Guns n Stuff

[Count Orloff]

Quote:
I have a scoped .22 Marlin that I keep nearby for hawks, but I wouldn't shoot a coyote with a rimfire round - it's not very humane (nor do we have many around here). .223 is a perfect coyote round.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Having read all these posts, my advice to the OP is:

1: Buy a RIFLE that YOU like and that FITS you

2: Don't ask for gun advice on a chicken forum

Anything else I say will get me in trouble

 

[Wild Trapper]

Quote:

Does it matter what type of forum you ask gun advise on? You get just about the same replies with all the same opinions.

 

[Davaroo]

Try this: Google "coyote calibers" or "coyote guns" and see what you get.

I will wager you'll find that this is an excellent place to ask this sort of question, because some of us actually do know what we are talking about.
Even better, we're happy to share it with the rest.

 

[dirtsaver]

Quote:
And I do hope that you are not saying that those of us that are 55 years old and grew up with guns do not know what we are talking about since we favor the .22LR for predators,including coyote.

Remember, the topic is NOT hunting,where the shots are 100+ yards. What we have been talking about are CLOSE RANGE shots for the protection of our animals. If this was a hunting discussion I would also advise the centerfire rifle calibers.

It's been an enlightening thread but I think it has served it's purpose. I hope the original poster and anyone else following has not become more confused by the information thrown out here. As no poster has identified themselves as a certified firearms instructor or otherwise CERTIFIED in predator control take all the information given in this thread with the proverbial grain of salt. It comes from many combined years of experience,in all areas of the country,from the hill and woods to open plains,and each area has it's own difficulties. My 30-40 yard shots may be 100 yards to someone in Kansas.

I think two things stand out more than anything else from this thread. Above all else ,get what you can comfortably handle,and PRACTICE until you feel comfortable with the shots you may need to take. And take a serious look at what distance becomes a threat to your livestock/pets and what distance is "just passin' through". There is a difference!

Off my soapbox now.
Larry

 

[panner123]

Quote:
And I do hope that you are not saying that those of us that are 55 years old and grew up with guns do not know what we are talking about since we favor the .22LR for predators,including coyote.

Remember, the topic is NOT hunting,where the shots are 100+ yards. What we have been talking about are CLOSE RANGE shots for the protection of our animals. If this was a hunting discussion I would also advise the centerfire rifle calibers.

It's been an enlightening thread but I think it has served it's purpose. I hope the original poster and anyone else following has not become more confused by the information thrown out here. As no poster has identified themselves as a certified firearms instructor or otherwise CERTIFIED in predator control take all the information given in this thread with the proverbial grain of salt. It comes from many combined years of experience,in all areas of the country,from the hill and woods to open plains,and each area has it's own difficulties. My 30-40 yard shots may be 100 yards to someone in Kansas.

I think two things stand out more than anything else from this thread. Above all else ,get what you can comfortably handle,and PRACTICE until you feel comfortable with the shots you may need to take. And take a serious look at what distance becomes a threat to your livestock/pets and what distance is "just passin' through". There is a difference!

Off my soapbox now.
Larry

I have been a licensed hunter since 1955 and when I severed our country Uncle Sam liked my shooting so much he gave me a special job handling rifles. I worked as a representative for a large arms company for many years putting on shooting expeditions. Though never certified as a predator hunter, I still today remove unwanted critters for farmers, ranchers and different states.
When someone asks about what gun would be the best one, I give my best answer not knowing where they live or how close they are to others. But what I take into consideration is, a fast clean kill for the animal. NO CRITTER SHOULD SUFFER A SLOW DEATH.
If a person can only take a 30 or 40 yard shot, they need to get a trap, then shoot the critter.
I know many that don't like my approch to handkling predators, but others do. A person must do what they have to.
Anything I tell someone what gun to use, I think of which one I would use and go one size larger. Like shoes, a person buys an 11 because they feel good, knowing they only wear a10.
Again, my situation is much different than others. I can sit on my proch and shoot a predator across the pasture at 500 yards with no fear of hitting anyone or thing at the other end of the shot.
Here is the best answer for this question, can you kill a coyote with a 22 or 410, YES. As was stated once, I can cripple the coyote with my 22, then walk up and kill it. What is this critter feeling during this walk?
Now it is my turn to step down off the soapbox.

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
I wouldn't admit that if I were you.

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
More properly defined, we are talking about one aspect of predator control. Truth be told, if we are shooting at coyotes, whether at 50 or 200 yards, we have already failed.
Nonetheless, a coyote that crawls off to die from a .22LR shot, ultimately gives the same result as one anchored on the spot by something heavier. You are right about that.
I have seen dogs shot at close ranges with .22's that DON'T die a clean and textbook death. But they did die, in the end.

What I have said all along is this: You cannot precisely control the conditions under which you may take the shot.
Who said every hunting shot is over 100 yards, or that a "chicken protection shot" cannot be?
Given these things, an edge is wanted. Sorry, but my very humble opinion is that the .22LR is not it.

In predator control we have three options

1. Prevention
Stop them from getting started

2. Deterrence
Keep them away

3. Elimination
Be rid of them.

If we are engaged in choice three, HOW you dispatch the animal becomes the question. To each his own.

 

[Ivywoods]

Panner123- 500yards? Cool. l limit my shots to just over 300 yards because that is all I am practiced to and good at. I'd love to learn to shoot longer distances, but just never have taken the time to learn that.

Oh, yes. I'm a certified hunter education instructor.
Lisenced.
Practiced. (Well, out to 300 yards anyway.)

Have you ever seen how fast a coyote can close a distance of 300 yards?
How fast can you run a similar distance to your coop to under 70 yards for a shot at that coyote with a .22 before he nails one of your free range birds? I can't run that fast. Personally I'm going to dispatch that coyote before he gets close enough to kill with a .22. I save the .22 for smaller predators at close range.

See my avatar? That is my ABSOLUTE BEST predator control. Great Pyrenees.

One thing that is very evident to me from reading this thread is there are many people who love their guns and love to talk about them. I am the same way. (Probably why I collect a number of them.) In this day and age it is good to know there are a lot of folks out there who are still ready to hang onto their guns.

 

[woodmort]

A couple of comments before the shooting starts: First, some of you must have huge backyards. I have 7.5 acres and the furthest hedgerow from me is about is under 100 yds. A 200-yd shot for me would take out my nearest neighbor's front window and I seriously doubt I can ever see anything 500 yds away because of the lay of the land and forest. I practice shooting from my back deck at a target that is 50-yds away, the same distance as it is to my coop. I originally sighted in my .22 mag scope at 100 and can keep most of the hits in that target in the black so I'm pretty sure that anything I shoot at will be hit, probably in the head or upper torso. I only shoot at what is directly bothering my birds--thus far 2 coons and a skunk have been dropped where they stood and none suffered. I do have both foxes and coyotes in the neighborhood--have game cammed them both on the lower edge of the property as near as 100 yds.--but thus far haven't seen them around the birds. If I did I'd feel very safe and sure about using my rifle to dispatch them cleanly--the area below my house is downhill and woods so there is little danger of anything going beyond the boundary of my land. For that reason I keep the .22 mag handy as my gun of choice (I do have a .22 LR that I've been shooting since I was 12 but it is a woodchuck/gopher/rat/plinking gun.)

Second, when you start talking firearms, it is like talking cars. Everyone has a favorite or a dislike depending on what they own and their experiences with them. Keep this in mind when you ask what is right for you. Since none of us on here know the exact conditions, the build/physical condition nor the kind of predators the OP wants to take on so her best bet is to go to a local shooting club, gun store or hunting group and ask. They probably will give her the best advice as to what she needs--again keeping in mind any bias. Anything in between is just a collect of shared ignorance.