Opinions on caliber for coyote?

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Gcola

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I am looking into a gun for coyote hunting. Am leaning towards a .243 with a smaller grain bullet to also have capability for deer hunting, but looking for opinions from those who have experience coyote hunting. I am also wanting to make sure to keep hide and fur damage to a minimum.
Thanks
 
Some would argue 243 is a marginal caliber for deer.
Depending on distance 243 100 grain does the trick inside of 275 yards
 
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FatCatsDad said:
Some would argue 243 is a marginal caliber for deer.
Depending on distance 243 100 grain does the trick inside of 75 yards
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Anyone who says 243 is marginal for deer needs take their white oakleys off and put their 300 win mag away and learn to shoot. Ive seen more deer in my life fold up faster than a cheap lawn chair with a 243 then any other caliber. My brothers first whitetail was cranked with a 95gr Hornady Interlock and that buck was 275 yards away. He dropped so fast my brother thought he missed him but the rest of knew exactly what happened.

The 243 is probably the best coyote/deer rifle you can buy. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You learn how to place your bullets where they need to be. Bigger calibers do not make up for poor shot placement. I'd take a 90gr Accubond from a 243 in the lungs of an elk over a 300gr Berger from 338 lapua in the guts.
 
The 243 excels at the dual role. I chose a 2506 myself. It has a tendency to not be fur friendly though. Chose your bullets wisely with the 243. There's 2 camps. One says use a hard controlled expanding bullet for in and out and sewing just 2 small holes. The other camo is light frangible bullets hauling ass and not exiting. I've seen both work. I've seen both do extensive damage to hides.
If you're calling coyotes in don't overlook a 12ga with #4 buck
 
The 243/6mm is one the best all around calibers. More case with the 6mm and all things die at its muzzle.

Agreed about getting rid of the 300 and white sunglasses comment for deer.
 
I shot a bunch of coyotes with a 243. I used the Nosler 70gr Ballistic Tip bullet at around 3600 fps and can report that thing kills like the hammer of Thor. No yote took more than 1 or 2 steps after being hit and the majority drop like a stone. With a lighter weight frangible varmint bullet the 243 is a light switch killer.

FWIW the 70gr Ballistic tip is decent out to 700 yds. I've used it to shoot steel from my 6BR and it works great. The only thing I wouldn't shoot with it would be a deer.
 
our do all predator/big game choice is 6.5 Grendel, factory 123gr eld-m ammo, it's a bit much for coyotes, but imo it is thee 21st century equivalent to a .243 factory to factory ammo, some advantage in trajectory to .243 inside 300 but the grendel high bc catches there and walks away from it and starts with a much better big game bullet and sectional density for larger game potential as well, you'd wanna run closer to the 100 gr mark in 6mm for any big game but mostly deer, the recoil feels similar to me between them even though less powder in grendel the push of the heavier 123 gr bullet offsets
 
Been using 243 wit 85g barnes tsx for yotes and having good luck for low damage on the fur. Also shot few deer with it and seems good. Another bullet would be nosler 85g partition. Also used Hornady 100g interlock on yotes and didn’t seem to cause anymore damage than 22-250
 
243 has a HIT score of 634, good for a class 2 animal, but still marginal past 175 yards.

Class 2 animal needs a HIT score between 500 and 900, 634 is on the bottom end of the scale.

Can kill a deer with a 22LR crowd will be along shortly I'll bet.
 
.243 will switch the lights off
As with any shooting task, bullet selection must be matched to the task at hand. Soft points and “varmint” bullets would often get me baseball sized holes.
.223 works well, less instant kills though. The advantage of this round would be running it in a semi.
When I used to hunt yotes around here like 15 years ago all the “serious” guys used 22-250
But
243 or similar 6mm will be the most versatile choice
 
If you want to do both (and live in an area that prohibits .22 cal for big game?) then a 6mm is the obvious choice. 243 win or 6mm creedmoor are both good options with quality loads available. The ability is there to run light ballistic tip type bullets for coyote and a heavier option for deer. The 243 is perfectly adequate for deer and anyone who says otherwise is trying to sell you something.
 
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