shot sizes for coyotes

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big boar

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I hunt in mostly thick bush with a few areas of open forest and edge. I'll be using a 223 but may also consider using an 870 with shot. My question is, using an 870 with a short smooth deer barrel, I get OK patterns for deer. At 25 yards with home rolled 0-BUCK (.32 cal), I get 5-8 hits in 8".
I've read that some guys prefer to use #4 BUCK and that would put out 25 pellets but they're only .24 caliber. What would you guys use for coyotes, 0-BUCK or #4 BUCK? Thanks for the advice.
 
I have used #3....... Indint see going to four as being much different.......

That being said, I only shot 1 with it..... the results were excellent but hardly enough experience to offer an expert opinion.....

I will say that the guy I give them to that skins them and sells the fur was pretty happy with the results.....

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Like Superbrad to date I have only shot one with a shotgun. It was at 28 yards and I used a 3" Steel BB. DRT
It's the load my b in law uses. Fur friendly and deadly. He's shot a number with them. Even got a double.
 
#4 all the way! I used to have some for my 3.5" 10ga. but used it up years ago. Haven't seen any for the big gun in stores for a few years. It was devestating in a 10ga loading. 54 of those big pellets was quite effective!! I have an old shotgun (digest '80 or '81) with an article showing tests of the Ithaca Mag 10 Roadblocker(police version of a Mag 10) and it states the 3.5" load of 54 #4 buckshot was capable of penetrating the hood or fender of a moving car and cracking and disabling a V8 engine block!!
 
Until the regulations changed we had great success with BBs. 58 pellets in a 2 3/4 inch load piled up many coyotes for us. Now we have to use 1 buck or larger. I would use the load with the higher pellet count.
 
#4 buck is only .24 or .25 caliber lead at 1300fps ........engine block don't think so.......maybe with a slug
 
Timely post - we are hoping to get permission from our municipality to do some predator control in the community on coyotes and one site will be shotgun only. We were discussing this in the truck coming home - I have a bunch of 00 buckshot and a lot of lead 3" mag BB shells, so I will dig out the BB's.
 
BB or #4 buck in lead or heavy shot would be my pick for best range and penetration.

I shot a coyote once at about 60 yds with lead 3" mag #2's, I realize that the range was a bit extreme, but it had one broken leg from a deer rifle round, it was getting away, and I was trying to preserve the fur. Three shots later it finally rolled over. I could pick out the pellets from just under the skin when I skinned it, some never even broke thru the skin, very few penetrated the vitals.

In contrast, I shot three others while hunting upland birds with #6 shot, if they're within 25-30 yards so anything works!
 
Thanks for all the great replies. I'm surprised as I thought for sure most guys would opt for the 0-BUCK because of the larger pellet size. This is #4 BUCK, .24" dia. and I'll be using it with 2 3/4" hulls, hence the I'm doing reloads as I'm WAY to cheap to pay for this stuff over the counter. I've loaded and shot lots of the 0-BUCK and 00-BUCK for deer but never had the opportunity to use it on deer, only tested it on paper. Results were impressive enough that I thought I'd give the #4-BUCK a try. Again thanks for all the replies.
 
big boar said:
Thanks for all the great replies. I'm surprised as I thought for sure most guys would opt for the 0-BUCK because of the larger pellet size. This is #4 BUCK, .24" dia. and I'll be using it with 2 3/4" hulls, hence the I'm doing reloads as I'm WAY to cheap to pay for this stuff over the counter. I've loaded and shot lots of the 0-BUCK and 00-BUCK for deer but never had the opportunity to use it on deer, only tested it on paper. Results were impressive enough that I thought I'd give the #4-BUCK a try. Again thanks for all the replies.
Click to expand...

if you're serious about shotgun reloading and don't want to buy even your pellets, theres 00 / #4 lead moulds that can be had for under $20 that is 1 mould with two shot sizes pm me and ill dig through my moulding supplies to find the brand on the thing
 
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