Coyote,Would you hunt with a 22 Stinger?
- Thread starter Dave.S
- Start date
Many critters much larger than a coyote have fallen to a well placed shot from a 22 Lr. Are they the ideal caliber ? Probably not. But we know our personal limitations and should only take shots we are comfortable and confident with.
I think its a myth that Maritime Coyotes are bigger than western coyotes. They may be bigger than the scrawny little ones down in Texas but I've shot plenty of big Alberta coyotes and I have seen plenty of coyotes in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and they don't look very different. Maybe a bit smaller. I'd definitely give the size advantage to the Alberta/Montana coyotes.
Agreed and proven....
thepolinator
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Sudbury, ON
If i was carrying my 22lr with me when i saw one within a reasonable range i would , but if I was planning a trip i would use my .223.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
You would hunt cape buffalo with a .223?
This is CGN, the home of the "That's overkill!" mantra. Everybody here can kill elephants with a .22...as long as they "do their part" and remember that shot placement is everything.
Buff with a .223? Piece of cake; Berger bullets only, of course.
This is CGN, the home of the "That's overkill!" mantra. Everybody here can kill elephants with a .22...as long as they "do their part" and remember that shot placement is everything.
Buff with a .223? Piece of cake; Berger bullets only, of course.
There is a guy up here who used a 17 Rem for moose.....
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...-for-moose?p=10587952&viewfull=1#post10587952
Ted
Last edited:
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
There is a guy up here who used a 17 Rem for moose.....
http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/foru...-for-moose?p=10587952&viewfull=1#post10587952
Ted
Ackley championed the use of the mighty .17 Remington for use on Catalina goats, marveling at the lightning kills it produced with it's "premium" 25 gr bullet. Given that performance as a baseline, and considering a moose's head (sans antlers) is similar in weight to the aforementioned goat, the .17 would seem totally appropriate for Yukon moose. Perhaps one might even achieve better soft point bullet performance with a tad less velocity, so the .17 Fireball might well be the best all around big game cartridge for the hunting of big game anywhere in the world, although solid, machine turned, bronze bullets fired at an extremely high velocity from a "full sized" .17 cartridge would have the edge on thick skinned game like pachyderms. After all, since the .17 is acceptable for a moose, then an elephant shouldn't be out of the question, since it's head (sans tusks) is similar in weight to the moose. Why should anyone subject themselves to the weight and heavy recoil of a .30/06, or heaven forbid a .375, when totally sufficient game performance can be realized from various .17 bore rifles?
Should such a notion ever be taken seriously, it wouldn't be long before all those who believed in it were transformed to red smears in the grass under the feet of the enraged grass eaters of the world, then once and for all, the illusion of terminal performance from velocity in the absence of mass would be known to all.
Last edited:
The only ethical way to use a .22lr on anything bigger than a rabbit is a brain shot with a solid. I lived in Africa for some years and use to carry a .22 pump loaded with solids because it was a pretty good meat gun. I would only take shots at less than about 40 yards when the critter was stopped and I had a stable rest and could be sure to put the shot either between the eyes front on or between the eye and ear from the side. And the biggest animals I shot were warthogs, up to maybe 75lbs. If the shot was good they'd drop like a rock. If it wasn't, they took off and you'd never find them. For birds, I always aimed for the head. You either hit them or you didn't. I'm fairly confident that a deer shot accurately in the head would drop just as reliably, but that's not an option here in NA, and rightly so.
Before I moved over there, I used to use a .22 a lot for hunting, mostly groundhogs and rabbits. I found the Stingers were not very reliable on groundhogs because the bullets were lightly constructed and came apart quickly without much penetration. They will kill a rabbit pretty quickly with a chest shot but do a lot of damage. IMO, the only way you could count on killing a coyote with a .22 of any sort would be a headshot, and if you're taking those, there's no advantage to using Stingers. The bullets are 32 grain HPs. If you can't count on a bullet killing reliably, you shouldn't use it. On a coyote, you can't count on a reliable kill. And as someone else said, Stingers are just not very accurate, which on small game that require fairly surgical shots, matters.
Before I moved over there, I used to use a .22 a lot for hunting, mostly groundhogs and rabbits. I found the Stingers were not very reliable on groundhogs because the bullets were lightly constructed and came apart quickly without much penetration. They will kill a rabbit pretty quickly with a chest shot but do a lot of damage. IMO, the only way you could count on killing a coyote with a .22 of any sort would be a headshot, and if you're taking those, there's no advantage to using Stingers. The bullets are 32 grain HPs. If you can't count on a bullet killing reliably, you shouldn't use it. On a coyote, you can't count on a reliable kill. And as someone else said, Stingers are just not very accurate, which on small game that require fairly surgical shots, matters.
Last edited:
- Location
- Central AB
I'm a little surprised that so many consider the 223 as a minimum for coyote. When I was fur hunting I used 223 for a couple years, but found it generally too hard on pelts. So switched to 17 fireball, and was really impressed with it. Always provided extremely fast kills, and with chest hits, never an exit wound. Coupled with a very tiny entrance wound.
Definitely became my favorite, but range for quick kills should be limited to 300yd max. Once shot one at 425yds (measured with range finder) but animal ran 25 yds before piling up. Found out the bullet hadn't expanded at all, 17 cal going in, 17 cal coming out. So after that I limited shots to 300, and always got instant kills.
Undoubtedly a 17 rem would be just as easy on pelts, and maybe stretch the range to 400.
Anyway, the 223 is great if you're not gathering fur, but I think is a bit too much power if hunting for pelts.
Definitely became my favorite, but range for quick kills should be limited to 300yd max. Once shot one at 425yds (measured with range finder) but animal ran 25 yds before piling up. Found out the bullet hadn't expanded at all, 17 cal going in, 17 cal coming out. So after that I limited shots to 300, and always got instant kills.
Undoubtedly a 17 rem would be just as easy on pelts, and maybe stretch the range to 400.
Anyway, the 223 is great if you're not gathering fur, but I think is a bit too much power if hunting for pelts.
I myself us a .22 hornet for coyotes and given certain scenarios would use it on deer although I don't usually pack it until after deer season is closed and bring it solely for the purpose of hunting coyotes and bobcats. Also a great caliber for dropping treed cats. And great all around trapping gun in addition. After finding enough ammo to provide brass for a lifetime of course. I find it better than the 223 in terms of comfort but that's more or less the gun than the caliber, it's also easier on the ears.
