some repairs made, and some buttons added to close it. The jacket stopped at his waist, and made him look more masculine than he was. Most of all, he claimed it was the warmest coat he ever owned.


Coyote fur has the unique attribute of shedding snow, and ice, apparently better than other furs. That is why its used to trim the opening of the cowl on a parka.

You might want to consider that when deciding whether to skin out the hides, to save, or just leave them to the worms, and vultures.

One final thought. If you use a bullet gun, particularly if paper patched, you can use alloy lead for casting them, and the bullets will put a caliber sized hole on both sides of the coyote. Their bones are usually rather thin, and the bullets break through them easily, without creating shards of bone to cut the opposite hide.

Another vote for a .45 bullet gun. :thumbsup:

.451 witworth come to mind but I hope can find one with my 54. Tonight, I start deer hunting so anything could happen. lol

Your posts are so great Paul. I can always count on getting a lot of information from you.

I appreciate the answers I get from all the members here. I'm very active on forums, and probably have 35,000 posts in total. This is by far my favorite forum.

If I was smart. I would get a nice flintlock LH rifle to satisfy my ML urge. I could use it for deer hunting and target competition. It would satisfy the traditional side of me.

Then use a inxxx scope rifle to kill coyotes. At least it would be better than the .223 which I already have sold.

Better yet. I should just get over my problem with coyotes. I've certainly killed my share at this point.

I'm sure i'd enjoy hunting deer with a flintlock much more that killing a worthless coyote.

What do you think guys. Should I let it go?

This thread has shown me that I might be a bit too obsessive about coyotes. I won't let anything control me.

They'er a varment and a scurge brought on by urban sprawl and piss-poor mangment laws supporterd by mindless tree huggers, kill as many of the B*st^%!* as possible. :thumbsup:

I'd vote for the 40 cal rb

:rotf:

They say( whoever "they" are) that only the dumb coyotes are killed. May be. Maybe not.

I know that we don't kill enough of them, and around here with the lack of tree rows, and wood lots, our pheasant chicks are devastated by coyotes and fox, who attack them on ground nests, and on the ground when they are too young to fly.

The coyotes also kill the adults, because they have no places to roost off the ground, and away from the double whammy of being attacked from above by our too high population of red tailed hawks. Our local chapter of Pheasants Forever has switched from providing food plot seeds, to planting trees, in hope that in another 10 years, the trees will provide cover for the birds both from the ground and from the air.

In the meanwhile, If you like to hunt rabbits, pheasants, squirrels, and other small game birds, then its your duty to hunt and kill coyotes. Here in Illinois, we have open season on coyotes all year round. They are considered pests.

Try calling in coyotes, and shooting them at short range. In most states you can use mechanical( electronic game) calls to call them in. In some states, you are restricted to using manual calls for these hunts. Most farmers, and farm workers are quite willing to tell you where they see coyotes, and getting permission to hunt on their properties for coyotes is a lot easier than for hunting game species.

I thought maybe I was coming off too strong about killing coyotes.

I just got off the phone with the DOW. They said to please kill all I want to. It helps all hunters. So, back to:

Capper The Coyote Killer

:blah: >--------> Coyote

If you have your Bibles...er I mean your Lyman black powder manual, turn with me to the book of trajectory tables....

Sorry I digress; but after studying the tables it seems a 45 caliber solid conical of approx 300 grs can be loaded to approx. 1650 fps and if sighted in at 50 yds is the flattest shooting M/L load in the book, hitting less than a foot low at 150yds. Of course if you sighted it in farther, like 100 yards, the holdover would be less. Sounds like a place to start.

We used to run coyotes here in north Texas with hounds, but deer population put most of us out of business. Was a joy to sit around a fire and listen to 30-40 hounds coursing a coyote, but those days are over.

Eterry

I'm voting for the .40 or .45 cal. The .45 is a good all around cal. This way you could use it for deer as well. Buy the rifle with a r/b twist barrel and then pick up a fast twist barrel for the same rifle for the vermen. :wink: I understand that G/M has plans on turning loose production on some more barrels soon. :thumbsup:

I have a Green Mountain 45 round ball barrel on a T.C Hawken that shoots pretty flat out to 125 yards. This past weekend I won our yearly offhand silhouette shoot. Shooting at NRA hunter pistol size targets I have my 45 zeroed dead on a 125. I hold 6 oclock at 25,50,up into the Turkey some at 75 and in the middle of the ram at 100 and dead on the ram at 125......Hold an 1/8 inch of post higher at the 150 yard ram. That ram is like shooting at a black sheet of paper.........I missed an extra point pig at 100 yards.........I use 70 grains of 3f Goex and a drill cloth patch.

Not sure about the power level of a .440 ball thru the lungs of a coyote at that distance but it will blast a hole through both sides of a 55 gallon drum at 100 yards.............Bob

Capper said:

First off, I have to explain my hate for coyotes. I used to live in Big Bear Ca. It's a mountain town in the San Bernardino mountains. It's a ski resort in the winter, and a nice lake in the summer. It used to be a nice town, but it went commercial and sucks now.

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lmao!!!! well its not so commercial now! its almost a ghost town. and i know from personal experience about the coyote issue here in big bear. i hint them with a 50cal ithaca hawken. im out in the forest all the time here shooting yotes. got a couple out behind snow summit couple weeks ago, and two days ago got one up on gold mountain. and i cant even tell you how many ive gotten in holcomb valley in the last year! but to answer your question, any decent 50cal, or 54cal will dispatch a yote right now! i think the longest shot ive made hunting yotes here was 125 yards or so. damned trees keep getting in the way!

this is me yote hunting up on gold mountain 2 days ago with my hawken

I'm not sure why this was moved? It wasn't a hunting question. I know how to hunt them. I was asking what caplock gun to buy.

Anyway, thanks for all the answers.

I use bait. Roadkill deer work great. Cut them open to bleed out.If you have a slaughter house nearby ask them for a 5 gallon bucket of blood. Pour on the roadkill and ground around it. I use a 45cal. most for coyotes. With bait the shots will usually be 40 to 60 yards.