Who uses a 300 yard zero when hunting coyotes?
- Thread starter 370bc
- Start date
All mine bracket the target for range estimations None had a range finder. Larry
Slow down!!!! He is 400yrds out where is he going that you can see him, if he is hunting and your camo let him hunt get on and squeeze. 200 yd zero.
A missed shot is your fault no matter the zero that you have.. Agree to separate copper from brass. Coke bottles with water make good practice. Cheap too
A missed shot is your fault no matter the zero that you have.. Agree to separate copper from brass. Coke bottles with water make good practice. Cheap too
I use the Nightforce SHV with moar reticle and a VX6 with the tmoa reticle I have found over the years the dots and lines were just never right on. with the moa reticle you can either dial it if you have time or if set up knowing you are going to shoot 350 yards just dial it and be ready. But in a hurry I know 2min at 300, 4 min at 400,6min at 500 from my 200 zero so I just hold over the the actual min line on the reticle. works well. I even one day had some different loads that I did not have mapped out to dial it. I thought it would be close to 6 6 1/2 min so I just held over on the moa line and held off for the wind and it worked. a hit.. I am sold on a moa reticle. it seems precise to any dots or hold over lines because if your dots or lines are not on for your load your done but with the moa you are always on.the military has used mills same thing just moa,I have used mills easier to remember moa for me. I shaw a BIG bobcat at 500 yards about the size of a small mountain lion..HUGH! But we are not allowed to shoot em'...them coyote's are tough around here so thick and so much cover for them but every now and then we see one..but the bobcats I seem to see all the time. I had one pop out of a thicket one day 15 feet! in front of me, he gave me a look and walked off,i wish he would have gave me a reason. A few pals were very disappointed I let him walk. but I said yea my luck the game warden would have been waiting at the truck for me.
Most of the coyotes I skinned and measured years ago were 5-6" back to brisket around here. Never measured one wider than 6". Most were also about 10-11" b-b hairline that I used to calculate my reticle rangefinding systems. I never calculate PBR for more than 3/4ths target size as I want a bit of wiggle room, that gets wigglier with excitement, etc. I run a 3-9X Burris Timberline Ball. Plex reticle these days and love it for ranges to my max of about 600 on my AR. Shot a coyote at about 60 yds. last week I was out, and had been eyeing a stick sitting on a dirt bank at a lasered 500 yds. My dope I had in the Butler Creek scope cap cover for my setup was 2.5 subtension units below x-hair zero of 250 yds. After shooting the coyote I tested it on the stick and nailed it. That was almost as rewarding as shooting the coyote, but honestly rarely works that well.
Best LR coyote shooter I ever knew out to about 600 on 1st shots runs a long-range calcd. and tested Varmint Hunter's reticle on his AR-10 243/87 V-Max combination. But it's as much a team effort (he and I) as what he's using. As soon as a coyote's spotted, I'm lasing it with my Leica BRF's, as he's getting setup. Also saw him nail a dog at 785 with that setup once a few years ago. The guy was shooting so many coyotes with it at longer ranges that I was getting tired of skinning them. He once killed 3 in an afternoon, 2 between 400 and 500 yds. and I had a headache that just got worse the more dogs I had to skin.
Best LR coyote shooter I ever knew out to about 600 on 1st shots runs a long-range calcd. and tested Varmint Hunter's reticle on his AR-10 243/87 V-Max combination. But it's as much a team effort (he and I) as what he's using. As soon as a coyote's spotted, I'm lasing it with my Leica BRF's, as he's getting setup. Also saw him nail a dog at 785 with that setup once a few years ago. The guy was shooting so many coyotes with it at longer ranges that I was getting tired of skinning them. He once killed 3 in an afternoon, 2 between 400 and 500 yds. and I had a headache that just got worse the more dogs I had to skin.
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My scope's elevation turrets are all "zeroed" at 100yds. When hunting coyotes out west, I'll put 0.4mils UP on the scope & roll with it.
With my rifle/load, that equates to a ~250yd working "zero", and allows to hold center mass on a coyote out to 300yds.
Bullet path stays within ~2" +/- within line of sight out to 300yds, so you can just hold right on for most any coyote in "calling range", and not have to worry about favoring high or low. Just put 'er in the middle and squeeze 'er easy...
Also, with that 0.4mils UP pre-dialed on the scope:
350yds is a 0.5mil holdover
450yds is a 1.0mil holdover
That's about as simple & effective as I can be on the fly with a FFP reticle on stand.
If one gets hung up way out there, the 1600-b comes out to verify. Then, dial or holdover, as needed. Thankfully, that's not needed often!
With that same rifle/load, a 300yd "zero" would put POI slightly over 3" above line of sight @ 175yds. That's a bit higher than I'd like to think about when a coyote is well within killin' range. I sure don't want to have to remember to hold UNDER a coyote at such common shot distance, and whiff one over it's back! IMHO, a closer range zero works better for calling coyotes where a 200yd shot is a long one...
Whatever works for you & your rifle is the one that's best! Just keep in mind your average shot distance, and tailor your setup to optimize making those shots without having to think about it. Fast & flat is where it's at, and point & shoot is the name of the game...
With my rifle/load, that equates to a ~250yd working "zero", and allows to hold center mass on a coyote out to 300yds.
Bullet path stays within ~2" +/- within line of sight out to 300yds, so you can just hold right on for most any coyote in "calling range", and not have to worry about favoring high or low. Just put 'er in the middle and squeeze 'er easy...
Also, with that 0.4mils UP pre-dialed on the scope:
350yds is a 0.5mil holdover
450yds is a 1.0mil holdover
That's about as simple & effective as I can be on the fly with a FFP reticle on stand.
If one gets hung up way out there, the 1600-b comes out to verify. Then, dial or holdover, as needed. Thankfully, that's not needed often!
With that same rifle/load, a 300yd "zero" would put POI slightly over 3" above line of sight @ 175yds. That's a bit higher than I'd like to think about when a coyote is well within killin' range. I sure don't want to have to remember to hold UNDER a coyote at such common shot distance, and whiff one over it's back! IMHO, a closer range zero works better for calling coyotes where a 200yd shot is a long one...
Whatever works for you & your rifle is the one that's best! Just keep in mind your average shot distance, and tailor your setup to optimize making those shots without having to think about it. Fast & flat is where it's at, and point & shoot is the name of the game...
Which AR 10? Twist rate? barrel length? Velocity of the Vmax? He ever shoot burgers? The Vmaxes can get messy. Thanks.
know your gun! my new coyote caliber is a 20 tact with 32 gr bullet @3950fps! 1.5in high@ 100yds=1.5in high@200yds=1.8in low@300yds= 10.8in low@400yds. there is no exit on yotes and now I can sell them with out any work except hauling them back to pickup. this is one yote killing machine. I go where are a lot of people trying to call them and they are call wise. they love to come in and sit down at 250 to 300yds and like think about it and that is where they get sent to coyote heaven and I get gas money.
Gabe22BR
Gold $$ Contributor
https://www.leupold.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2015-reticle-information.pdf
Find the Varmint reticle..
+ "prairie dog" range estimator between the bottom of the 500yd and top of the heavy post. Of coarse that is with a 100yd zero, 200yd zero that would be 600yds.
Seems they've done away with the DVD video, and other reticle instruction booklet.
Take a real range finder and don't worry . Or by a scope with one in it. Larry
AckleymanII
Gold $$ Contributor
+100
Hey
BTW, the interesting part about Leupold's VH reticle is that the PD rangefinder wasn't really necessary as the 2nd to 3rd line is almost the exact same subtension. Steve Timm who used to write for VH magazine actually designed that reticle I heard.
Although I always used to calculate a reticle rangefinding system with all my multi-stadia reticles I only ever used it twice on coyotes and it worked both times. One was a smaller immature coyote at 400-500 yds. that I'd lasered and then took a quick "mil-reading" with whatever reticle I was using at the time, and it was very close to lasered range. The other was a point blank range rangefinding system I calcd. for another reticle, and when the alerted coyote stopped and turned broadside I quickly bracketed it in the reticle, and it was somewhat bigger than the reticle unit itself so I aimed dead center and killed it. That was rewarding for sure. I have detailed my system a number of times on the Internet and a few guys have used it successfully in snowy conditions when the laser wouldn't provide a reading.
Hey 370--can't remember, it's heavy barrel 24 or 26" length, one of the older models, I think-now discontinued . Sorry I can't remember the specs really. Can tell you it wasn't a bughole shooter though for certain, but less than MOA. Actually, I didn't think the 87 exited violently ever that I remember. The skinning/sew jobs jobs weren't terrible really.
BTW, the interesting part about Leupold's VH reticle is that the PD rangefinder wasn't really necessary as the 2nd to 3rd line is almost the exact same subtension. Steve Timm who used to write for VH magazine actually designed that reticle I heard.
Although I always used to calculate a reticle rangefinding system with all my multi-stadia reticles I only ever used it twice on coyotes and it worked both times. One was a smaller immature coyote at 400-500 yds. that I'd lasered and then took a quick "mil-reading" with whatever reticle I was using at the time, and it was very close to lasered range. The other was a point blank range rangefinding system I calcd. for another reticle, and when the alerted coyote stopped and turned broadside I quickly bracketed it in the reticle, and it was somewhat bigger than the reticle unit itself so I aimed dead center and killed it. That was rewarding for sure. I have detailed my system a number of times on the Internet and a few guys have used it successfully in snowy conditions when the laser wouldn't provide a reading.
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My 22-250AI isn't zeroed at exactly 300 but it's close. That way all I need to worry about is calling wind. I believe it's about 2.5" high at 100 or s. If, I'm shooting at something that's 100 yards away or so, it is easy enough at that range to use the half mil up hash mark. Farther out and I can hold right on.
I believe .5ish MILs low at 400. It's exactly 1 MIL low at 500 which is nice. But, it did take some getting used to on close shots. Good thing I have plenty of troublesome pigeons to practice on.
I believe .5ish MILs low at 400. It's exactly 1 MIL low at 500 which is nice. But, it did take some getting used to on close shots. Good thing I have plenty of troublesome pigeons to practice on.
1.75" high at 100.
print out a drop chart and memorize it.
i kill about 30 coyotes per year, from 40 yards on up. after 225yds, i start holding higher.
print out a drop chart and memorize it.
i kill about 30 coyotes per year, from 40 yards on up. after 225yds, i start holding higher.
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