Been using the 22 mag for over 30 years from trapping since I was a kid, to hunting coyotes, wolves, beaver, etc... I have used the 22 mag more than any other rifle on for bearing game, 150-200 yards is no big deal for a coyote, they are thin skinned, or are they wearing kevlar vests now where some of you hunt? I guess if you want them to drop right on the spot with a 6"+ hole in the opposite side it wouldn't be for you.... but I am not afraid of a short walk.
.22 Magnum for coyote hunting
- Thread starter sealhunter
- Start date
hometownhero
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Toon Town, Sk
Didnt you get the memo?? Everything is wearing that now even deer. You need at least a 300 win mag to down a deer at a couple hundred yards.
Opps, you are wrong Gary, must be the first time, ever!. The work sled in question is a single banger Bombardier.
Now, on the other hand, the play sled is a Polaris, with a capital P.
I've got two of those 12.3 single bangers out back... ratta-tat-tat-tat... when the kidz were little they assumed that snow smelled like gasoline!
They're like hens teeth but do come up from time to time, Brno ZKM611 semi .22Mag. Judging by your taste in firearms I think it'll appeal to you, wood and steel with a good feel, wand-ish in the hand and take-down to boot!
Okay, I didn't read back through all the posts but i don't remember anyone suggesting coyotes wore kevlar or are impossible to kill with the 22mag no more then i remember reading in this post that anyone needed a magnum rifle to kill big game.
I am actually a bit partial to the smaller calibre's myself most of the time. I have used the 22 mag for over 30+ years myself since i was a kid as well, hunting as well as on the trapline.
You are right though the 22mag is a great gun for fox ,bobcat and about as perfect for beaver as you could get . I did animal control for a couple of logging companies(Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator) in my time and the 22 mag was my all time favourite for beaver doing road damage.
No wolves here so i can't comment on them at all.
Our coyotes run a bit on the large side though not like alot of the ones on the western hunting shows that look about the size of a large red fox and i find that coyote's thin skinned or not, pound for pound one of the toughest critter's going.
I put this pic on here before but here goes again.This one was killed a couple miles from my house. This is maybe a little bigger then average one here.Not unusually large or anything though by any means.
I would indeed like a coyote down right there right now though.
Not because i mind a bit of a walk but because it is so thick here in most places that if you just get the one entrance hole with the maggie and no blood trail then they can be very,very,very difficult to find.
I don't know where you guys hunt but if it was in the wide open where they were easy to find i could see you having a love affair with the 22 mag.Quite small holes and works well if you are patient and pick your shot.
I would rather do a bit of sewing on a larger hole then lose an animal myself but If you are getting 6 inch holes in the opposite side frequently with the larger 22 cartridges then you are simply loading the wrong bullet IMHO. There are enough out there that will kill very well without doing such damage every time. I don't mind looney sized holes.They sew up no problem.
We don't get the amounts of coyote's here that you guys out west get by any means.
You are doing really ,really well to call or kill over bait 20-30 a year and that usually involves alot of hard hunting.
The most i have personally called and killed in one winter here is 27.
Now I trapped and snared another 30+ that year but you cannot count that as hunting or count any rifle(when i didn't use a kill stick) i used to dispatch them as a good coyote rifle because it is not the same thing whatsoever at all. Shooting Trapped and snared one's means absolutely nothing in context to what is a good coyote hunting cartridge. It is just not the same thing at all.
Apples and oranges.
Now i am not saying that a 22 Mag won't kill coyote's and kill them well because it most certainly will.
What i am saying is that in my experience that some will have more runners if not more lost and wasted animals if they hunt where it is really thick then if they were using something with just a bit more juice.
At one point in time i had myself convinced it would be the ultimate fur saving cartridge.
I have lost out on a few possible double's and a possible triple over the years using the 22Mag.The same thing happened several times. Called them in shot the first one. Then while swinging to get on the second one seeing the first one out of the corner of your eye getting back to it's feet.
..
Well what do you do.....What every decent person would do you forget about the second one and swing back to shoot the possibly wounded one again. Now to be fair every one of them was dead on it's feet with the first shot and only went a short distance but i had no way of knowing that at the time and felt obligated to shoot them again. Had i been using something with a bit more juice to it i may have been able to get more then the one.
I have killed a few double's and one triple in the same scenario but i was using a larger cartridge and didn't run into the same problem.
Now like i said i have no problem at all with someone who knows it's limitations and how to use it most effectively doing so.
I will go a bit farther and say if it's legal and somebody wants to use it then it quite frankly is none of my business if they do.
What irks me a bit though is being on some of the predator hunting forums over the years (not talking about this thread in particular either) and when a guy new to coyote hunting ask about a 22.mag as a dedicated coyote rifle and someone will tell them it is the be all end all only coyote rifle they will ever need.
Half the time later on in the postings you will find out they killed a grand total of three target's of opportunity(or someone they know did) or something in their entire life and that is what they are basing that it is the be all end all coyote rifle theory on.
Now just in my opinion if you are killing 20+ coyote's a year at distance's up to 200 yards with the 22Mag and not getting a few runners or lost dogs you are .....
1. A very patient person who is willing to pass up on shot's that are less then absolutely perfect.
2. One hell of an awesome shot.
3. Or have a horseshoe up yer arse sideways.LOL.
Now please don't take me wrong. I think we all know quite well that if you poke a coyote through the lungs with even a 22.LR it is going to die. Still doesn't make a 22Mag an ideal dedicated coyote rig to me though. If somebody else loves it and has great success with it.More power to him.
It has it's uses for sure and i am not going to pass up a target of opportunity with one. I do think it is at it's best when in the hands of the experienced not beginning hunter and used at close range though.
Now because of health issues i sure have not been able to get out the last few years like i used to.I will say i have shot probably somewhere over 40+ coyotes with the 22.mag over the years but the most recently i have shot one with it was four with it three years ago.Never shot one over 100 yards with it and most less then half that.
Now i know those numbers will pale in comparison to what some of you western guys have shot.
So how about this , for you guys that love the 22.mag and think it is all you ever need for a dedicated coyote rifle and are currently using it as such.
Help out any newbie hunters with some real life facts about it from your personnel experience with it.
Just your own real life personnel experiences.None of this my brothers fathers mothers cousin shot some with it and they said it was great stuff. Or i read it somewhere on the internet stuff.
No counting ones you or someone you knew dispatched in a trap or snare.
I think anyone that has hunted and trapped knows that is not even close to the same thing as hunting them. That is kind of like saying your grandfather used a 22LR when butchering cattle so it would make a great moose cartridge.
Hell, i killed most of my trapped ones with a kill stick and they drop like a friggin rock but that didn't make me think a kill stick would be great for hunting called in coyotes.
Just your own actual hunting experience's.
So from your very own actual hunting experience's with it some questions about how you developed your opinion on it being all one needs for a reliable consistent killing dedicated coyote rig.......
1.How many coyote's are you averaging a year with it hunting (not trapping or snaring) ? 1....2....5.....20....any....none ?
2.What kind of shots are you taking with it? Broadside.....head on.....any shot available ?
3.What are you shooting for ammo out of it?
4.What is the average size of a coyote where you are using it?
5.What is the average number of runners,lost dogs you are getting? If any.
6. What kind of terrain are you using it in? Open prairies, thick woods mixed stuff?
7. What is your own personnel range limit with it?
8. Any of you guys saying 150 to 200 yards is no big deal for a 22 Mag and coyotes. How many have you shot at these ranges using the 22Mag ? Are you Using a rangefinder ? What are you shooting for ammo? What kind of drop are you getting at 150 yards with them? What about 200?
How does the round you are using make out when you encounter heavier bone at 200 yards? Still penetrate well or lost coyote? I am assuming that if you are advocating it for these ranges then you are never losing any coyotes with it at these ranges?
Are you only hunting areas you can see long distances when shooting this far and can see the coyote drop if it runs a ways?
Like i said if it works good for you, more power to you and i am sure not going to try to tell someone they shouldn't be using it.I just found it less then ideal for alot of situations and had to pass up on quite a few less then ideal opportunities. I think it is better recommended to experienced hunters more so than newbie's just starting out if they have a choice and it is not the only thing they own.
Just curious and i want to hear your actual personnel real life experiences.
EDITED TO SAY.
After doing a little thinking about it. I do have to concede.
I don't believe i have ever actually lost a coyote with a 22MAG. Been close a few times though. I have had lots of runners with it. Some that were less then easy to find and a few i was just downright lucky to find.
I have passed up on more then a few that to me were not good opportunities with it though.Bad shot angle's,Too far away for my comfort level with it etc...
I am actually a bit partial to the smaller calibre's myself most of the time. I have used the 22 mag for over 30+ years myself since i was a kid as well, hunting as well as on the trapline.
You are right though the 22mag is a great gun for fox ,bobcat and about as perfect for beaver as you could get . I did animal control for a couple of logging companies(Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator) in my time and the 22 mag was my all time favourite for beaver doing road damage.
No wolves here so i can't comment on them at all.
Our coyotes run a bit on the large side though not like alot of the ones on the western hunting shows that look about the size of a large red fox and i find that coyote's thin skinned or not, pound for pound one of the toughest critter's going.
I put this pic on here before but here goes again.This one was killed a couple miles from my house. This is maybe a little bigger then average one here.Not unusually large or anything though by any means.
I would indeed like a coyote down right there right now though.
Not because i mind a bit of a walk but because it is so thick here in most places that if you just get the one entrance hole with the maggie and no blood trail then they can be very,very,very difficult to find.
I don't know where you guys hunt but if it was in the wide open where they were easy to find i could see you having a love affair with the 22 mag.Quite small holes and works well if you are patient and pick your shot.
I would rather do a bit of sewing on a larger hole then lose an animal myself but If you are getting 6 inch holes in the opposite side frequently with the larger 22 cartridges then you are simply loading the wrong bullet IMHO. There are enough out there that will kill very well without doing such damage every time. I don't mind looney sized holes.They sew up no problem.
We don't get the amounts of coyote's here that you guys out west get by any means.
You are doing really ,really well to call or kill over bait 20-30 a year and that usually involves alot of hard hunting.
The most i have personally called and killed in one winter here is 27.
Now I trapped and snared another 30+ that year but you cannot count that as hunting or count any rifle(when i didn't use a kill stick) i used to dispatch them as a good coyote rifle because it is not the same thing whatsoever at all. Shooting Trapped and snared one's means absolutely nothing in context to what is a good coyote hunting cartridge. It is just not the same thing at all.
Apples and oranges.
Now i am not saying that a 22 Mag won't kill coyote's and kill them well because it most certainly will.
What i am saying is that in my experience that some will have more runners if not more lost and wasted animals if they hunt where it is really thick then if they were using something with just a bit more juice.
At one point in time i had myself convinced it would be the ultimate fur saving cartridge.
I have lost out on a few possible double's and a possible triple over the years using the 22Mag.The same thing happened several times. Called them in shot the first one. Then while swinging to get on the second one seeing the first one out of the corner of your eye getting back to it's feet.
..
Well what do you do.....What every decent person would do you forget about the second one and swing back to shoot the possibly wounded one again. Now to be fair every one of them was dead on it's feet with the first shot and only went a short distance but i had no way of knowing that at the time and felt obligated to shoot them again. Had i been using something with a bit more juice to it i may have been able to get more then the one.
I have killed a few double's and one triple in the same scenario but i was using a larger cartridge and didn't run into the same problem.
Now like i said i have no problem at all with someone who knows it's limitations and how to use it most effectively doing so.
I will go a bit farther and say if it's legal and somebody wants to use it then it quite frankly is none of my business if they do.
What irks me a bit though is being on some of the predator hunting forums over the years (not talking about this thread in particular either) and when a guy new to coyote hunting ask about a 22.mag as a dedicated coyote rifle and someone will tell them it is the be all end all only coyote rifle they will ever need.
Half the time later on in the postings you will find out they killed a grand total of three target's of opportunity(or someone they know did) or something in their entire life and that is what they are basing that it is the be all end all coyote rifle theory on.
Now just in my opinion if you are killing 20+ coyote's a year at distance's up to 200 yards with the 22Mag and not getting a few runners or lost dogs you are .....
1. A very patient person who is willing to pass up on shot's that are less then absolutely perfect.
2. One hell of an awesome shot.
3. Or have a horseshoe up yer arse sideways.LOL.
Now please don't take me wrong. I think we all know quite well that if you poke a coyote through the lungs with even a 22.LR it is going to die. Still doesn't make a 22Mag an ideal dedicated coyote rig to me though. If somebody else loves it and has great success with it.More power to him.
It has it's uses for sure and i am not going to pass up a target of opportunity with one. I do think it is at it's best when in the hands of the experienced not beginning hunter and used at close range though.
Now because of health issues i sure have not been able to get out the last few years like i used to.I will say i have shot probably somewhere over 40+ coyotes with the 22.mag over the years but the most recently i have shot one with it was four with it three years ago.Never shot one over 100 yards with it and most less then half that.
Now i know those numbers will pale in comparison to what some of you western guys have shot.
So how about this , for you guys that love the 22.mag and think it is all you ever need for a dedicated coyote rifle and are currently using it as such.
Help out any newbie hunters with some real life facts about it from your personnel experience with it.
Just your own real life personnel experiences.None of this my brothers fathers mothers cousin shot some with it and they said it was great stuff. Or i read it somewhere on the internet stuff.
No counting ones you or someone you knew dispatched in a trap or snare.
I think anyone that has hunted and trapped knows that is not even close to the same thing as hunting them. That is kind of like saying your grandfather used a 22LR when butchering cattle so it would make a great moose cartridge.
Hell, i killed most of my trapped ones with a kill stick and they drop like a friggin rock but that didn't make me think a kill stick would be great for hunting called in coyotes.
Just your own actual hunting experience's.
So from your very own actual hunting experience's with it some questions about how you developed your opinion on it being all one needs for a reliable consistent killing dedicated coyote rig.......
1.How many coyote's are you averaging a year with it hunting (not trapping or snaring) ? 1....2....5.....20....any....none ?
2.What kind of shots are you taking with it? Broadside.....head on.....any shot available ?
3.What are you shooting for ammo out of it?
4.What is the average size of a coyote where you are using it?
5.What is the average number of runners,lost dogs you are getting? If any.
6. What kind of terrain are you using it in? Open prairies, thick woods mixed stuff?
7. What is your own personnel range limit with it?
8. Any of you guys saying 150 to 200 yards is no big deal for a 22 Mag and coyotes. How many have you shot at these ranges using the 22Mag ? Are you Using a rangefinder ? What are you shooting for ammo? What kind of drop are you getting at 150 yards with them? What about 200?
How does the round you are using make out when you encounter heavier bone at 200 yards? Still penetrate well or lost coyote? I am assuming that if you are advocating it for these ranges then you are never losing any coyotes with it at these ranges?
Are you only hunting areas you can see long distances when shooting this far and can see the coyote drop if it runs a ways?
Like i said if it works good for you, more power to you and i am sure not going to try to tell someone they shouldn't be using it.I just found it less then ideal for alot of situations and had to pass up on quite a few less then ideal opportunities. I think it is better recommended to experienced hunters more so than newbie's just starting out if they have a choice and it is not the only thing they own.
Just curious and i want to hear your actual personnel real life experiences.
EDITED TO SAY.
After doing a little thinking about it. I do have to concede.
I don't believe i have ever actually lost a coyote with a 22MAG. Been close a few times though. I have had lots of runners with it. Some that were less then easy to find and a few i was just downright lucky to find.
I have passed up on more then a few that to me were not good opportunities with it though.Bad shot angle's,Too far away for my comfort level with it etc...
Last edited:
- Location
- oxford county ontairo
Well... .22 magnum....okay. That would work better than a rugger 10/22. But I have shot and killed a yote from 100 yrds with a 10/22... Suckered droped like a sack of potatoes
antiqueguy
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- windsor ontario
im gona call BS here ive shot plenty with a .22lr never had one DRT and 100 yards with a .22lr to be accurate enough to even hit the vitals of a coyotes is a fat chance and for it to have enough energy to drop them DRT at 100 yards
im gona call BS here ive shot plenty with a .22lr never had one DRT and 100 yards with a .22lr to be accurate enough to even hit the vitals of a coyotes is a fat chance and for it to have enough energy to drop them DRT at 100 yards
You might wanna go easy on the BS call... a shot to the lungs with LR will not likely result in DRT but a shot to the head/CNS would still have the energy to cause a DRT... he didn't say where it was hit by the bullet... one of several LR coyotes I shot incidentally to small game hunting was taken at 75 yards with a Mini-Mag solid... the shot squared the lungs and he ran 50 yards before going down... and was stone cold dead by the time I got to him.
It was just a sketchy first post... he might of waited a couple months for that one!
im gona call BS here ive shot plenty with a .22lr never had one DRT and 100 yards with a .22lr to be accurate enough to even hit the vitals of a coyotes is a fat chance and for it to have enough energy to drop them DRT at 100 yards
Not to sound rude, but I don't own a 22LR that wont hit the vitals of a coyote at 100 yards with ease, I have one that will easily hit the vitals of a squirrel at 100 yards ANY day, unless stupid windy and I judge it wrong. I know there are people everywhere with 22 rifles that accurate.
To my earlier statement, I have only shot about 50 yotes with the 22 mag, not in traps or snares, and as many in traps or snares, and never reeally thought about it before, but yes, I have passed on many due to poor shot conditions, but that could be said for ANY round on ANY game. I just didn't think about passing on shots I might not have had I been carrying a 22-250 or 243, etc... I guess it's second nature to pass on shots or adjust shooting due to whats in my hands that day.
- Location
- oxford county ontairo
[QUOTE#]44[/QUOTE]
I shot the yote. By the wound and the blood it was a shot to the jugular... a clean miss concidering i was aiming for a head shot... if i can figure out how to post a pic i would add that to... dead is dead. I did put one behind his ear just to end his suffering... i believe in a humane dispatch of any animal i shoot.
I shot the yote. By the wound and the blood it was a shot to the jugular... a clean miss concidering i was aiming for a head shot... if i can figure out how to post a pic i would add that to... dead is dead. I did put one behind his ear just to end his suffering... i believe in a humane dispatch of any animal i shoot.
No yotes with flak jackets around here. However I can't tell you the last time I had a shot at less than 200 yds. They have been well educated by the farmers before I get an opportunity. Calling is almost useless, I do better laying on the scope for a few hours.
When you skin one here they have everything but the primer in them....they have 22s, buckshot, bird shot, pellets, etc.
A 22 mag wouldn't be any use to me around here.
