Today I ordered a left handed Remington 700 SPS in .22-250 to harass the coyotes in my area. There seem to be a lot of them.

So I am looking for recommendations for .22-250 loads, a scope (2.5 - 10x ?) and other essential gear for hunting coyotes. For you Arizonans, I am in Ssnta Cruz county.

Thanks!

With 50 to 55 gr. I'd try Ballistic Tips first. IME close to max with RL15 might be your huckleberry if you can find some, with H4895 a close 2nd. Some say Varget is great, so maybe. As always work upward carefully.

In my coyote hunting experiences most shots are less than 50 yards so I scope my rifles with greater FOV on the low end, 1 to 3.5x. My current coyote rifle wears a Leupold 2-12. I feel it’s a good balance of FOV and magnification.

quote:

Originally posted by 358WCF:
With 50 to 55 gr. I'd try Ballistic Tips first. IME close to max with RL15 might be your huckleberry if you can find some, with H4895 a close 2nd. Some say Varget is great, so maybe. As always work upward carefully.

I do have N203B, which is close(or identical) to RL15, I was thinking Nosler 55 grainers.

Now to find some brass...

Are you going to make stands and call them, or are you taking shots of opportunity at range, or both?

Starting power in the 2x or 3x is fine, max power depends on how far you're willing to shoot. My 'yote gun is a 223 and has a 3-9x Nikon on it, and I've never felt like I needed more.

My preferred load in my 22-250 is a 50 gr Hornady Vmax or Nosler Partition. 40.0 grs of H-380 over a Federal match primer. I use this for prairie dogs, so it has a 6-18x Nikon. Would be a poor choice for calling, but I have sniped a few 'yotes with it that have come into the pd killing fields during a shooting lull, thinking they could sneak off with some easy snacks.

And before you think this North Dakota guy is off his rocker, I was born and raised in AZ, and hunted all over S AZ mostly around the Patagonia/Nogales area for 30 years.

Slim, thanks for your response. I want to try calling 'yotes... I live in Sonoita and there re plenty of coyotes in the area. I am adjacent to the Canelo Hills, Santa Ritas, Whetstones, and the San Rafael Valley. Lots of places to hunt and I hunt birds as well as bigger game. Winter coyotes could extend my time in the field.

Beautiful area. Lived in Tucson for 24 years, leaving in 1989. As a young man I spent a lot of time around the places you mentioned. Makes me nostalgic. Good luck with the coyotes.

quote:

Originally posted by Alec Torres:
Slim, thanks for your response. I want to try calling 'yotes... I live in Sonoita and there re plenty of coyotes in the area. I am adjacent to the Canelo Hills, Santa Ritas, Whetstones, and the San Rafael Valley. Lots of places to hunt and I hunt birds as well as bigger game. Winter coyotes could extend my time in the field.

quote:

Originally posted by JeffreyPhD:
Beautiful area. Lived in Tucson for 24 years, leaving in 1989. As a young man I spent a lot of time around the places you mentioned. Makes me nostalgic. Good luck with the coyotes.

I grew up in Northern California in the country, before it was over crowded, posted and over-regulated. The area I live in here is rolling grasslands with oaks and junipers. A lot like where I grew up.

I love this area. I first discovered it when hunting quail and running my bird dogs here. I have some acreage adjacent to the National Forest and enough room to have a large paddock for my setters, a large barn/shop, a 100 yard rifle range and a small sporting clays set up. Heaven.

I hunt coyotes in central AZ by calling.
We are usually shooting at fairly close range, well under 100 yards.
22-250 will do the job just don’t put too much scope on it, I use 3-9x on most coyote guns.
We have hunted SE AZ a few times, lots of coyotes, avoid two legged kind.

M

Thanks, Mark! I have the rifle in hnd and am waiting for the Talley blocks. Probably try my S&B 2-10X for starters.

AT

quote:

Originally posted by Alec Torres:
Thanks, Mark! I have the rifle in hnd and am waiting for the Talley blocks. Probably try my S&B 2-10X for starters.

AT

Good choice on the scope and it should give you plenty of options.

I call coyotes on 3 or 4 power for the field of vision but love the higher powers for distant shots of prairie dog popping.

I use a 3-15 VX5 HD Leupold on my 20 cal

Zeke

I use to use a .22-250 bolt gun but shifted to an AR with a low power variable scope (1X4) and a 12 ga. shotgun. With a bolt action you have to be quick to more the two once the shooting starts. Shotgun is great for brushy areas where you can't see more than 50 yards. Good luck it's great fun.

Thanks, all. Settled on a 3-9X and it seems about right. I'll start coyotes after the AZ bird season ends.

ot of folks go to big on coyote scopes, my favorite is the 3.5x10 Leupold, but a 3x9 works as well and a 4x12 is a great scope..Keeping in mind that short range shots are as common as long range shots on coyotes, Ive kill many of the at 25 to 50 yards and up to 500 or maybe 600 yards, I have actually missed more at 500 and 600 than Ive killed, but that is nothing that bothers me, to miss a rabbet, a rock chuck or a coyote changes my life not one iota..

My favorite coyote rig was a 243WSSM Dtech AR 15 with a 4.5-14 Burris FFII. The ballistic plex reticle worked well on coyotes. Have used 3-9 on other rifles, but @ 84, my eyesight is not what it used to be and the extra 5x is really a + on the longer shots. Plenty of field of view @ 3 or 4.5x and I always start the stand @ lowest setting on scope I'm using at the time; always time to crank power up if they hang up way out there.


Good advice on the 55 gr. NBT's; excellent bullets for coyotes. Have shot a number of feral hogs and culled whitetail does w/them in .223, also.


Regards,
hm

I like to hunt hogs, coyotes, rabbits etc with iron sights on a walking hunt, love shooting jack rabbits in the dessert with a iron sighted 22, 25-35, 30-30 or whatever...Don't try this if a miss upsets you!! A more serious hunt would be my 220 swift with a 3.5x10 Leupold 8 Lb. rifle, a great combo for coyotes for drive around or walking them up..calling with my 222 is fun...Varmint hunting is a fun game to be enjoyed, the results dond't mean damn thing!!

Miss those days (60-70 years ago) when we could go out in the salt flats and chase jackrabbits and an occasional coyote with a rifle; unfortunately only safe way to do so today would be with a shotgun.

Have to travel an hour or two nowadays to find a safe place to call predators and use a rifle.

Regards,
hm

My Coyote hunting in the desert southwest was done with a 12 gauge pump and some #4 buckshot. Add an electronic caller. 40 yards was a long shot and only rarely could you get one with a rifle at over 100 yards because they are nearly impossible to find. Tuck up into some creosote with your gun up like you are turkey hunting and turn on the caller. They will come running and you will hear them before you see them. Oftentimes when they would get close they would get behind the next sand dune over and stand on their hind legs to look over the dune...good time to bust one but you have to be on your toes...they won't give you a second chance. If the coyote coming in is looking over his shoulder all the time he has a friend behind him so let him keep coming as close as possible and you will often kill two. If he's coming in focused on the caller shoot him...he's alone.

It was nothing to kill 6 or 8 coyotes in an afternoon back in the day...

Idaho has coyote hunts, pay a entry fee of $25.00 and who gets themost takes all the money, and its substantial, it takes 25 to 35 coyotes in a day to win..don't cheat they have a vet to keep you honest..

I can usually kill half a dozen just driving around in the desert.. I will see twice that many as a rule but too far away but I connect every once in a while..mostly I don't even try..reading the wind out there is very hard to do..