Best coyote caliber for pelts

[walker2713]

Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning......

 

[GT Accuracy]

These threads always make me laugh.....the OP asked for a caliber/load "to save fur". I take that to mean he wants to kill the animal, but do as little damage to the pelt as possible and everyone jumps on here with calibers and loads that absolutely destroy the target to the point that you had better know what it was BEFORE it was shot!!!!! When you have to do DNA testing to see if it was a coyote or a turtle you got too much gun/bullet.
Most of the caliber/bullet combinations listed so far are excellent to save fur...save it in a big pile, douse it with gasoline and strike a match????? It must be me, when I hear "save fur" I think of a beautiful tanned hide or mounted animal. I think most peoples idea of saved fur means a photograph of a pile of blood, ground meat and some hair. Bullets that expand or blow up so bad that when hit in the hind quarter the animals eyeballs fly out are not fur friendly fellas. A Nosler ballistic tip at 3700 fps??? Hit him in the foot and his brains fly out both ears!!!
All that said, coyotes are not difficult to kill...a full metal jacket 55 grain bullet out of a 223 is what works best for me, but ones that will shoot accurately seem to be no longer made. Last box of Hornady's I bought looked like buckshot on the target...must have been made in the same dies as Nosler Partitions!!!!

This cracked me up this am !

 

[GT Accuracy]

I think I will start with the 17 hornet / 17 Mach if to begin with. 12 ga for the really short stuff. That should be good out to 150. If I need to go farther then I'll reevaluate

Thanks guys. Keep the ideas coming. If anyone can provide pics with their caliber recommendations that would be awesome

 

[Big Mc]

Which chamberig are you coyote hunters using if you want to save pelts these days ?

I vote for the 17-223. 20 gr. Nosler. TINY hole glitter inside. Mine shoots 20 gr.@3800. Bang.

 

[Phil]

Form some .221 Fireball brass to .17 Fireball and shoot the Nagle or Kindler 30`s at them....

Hell, add an Ackley shoulder if you want.........

 

[GT Accuracy]

Form some .221 Fireball brass to .17 Fireball and shoot the Nagle or Kindler 30`s at them....

Hell, add an Ackley shoulder if you want.........

I have a spare 20 cal and an Alpine .223 repeater - i might just do this to.

 

[msinc]

Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning......

Not really, it was all in jest. All except the FMJ bullets part. You have to admit, what were some of these guys thinking??? The concept of saving pelts or "fur friendly" is not exactly rocket science. I get it, and I think it's funny. These kind of thread responses happen repeatedly. I wonder when someone will mention a Claymore.
The one I really don't get, well I do, but it's just different is when some jerk post a question asking about what he can do to help out his rifles accuracy and then posts a photo of 15 targets shot at 300 yards that are all one ragged hole. In this threads case the OP is actually asking a serious question. The guy with the targets is bragging, but trying to hide the fact.

 

[rardoin]

Greg, I have shot a bit of yotes with my .17 Rem and inside of 50 yds I have had a couple of dramatic exits if the round missed any bone. But, all in all, inside of 150yds it was my go to gun for Hill Country coyote hunts. If I ever rebarrel that 700 I will likely go with a .20 variant to get the extra distance as I had to wait out/pass too many dogs that were weary and hung just out of range.

 

[284winner]

except that it blows cats to pieces, foxes are blown to pieces also

That's a plus for the 40 bt if using it for cats. That's one You Tube video you'll never see. 40 Nosler BTs and exploding cats. Too bad.

 

[Toby Bradshaw]

That's a plus for the 40 bt if using it for cats. That's one You Tube video you'll never see. 40 Nosler BTs and exploding cats. Too bad.

He probably means bobcats, whose pelt is worth roughly 10X that of coyote.

 

[284winner]

Not really, it was all in jest. All except the FMJ bullets part. You have to admit, what were some of these guys thinking??? The concept of saving pelts or "fur friendly" is not exactly rocket science. I get it, and I think it's funny. These kind of thread responses happen repeatedly. I wonder when someone will mention a Claymore.
The one I really don't get, well I do, but it's just different is when some jerk post a question asking about what he can do to help out his rifles accuracy and then posts a photo of 15 targets shot at 300 yards that are all one ragged hole. In this threads case the OP is actually asking a serious question. The guy with the targets is bragging, but trying to hide the fact.

Right about now I wish it were me putting all my shots in one ragged hole. I WOULD be bragging.

 

[johnmyers]

These threads always make me laugh.....the OP asked for a caliber/load "to save fur". I take that to mean he wants to kill the animal, but do as little damage to the pelt as possible and everyone jumps on here with calibers and loads that absolutely destroy the target to the point that you had better know what it was BEFORE it was shot!!!!! When you have to do DNA testing to see if it was a coyote or a turtle you got too much gun/bullet.
Most of the caliber/bullet combinations listed so far are excellent to save fur...save it in a big pile, douse it with gasoline and strike a match????? It must be me, when I hear "save fur" I think of a beautiful tanned hide or mounted animal. I think most peoples idea of saved fur means a photograph of a pile of blood, ground meat and some hair. Bullets that expand or blow up so bad that when hit in the hind quarter the animals eyeballs fly out are not fur friendly fellas. A Nosler ballistic tip at 3700 fps??? Hit him in the foot and his brains fly out both ears!!!
All that said, coyotes are not difficult to kill...a full metal jacket 55 grain bullet out of a 223 is what works best for me, but ones that will shoot accurately seem to be no longer made. Last box of Hornady's I bought looked like buckshot on the target...must have been made in the same dies as Nosler Partitions!!!!

I doubt you have seen a 30 Kindler killed coyote

 

[DanS]

I have killed lots of coyotes and some bobcats with the 17 centerfires from 17 Mach IV to my 17-204.

I use the Berger 25gr Match and the Hornady 25gr HPs in my 17 Rem ar15, and both 30gr Nagel or Kindler Golds in the 17-204.

This cat was shot with a Rem 700 classic in 17 Rem



These four were shot with a SakoA1 in 17 rem

 

[GT Accuracy]

No exit hole on the bobcat DanS ?

 

[284winner]

There

I have killed lots of coyotes and some bobcats with the 17 centerfires from 17 Mach IV to my 17-204.

I use the Berger 25gr Match and the Hornady 25gr HPs in my 17 Rem ar15, and both 30gr Nagel or Kindler Golds in the 17-204.

This cat was shot with a Rem 700 classic in 17 Rem



These four were shot with a SakoA1 in 17 rem

Theres some real proof in the pudding for the 17 Cal. Awesome lineup. Great shooting too.

 

[DanS]

Greg, there was no exit on the cat. I really like the 204 Ruger also, but sometimes it makes a mess. The 25 Berger Match are hard to find, since Berger only makes the varmint now. But I have a few hundred left. The 25 Hornady HP will sometimes exit, but it is generally a small hole.

 

[GT Accuracy]

Looks like my Mach IV will get some running this winter here in TX

 

[bbassi]

Greg, there was no exit on the cat. I really like the 204 Ruger also, but sometimes it makes a mess. The 25 Berger Match are hard to find, since Berger only makes the varmint now. But I have a few hundred left. The 25 Hornady HP will sometimes exit, but it is generally a small hole.

Glad to hear someone else likes the 25gr varmint in the 17 Remington. I've been using them exclusively for a few years now. I came to the 17 after Berger discontinued the 25 gr match bullet, but the critters don't seem to know the difference.

 

[dedogs]

bbassi, Great pictures. That male on the right end of the second picture looks really big. dedogs

 

[dedogs]

I have been shooting coyotes for going on 35 years. My go to rifle is a Sako L 41 in .221 Fireball, Pac-Nor barrel with 40g V-max @ 3400fps. Maybe 3 exits in all that time. One was hit high behind the shoulders and missed both ribs. This rifle and load are good out to 300yds., which is good enough for me. dedogs