Best fox calibres?
- Thread starter Slamfire76239
- Start date
I forget the exact yardage but this coyote was dropped wit #6 copper plated shot from a wilson precision .650 choke. Dropped in his tracks but put his head up second shot killed him outright. It was around 50 yards iirc. Coyotes are much tougher than foxes
Attachments
Attachments
I have shot a few fox with 22lr around the house but normally my minimum would be 223 with 55gr for lamping or 69/75gr for longer evening shots. Prefer a bullet that can take a fox from any angle, some light varmint bullets wouldn't get to the vitals when shot at a running away fox. Generally most of my friends here prefer the swift or 22-250.
I have recently put together a fast twist 22-250 that shoots 75 ELDM very well but might settle on 68/69gr in the long run. I shoot most of my fox either on sunny afternoons when they lie in wind sheltered spots at longer ranges across a valley or evenings across valleys when they start to roam. Guess it all depends on the shooting conditions of each.
edi
I have recently put together a fast twist 22-250 that shoots 75 ELDM very well but might settle on 68/69gr in the long run. I shoot most of my fox either on sunny afternoons when they lie in wind sheltered spots at longer ranges across a valley or evenings across valleys when they start to roam. Guess it all depends on the shooting conditions of each.
edi
duncansuds
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Weyburn, SK
.17 hornet has been my coyote and under for a while. When I was researching it, many were calling it the perfect fox caliber.
The 17 HMR and 22 Mag will work at the ranges you are talking, but shot placement is going to be a factor at the longer ranges listed. A 17 HMR may kill a coyote with a lung shot @ 150 yards, but you are going to track it a ways. A shot below the ear will anchor it quickly. The 22 Mag will carry more energy due to the heavier bullet.
If you need to shoot longer distances, or in the wind, you may want to go with the Hornet.
Myself, my fox/lynx rig is a 17 Mach II, but will be limited to inside 50 yards. Will look at the 204 Ruger when I get another coyote rifle.
If you need to shoot longer distances, or in the wind, you may want to go with the Hornet.
Myself, my fox/lynx rig is a 17 Mach II, but will be limited to inside 50 yards. Will look at the 204 Ruger when I get another coyote rifle.
.17 Reminton. You'll have a bit of a search to find the rifles and Ammo (components) though.
The original factory Remington rounds had soft jackets that fouled the barrel of my 700BDL severely with five rounds. It's like someone painted the bore with copper!
Handloading with Hornady or Berger bullets effectively reduces that considerably. I once shot 80rds in a Gopher patch in one day with the Hornady 25gr HP being pushed to 4050fps with IMR 4320 and didn't have one quarter of the fouling of the factory rounds. Mind you, every 5 shots you needed a cooling period, but bullet quality is also key...
The big advantage of the .17 Rem Cartridge is that it is very flat shooting to 300m. If you zero at 250m the bullet never rises more than 1.6" from the muzzle out to 250m, and drops only 2.2" at 300m.
Very deadly on Coyotes, with little to no pelt damage if that's your thing...
The original factory Remington rounds had soft jackets that fouled the barrel of my 700BDL severely with five rounds. It's like someone painted the bore with copper!
Handloading with Hornady or Berger bullets effectively reduces that considerably. I once shot 80rds in a Gopher patch in one day with the Hornady 25gr HP being pushed to 4050fps with IMR 4320 and didn't have one quarter of the fouling of the factory rounds. Mind you, every 5 shots you needed a cooling period, but bullet quality is also key...
The big advantage of the .17 Rem Cartridge is that it is very flat shooting to 300m. If you zero at 250m the bullet never rises more than 1.6" from the muzzle out to 250m, and drops only 2.2" at 300m.
Very deadly on Coyotes, with little to no pelt damage if that's your thing...
- Location
- Southern Vancouver Island
Yer findings be the same as mine using my former .17 Rem 700 BDL. I put only 8 shots of Rem factory ammo through 'er before going to handloads with the Hornady HP bullet.
The cool bit with the .17 Rem fer me was using my pet load of 8.2 gr of Trail Boss powder under the 25 gr Hornady which gave me 2800 fps and was tight shooting out to 200+ yds on calm days.
No worries on gopher & magpie dumping plus greatly reduced fouling & barrel heat up on longer shot strings. I've not shot a fox or coyote with this load , but did take a few deer & raccoon with 'er with brain shots inside 100 yds. Rather effective they were. Grey squirrels were a pinch.
- Location
- Southern Vancouver Island
It puts the charge to just below the base of the case neck without any worries about compressing the load. Clean burning powder in the .17 Rem & mild pressure to boot. Hope you get some TB to try out as it goes a long ways in the .17 Rem for loading economy.
Last edited:
cdn1canhunt
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- southwestern ontario
The most economical an versatile choice would be the .223 but since you are staying away from that. The .204, 17 Rem, hornet then you could drop in the rimfires…..But honestly if you want a dedicated fox and coyote rig you should look to the .22 centerfires as the minimum. Shots at times are few and far between. And you want to make the most of every opportunity. 200-250yrds is the pretty common distance to get a wack at a called in predator. I’d want the capability to capitalize on my opportunity. Choosing the right bullet and hitting the right spot has a lot to do with hide damage. We shoot coyotes all winter and many of us use .223, 22-250 or 243’s just some food for thought.
- Location
- Saskatchewan
There is a few ways to look at it. If your intent is to shoot coyotes and save the fur to sell, you need to be extremely selective on caliber and shot placement. To me, you almost need a "dedicated" fox gun or load, then something else for coyotes.
Fox hides are about as thin as tissue paper, coyote hides are considerably thicker. A 50gr bullet in a 223 which would be great on a coyote might blow up a fox pretty bad. But a really light 17 load at 200 yards might have a coyote run a really long ways before it piles up.
If your intent is to hunt foxes more than coyotes, a 22 hornet or 17 hornet would be almost perfect. 35 or 40 gr projectiles in a 22 hornet and a 20 or 25gr projectile in a 17 hornet. If your intent is mostly coyotes with the odd fox, a 223 is a pretty vanilla cartridge, especially with a 50 gr projectile.
If your intent is just to do predator control and not save hides, id go something a lot bigger. 22-250, 6.5 creed, 260 even a 308. Ammo costs more, but how much shooting does a guy really do? Couple boxes of shells a year at most? At least then you have the knock down power at any distance and at any shot angle.
Fox hides are about as thin as tissue paper, coyote hides are considerably thicker. A 50gr bullet in a 223 which would be great on a coyote might blow up a fox pretty bad. But a really light 17 load at 200 yards might have a coyote run a really long ways before it piles up.
If your intent is to hunt foxes more than coyotes, a 22 hornet or 17 hornet would be almost perfect. 35 or 40 gr projectiles in a 22 hornet and a 20 or 25gr projectile in a 17 hornet. If your intent is mostly coyotes with the odd fox, a 223 is a pretty vanilla cartridge, especially with a 50 gr projectile.
If your intent is just to do predator control and not save hides, id go something a lot bigger. 22-250, 6.5 creed, 260 even a 308. Ammo costs more, but how much shooting does a guy really do? Couple boxes of shells a year at most? At least then you have the knock down power at any distance and at any shot angle.
Obviously a 50 BMG...but the OIC killed that. 338 Lapua maybe?
I'm going to come back to reality here...come on over we have cookies.
They are the size of a small dog... knockdown....LMAO
Pa's medicine ( he trapped / shot fur for about 50 years in SE AB & SW SK)?
22 Magnum FMJ.
This is what a professional trapper / harvester used.
If you are just an amateur...use enough gun to kill it I suppose. 22 CF of some sort...more than that seems kinda silly.
I'm going to come back to reality here...come on over we have cookies.
They are the size of a small dog... knockdown....LMAO
Pa's medicine ( he trapped / shot fur for about 50 years in SE AB & SW SK)?
22 Magnum FMJ.
This is what a professional trapper / harvester used.
If you are just an amateur...use enough gun to kill it I suppose. 22 CF of some sort...more than that seems kinda silly.
- Location
- Western Manitoba
Was from "old days" - 1980's? - I loaded some 50 grain Sierra "Blitz" for local guy - as per his request, as I recall - 22-250 for fur - he hit a fox going away on rear hip - tore the thing in half - nothing but grief on my head for such a lousy fur loading. WTF!!! As per post above - inside that nice fur, a fox is like a small dog / big house cat - about nothing to them.
I have shot dozens with a 17 hmr 17 gr v-max bullets inside 150 yards they are perfect on fox and lynx .Shots lots of wolves in traps with then as well at 15+ yards with good shot angles.Longest shot was a beaver at 200 yrds DRT.You have to pick your shot with them.I have not shot fox with anything bigger than 223 as i was selling the pelts and hate sewing big holes.
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
I've only shot one fox and that was with a 22-250 and a 50gr bullet. Great combination for killing them, not great if you have any intentions on keeping the pelt.
Just tan the hide and add a 5x7 picture in the hole. Thats what my taxidermist told me to do with the first coyote i shot with my 2506
