Rifles for coyotes

i was wondering if it was legal to use a rifle in MN for coyotes. if so what would you take along?

It is legal during the day, but read the regs carefully as I believe there are night-time restrictions.

The best rifle depends on where you are. In heavily wooded areas, the best rifle is a shotgun loaded with a heavy dose of big shot. Nothing ruins a coyote’s day faster than 3 inches worth of BBs.

In open country, the .22-250 is the King of the Varmint Rifles for very good reasons. It, like all other rifles, can be hard on fur, but if you want to reach out and touch Mr. Coyote, there are few that do it as fast and flat as the 250.

Grouse

“It is legal during the day, but read the regs carefully as I believe there are night-time restrictions.”

It is almost impossible to find regs in MN for yotes. I asked a CO once about the lack of regs and he stated basically anything goes. There are regs involving shooting coons at night with lights but last I checked they do not apply to yotes.
DT

deertracker wrote:

“It is legal during the day, but read the regs carefully as I believe there are night-time restrictions.”

It is almost impossible to find regs in MN for yotes. I asked a CO once about the lack of regs and he stated basically anything goes. There are regs involving shooting coons at night with lights but last I checked they do not apply to yotes.
DT

Yes, I was not clear as to weather that restriction was a general restriction against using rifles at night / with the use of lights or not.

I have not hunted at night, so I have had no occasion to look into it in detail.

Grouse

I am over here in Cheese Head Land and most around here including me use a .223. Cheap to shoot or reload and most shots are under 300 yards. A little more fur friendly is the .204 great round for Song Dogs. Grouse has it right up close and personnel in heavy cover shotgun is hard to beat.

Now when I go out to the Dakotas I will take my .243 more then likely good chance of taking those 300 yard plus shots.

If you going to skin the hide/sell the hide, that makes the shoot pipe you use more important.

We use .223 HARD jacket bullets so the hole you have to sew is not a problem. 40 or 55 grain.

We call them into less that 100 yards most of the time…but the .223 does fine further out. ( mostly done in western parts/sand hills of Nebraska)

With rifles it seems to me that it’s always something of a crapshoot as to how big of a hole you’re going to blow in them. A lot seems to depend on luck.

My father stopped me once while walking to a deer stand, put the crosshairs on a coyote, and dropped him at about 75-80 yards. With a .30-06. I was expecting to go up there and find coyote soup and a few scraps of burning fur, but dad just drilled a neat hole through the rib cage with a 180 partition. All things considered, probably one of the worst possible choices for coyote, but there you go.

Then a couple of years later he totally gutted a fox with a .22-250. I don’t know how he did it. He doesn’t know how he did it. He just blew the thing in half with a 52 grainer, basically. Probably hit a rib or caught the shoulder quartering back and then deflected to take it right on the backbone. It was a real bummer, I wanted that pelt too.

Grouse

Grouse–no doubt, if you’re a good enough shot to place a hole between the ribs lol, or lucky enough to NOT hit a bone with the .22-250 or any other bullet that is NOT hard jacket, you’re right–it might not make a difference.

That said…from a source that kills 100’s a year ( my buddy Ron Seelhoff from Lewellan Nebraska) and then skins, stretches, “fluffs” and sells them to commercial buyers from all around the world, the .223 “hard jacket” works best–per the original question –IMO.

If the value of the pelt is not a concern, whatever ya got will work just fine–flat shootin’, high speed caliber of any kind/size.

I have a 220 swift that gets out there real nice. I shot fox with it for years when the pelt prices were high but I had to go to solids or I wouldn’t get a hide. A 50 grain boat tail solid spire point is tack driving accurate out to around 350 yards.

You never know what a bullet might do! I called in a coyote last evening for my son to shoot. We were set up in a drainage and the coyote appeared on a low rise to the left, standing straight on. The 22-250 ballistic tip bullet went through the chest and travelled along the back bone. It looked like someone had filet the coyote for 10″ along the spine. We debated what to do with the coyote, but since it was his first, and a nice prime light colored pelt, we skinned the coyote and planned on sewing up the hole, stretching and tanning the critter.

Not to change the topic, but what kind of thread is best for sewing up a coyote pelt?

It seems I always come back to my 22.250. The bullet of choice for years was a sierra 52 Ur match HP boat tail. Match HP’s aren’t designed to open up. So I’m told. They do fly great. If you can’t them at 300+, they don’t need skinning and sewing! I almost always did spot and stalk, seldom had close shots.

It’s funny that there is all this yote talk today. I stepped out of my front door tonight and heard a very vocal and large pack nearby.

DT

deertracker wrote:

It’s funny that there is all this yote talk today. I stepped out of my front door tonight and heard a very vocal and large pack nearby.

DT

Well? What did you do about all that howling, there Mr. I Got A Brand New Call For Christmas? Don’t tell me it’s still wrapped up with a bow on it and sitting under the tree.

Grouse

I’ve been using the .204 for several years on coyotes…first one with that caliber was at 75 yards, broadside using a hornady 32 grain v-max and it didn’t exit. Hit him in the shoulder and it basically blew up inside not unlike the varmint grenades claim to fame. Longest shot of mine was 200 and it didn’t have an issue on that one either as I didn’t hit a rib broadside and it did it’s job after the entrance.

I believe the law states no rifles with lights. After jan 1 you can use lights with shotguns, 100 yards away from the truck.

My favorite hunting is during the full moon at night.

22 250 gets my vote

I like the .204 with 40gr bullets or .243 with 55gr nosler. Both are very flat shooting and are going right around 3900 feet per second. If you look at ballistic charts it would be hard to find something that shoots flatter than the .204 out to 500 yards.

22 250 hands down the best for yotes. But all depends how your hunting them to we used to run them with dogs in that case ar15 223, 30 round clip just let em rip. just watch snow fly and catch up to em.

What kind of performance are you getting in the wind? Ive been beating around the idea of getting a 204 or 220 but I am worried about the wind