Coyotes Wolves and Small game

pbonura said:
6.5x55 from tradex. Can buy one for under $300. Good for yotes and deer.

http://www.tradeexcanada.com/content/vapen-depoten-falun-m96-mauser-sporter-65x55
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He is right. Not only is the an excellent round for your purpose but it will take deer with no problems. It is flat shooting and very little felt recoil.

And Tradex has an excellent reputation for selling guns in better condition than advertised. This is proven by the four guns in my cabinet from them. All under 400 and all excellent guns.
 
Thanks very much everyone. There is so much information in this thread that it will take me awhile to sort through and figure it out. I have checked the regs for my area and I can't use any rifle of greater calibre than .275 - so that helps.
 
not everyone wants to spend $800 on a .223 or .204 rifle (most of the good boltactions for these cals are not cheap)

i my self was thinking of a mauser in 6.5x55 with a cast load it should make 2 neat little holes and not do much damage to the fur(witch you have to skin/preserve/tan)
 
I don't know about Ontario but in New-Brunswick a 22-250 is the biggest caliber you can use with a varmint license. I use a 22-250 , stevens 200 , great little rifle not expensif. I've been looking into getting something in .204 ruger lately though.
 
Big_red_truck said:
I don't know about Ontario but in New-Brunswick a 22-250 is the biggest caliber you can use with a varmint license. I use a 22-250 , stevens 200 , great little rifle not expensif. I've been looking into getting something in .204 ruger lately though.
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varmit license wow

here in the greater part of southern ontario the cal limite is .275 for hunting
 
One_Rook said:
Thanks very much!!

I do want to preserve the hides as much as possible. I don't want to waste anything that can be used on a harvested animal. Being new, I'm not exactly sure how to get the hides off cleanly - or what to do with them once I have them off. I'm going to try to figure that out before I pull the trigger on anything. My hunting instructor told us during the safety course that experience is the best teacher for field dressing and skinning, so I suppose that there will be some experience needed as well. Thanks for the advice! I'll look into something between the 223-250.
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I typed up detailed instructions on how to handle a coyote pelt and got burned again over the time out on this site... to many things on my mind, forget easy such things that annoy. Anyway, looking for stretching board dimension I found this http://www.furharvesters.com/pdf/pelthandling.pdf that has instructions. If not under "coyote" then try red fox, they are similar. Keep lots of sawdust handy for grease absorption. Useful pictures that I didn't have in the link. You don't need all the equipment they list: Most necessary things can be found laying around. Good sharp skinning knife, a dull drawknife for fleshing, couple short pieces of rope to hang up the animal by it's hind legs. A fillet knife works fine for skinning out the tail. I improvised a fleshing board out of a 4"diameter 6' piece of ABS pipe and a t-bar post: Drive the post in the ground at about 20 degree angle, and the ABS pipe is a nice surface to scrape the hide over. It spins easily too, which you will appreciate during the scraping step.

Probably the best advice I can leave you with is have patience. You will knick the hide and make false cuts and pull fur through, but these all go away with practice.
 
the best way to skin the is case skin them (look it up) i skin almost all my game this way and i do not use a knife for anything other then mking the starting cuts

once you flesh and dry they will last a while before having to be tanned
 
antiqueguy said:
the best way to skin the is case skin them (look it up) i skin almost all my game this way and i do not use a knife for anything other then mking the starting cuts

once you flesh and dry they will last a while before having to be tanned
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Be careful pulling the hide off: You may inadvertantly overstretch the hide which reduces the value at auction. Overstretching as the term implies stretches the hide and adversely spaces the hair folicles further apart which may seem incedental, but I only sold one fur overstretched and never again: A dense smaller fur is more valuable than a thinner fur one size up. When I skin anything, I always use knife cuts when necessary to release the hide from the carcass. Yes, a properly clean and dried fur will last quite a while untreated but optimum condition is cool and dry.
 
CV32 said:
One of the boys on Predator Hunt Canada recently smacked one at 477 yards with his .204. Considering that and the number of coyotes he tends to collect, I'd say that's pretty good evidence of its capability.

I should add that I would not advocate the .204 for wolves.
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Yup that was quite a shot by that member no doubts there.

To the OP

Any of the previously mentioned Cals from 204R to 25-06 will do their job. Each one having distinct benefits over the next or its' counter-part. I've listed the ones I use below which may-or may not help with your decision.

204 Ruger - As flat as the 22-250 , but 2-300fps faster & gives up about 2-300Ftlbs of energy over the same ranges. Alot quieter then its bigger brothers, which is nice if your working near buildings, roads or livestock. 35Gr Bergers or 39Gr Sierra BKs' seem to be the best bullet choices for hand loaders.

22-250 Rem - The "all rounder" Quick & flat shooting with a ton of bullet choices to be had. 50-55Gr loads are most commonly used. Quite possibly the most widely used Yote round until the 204 came along.

.243 Win - Ample amounts of 6mm sized bullets to choose from for loaders. Handles wind alot better then the .20 or .22Cal bullets. Easily reaches 400yrds + with a sh*t load more energy behind it. Not the most pelt friendly round by any-means, so expect fist size exit wounds. The sweet spot for most people that are using .243 is between 70-90Gr loads. Can double as a nice light duty Deer rig if called upon.

Any of the other Cals mentioned (222Rem, 223, 25-06 or 270Win) are equally capable. Throw in 6.5x55mm Swede, 260 Rem or 6.5Creedmore and you just add to the confusion :p Just remember the last five will be throwing 75-140Gr pills down range. They're more Deer cartridges with the ability of being Coyote rounds if needed. As always, ymmv ;)

Best advice I can give is pick a .22Cal cartridge and get out calling/hunting. Put a season or two under your belt, then you can decide if you need to move up/down or add another 'Yote rig based on your actual stand scenarios :D
 
antiqueguy said:
not everyone wants to spend $800 on a .223 or .204 rifle (most of the good boltactions for these cals are not

i my self was thinking of a mauser in 6.5x55 with a cast load it should make 2 neat little holes and not do much damage to the fur(witch you have to skin/preserve/tan)
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A 223 axis can be had for 300$. My 204 axis shoots 3/4" groups with a thrown together hand load. Not really a fancy well finished rifle but it does the job and is also nice and light.
 
Longwalker said:
I'd probably opt for a .204 Ruger or a .223. Contrary to some advice here, you DO want to use light frangible varmint bullets in these cartridges, with any luck you will get no exit hole. A .243 always exits and always blows a big hole for me, so I am going to try some very light ( 55 gr.) plastic tip bullets this winter and see if I can keep them in the chest cavity.
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In terms of distance, a lot depends on hunting activity in the area and how hungry the beasties are. They have incredible senses and are very wary of change in their environment. They are also a very tough and resilient animal. That is where the 223 comes in. I own one and used to hunt coyotes exclusively with it. In my opinion, with 50 gr moly vmax's, it is fantastic for the varmints out to about 200 ish yards. After that, yes, they are still effective, but I found that if the shot is not perfect, the animals would get up and quickly scamper away into the bush. I had one at about 300 yards, where I must have flinched. The bullet hit a little wide of the heart, because I saw it fold and twist. He then got up, and ran like a bat out of hell to the bush. That was the end of seeing him again...never could find a blood trail. With my 243, two years later and a similar shot. Animal went down, got up sluggishly and dropped about 10 yards later from the massive exit hole and internal damage from the bullet. Others will likely chime in regarding the 223 good to 500, but not for me.

For saving hides, a 243 is a little too destructive.
 
Cabela's has the Axis package on for $390, scope included on a camo stock, in .223, .22-250 and .243. Check their Christmas catalogues/flyers too; I've seen Predator combos in there, not sure of the price. They'll get you started.

As for the .243, I've got one I'm rigging out specifically for predator hunting, but wasn't aware of the reputation for blowing big exit holes. Anyone here tried cast bullets, or something that doesn't penetrate so much? Just wondering.
 
NorthernCX said:
As for the .243, I've got one I'm rigging out specifically for predator hunting, but wasn't aware of the reputation for blowing big exit holes. Anyone here tried cast bullets, or something that doesn't penetrate so much? Just wondering.
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toddbartell has posted alot of results on .243 loads over on the predcan forum in the past. A quick search should yield the results your after. sobo4303 uses a combo of 70Gr NBT & H335 almost exclusively (?), but has tried Hornady VMax & Sierra along with IMR 4064 to compare. He says if he hits them square with the Noslers' damage is minimal.
 
One_Rook said:
So should I find a tanner before I collect the hides? That's who would finish the process for me?
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no you can flesh and dry the hides this will get all the fat and meat off(a good case skined hide will have very little most of it on the face)

you will most likely no sell these hides or not for much anyway(no one wants gunshot hides) but its the law hat you do not let furbearer hides spoil i have a plastic tub filled with them i'll use them for something some day
 
Thanks for the info ShrtRnd, I'll check that out.

For the OP, Cabela's also has a Savage Axis XP Predator combo, in .204, .223, .22-250, and .243, the scope, barrel, everything in camo, and comes with a Primos electronic call for $600. That would make a good start.
 
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