.22 LR for coyotes??

otter said:
Not a good idea if you want a humane kill.
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and that comes down to shot placment.. if your a good shot and know the distance of the rifle it can be doen humanly.. Now I wouldnt recomend it unless they were close and an easy shot but Ive seen everything big and small shot with a .22lr.. mountain lion 1 shot between the eyes with a round nose (not hollow point) it took 1 step and fell over dead.. that was at around 100-200 feet..all shot placment.. I even saw a guy shoot a deer with one because we were talking and I said it was agianst the regs because it cant kill a deer he open the door and shot 1 on his yard and went see works fine..
 
I shot a coyote at 15m once with a 22LR and it did not put it down. I shot it in the face, he fell down, got back up and he ran off. I chased it into the bush about 50m and he was standing there looking at me about and so I shot him again at about 25m this time following which he fell down again but quickly got up and ran off. I didn't find him after the second shot after 2 hrs of looking. I would never again use a 22LR on a coyote. My friend killed a coyote with his SR22 and it took the whole mag (10 shots) to drop the coyote. This was at 25m while he was out ATV riding looking for gophers. We both agreed that this cal was too light for coyotes. While I am very certain that the coyote I shot died (2x headshots) I am not certain how long it took and I was unable to recover it (fur collecting) not a good caliber in my opinion. Some guys will say shot placement and bullet type but I really think that this cal is pretty iffy in most hunting situations with a coyote. It can definitely kill but it has so little energy that I think you will have many situations where you won't recover the animal or the animal will run a fair distance unless everything is just right with the shot... Just my 2 cents.
 
I wouldn't hesitate to shoot one in the 50 yard range if I had a broadside shot. If he went 100 yards before folding up that wouldn't bother me either as I look upon them as vermin.
 
Max range 50-75 yards, use a 40 gr RN bullet, shoot in ribcage, repeat until dead. Gotta love semi auto 22's. :D

Just a thought, if you want to get rid of a lot of coyotes, you could use poison. Not sure about where to get it, but if you have livestock I'm sure you'll be able to pull a permit to get poison.
 
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If my gun shot velocitors well, and i was shooting under 60m... maybe. but even then i think id only feel comfortable taking behind the ear broadside headshots.
 
Anything is possible, and the highest velocity bullet for a 22 is the minimum starting point. I would make sure your 22 rifle likes this ammo. I'd say the potential would be more or less limited to about 50 yards. If that was all I had, it's do-able inside 50 yards.

But I would lean towards a 22 Mag as a starting point for Yotes... And a step up would be a 22 Hornet which would do the job quite well. Then if you wanted to reach out some more, then a 223. You could go to a more powerful 22-250 or a 243. It's not really necessary to step up above that.
 
I have shot a few with a .22 but I really wouldn't recommend it outside of 50yds, only with a semi auto for multiple hits and the coyote can't know it's coming, ie running away. I just keep pumping them, chest shots 40gr, in till it drops. Even then it isn't the best choice by far. My 10/22's don't like the Velocitors so I can't speak to their efficiency on anything.
I can tell you that .243 80gr are really hard on hides if you are going to keep them and .223 is great to 250-300 but not so much after that.
Kim
 
A .22 in the ear puts them down at 50-75 yards. If they are further, then the old BSA .222 pushing a 50 gr. V-Max does the job. Never had to chase any very far. Do not be too surprised at what a .22 cal. 38 grain hollow can do if shot placement is good.
 
.22LR is not exactly ideal, but dumping a mag into the 'yote will get the job done! Better yet, buy a cheap ass SKS and a crate of surplus ammo. I pull the FMJ bullet and Mexican Match a Hornady SP. I have never had one get up after that! I used FMJ until I gut shot one and tracked it nearly 1km to put it out of its misery. I have hated coyotes since they killed one of my puppies and will usually go out of my way to kill one, but a gut wound is no way to go out.
 
.22lr will kill a yote but not my first choice. Shot placement as always is the key... A funny story a buddy and I where shooting gophers one afternoon on the bald ass prairie. We where blasting away for nearly an hour with our 10/22's when a yote broke from where he was hiding 30 yards from us in the only clump of scrub for miles. He musta been scared sh*tless hiding that close to us making such a racket. We both unloaded on it and couldn't hit him we were laughing so hard dirt kicking up all around him. Sometimes I miss the prairies :D
 
A 22lr in the lungs will kill them anytime. I just shot a fawn whitetail in the chest at less then 10 yards. My .50cal 338gr platinum powerbelt exited out its ass. That fawn still ran almost a 100 yards. Dead is dead even if they run a short distance. Inside 50-60 yards I'd rather use a 12ga but I know my 9422 will do the job when loaded with cci stingers. Only 2 I had to shoot twice. Once I broke a shoulder with a 22mag followed up with a shot behind the ear. The second was with a 25-06. I hit him in the spine as he was looking away from me. A second shot thro the shoulders finished him. I'd rather use a more suited gun but the 22lr is very capable. Even moose and bears have been dropped by them
 
Legally, here in NL, you can only hunt coyote with a .22 caliber centerfire rifle (.222, .223, 22-250, .204 ruger, etc.) or a shotgun with #2 shot or larger. A rimfire 22 is going to land you a fine and you forfeit your rifle, if you get caught.
 
Definitely not a good idea...I've tried it on a coyote a few years back, at max. a range of 15 yards and hit it in the shoulder. It went down on impact, but those critters like to fake their death quite often I was later told by an experienced trapper. As soon as I got close, it darted on 3 legs and I couldn't even get close to it to finish it off. I'd definitely go for a .223 / .22-250 / .243, something I'm currently on the look out for myself.

JC
 
In my opinion ALL prey deserves a the quickest death possible,regardless of your feelings toward that animal. Would I try and put down a coyote with a .22lr? Quite possibly...under the right circumstances and with proper bullet placement.
 
Well I realize this thread is a few weeks old, but all i have for coyote hunting is my moddified 10/22.

I've had it to the range and KNOW where I'm shooting out to 100yards and the groups. It's all I have for coyote hunting, and I'm taking it. I'm using cci velocitors and won't go past 75yards max. I have a nice ground blind, and a rabbit in distress call.

I personally have only killed one coyote with a .22 before. It was a Lakefield 64B with a cci stinger. One shot in the boiler room dropped it at 25-30yrds So I'm very confident with velocitors and "proper" shot placement will do the job humanly.


I've called in coyotes when I had my 7mm rem mag before,( out wes t) but never got a shot off because I didn't fully believe that calls work soo good, but wow they do.

IF I can get one in close enough, I'll take the shot and if need be back it up with a couple more. Hopefully I'll be able to post up some pics of my kills later. I have lot's of coyotes around my house. You can hear them at night, see there scat, and tracks everywhere, but I've yet to see one in the woods or call them in yet.
 
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