Trying coyote hunting again

Aaronhami924 · April 07, 2015, 06:52:35 AM

Went out with some friends a year ago in NE Iowa. Didnt see anything.

Trying again this next weekend. Got a new Foxpro call so hopefully that will help.

Will be using 7.62x54R fmj. Or do I need to find some soft points?

JohnP · April 07, 2015, 10:10:36 AM

Don't know about the game laws in Iowa but you cannot hunt with a fmj bullet out here. Additionally you may get some runners using a fmj, more of a "pass through" bullet than a killer. E-callers, in my option do not make you a better caller and it is my belief that any e-caller is just as good as the nearest competitor. Your set up is the most critical choose it wisely. Good hunting and remember without pictures it didn't happen.

P.S. IMO this is a bad time of year to be calling.

Aaronhami924 · April 07, 2015, 03:21:46 PM

Thanks. Will try to find some soft points. Or 7.62x39 hollow points. Its just that my 54R gun is the only one with a scope.

Didnt know this was not a good time to call coyotes. Wont keep my hopes up too much.

Turkey season starts monday so hope to at least get a turkey.

JohnP · April 07, 2015, 03:50:19 PM

"Didnt know this was not a good time to call coyotes."

Aaron, I should have been a little more specific in my comment. In Arizona at this time of year it sweltering hot by 10AM - not a good time to call coyotes, pups in the den, mother nursing kill mother pups die a slow death by starvation, kill father, mother has to hunt, will kill easiest prey available to feed pups, usually domestic livestock, calves, lambs, chickens and the list goes on. On the plus side the more that you let live the more targets you have in the fall. Unless you are an experienced coyote killer that has the ability to find and kill the pups and/or have a dog that will I think it best to wait until fall.

Coyotes respond well to a turkey call.

Your mileage may vary.

Aaronhami924 · April 08, 2015, 03:19:03 AM

ok, thanks

snafu · April 09, 2015, 02:59:07 PM

Quote from: Aaronhami924 on April 08, 2015, 03:19:03 AM
ok, thanks

I would not use FMJ's on a coyote. Unless that is all that is available. A coyote can take a pounding, even when hit hard by a better bullet. FMJ's tend to punch a hole on through w/o much internal organ/tissue damage. Speaking from experience here.

Aaronhami924 · April 09, 2015, 03:36:34 PM

Going today to try and find something else. Soft point 54R isnt common around here.

Aaronhami924 · April 09, 2015, 03:38:14 PM

Will post what I find. I know Brown Bear has 203 grain 54R soft points. Going to see if there are any around.

snafu · April 10, 2015, 07:38:34 AM

Decades ago I used an M-1 carbine on coyotes. Only ammo available were 110gr FMJ. I spotted 3 coyotes way out amongst the foothills. They were bedded down in a loose string. I snuck in, thinking if I shot the farthest one. The others might? run my way. Well that thought didn't pan out. So I stayed on the farthest one.

I connected on his rear leg as he crossed through a distant fence. Coyote then turned back & ran right towards me, then turned broadside. I'm leading, leading, bang. I hit him in the chest. Down he goes. He gets up & starts to work up a head of steam running. I lead him, bang hit him in the rear flank down he goes. Coyote gets back up, he's walking now. I lead him, bang hit him in the carotid artery. Down he goes...He's bleeding like a stuck hog. He gets back up walking. Bang, chest shot again down he goes for the count.

Aaronhami924 · April 10, 2015, 10:55:55 AM

What the ....? Thats crazy. Well, this should be an experience

Okanagan · April 10, 2015, 10:57:05 AM

Wal, this isn't a recommendation but way back I used to file the points off of FMJ military bullets and shoot them at coyotes.

Most of them still pencilled through. A friend and I tried FMJ bullets on coyotes when we first started hunting fur to sell, he with a 300 Win mag and I was using a 30-06. We quit using FMJ because so many ran off to where we could not find them. He is one of the three best shots I've met in my life and was placing his hits well. He went to a 22-250 and I to a 6mm Remington.

FWIW I've heard that it is not safe to shoot military FMJ with the points filed enough to expose the lead core, but I've seen it done a good many times with several military surplus rifles and bullets plus the .300 Win mag.

If FMJ is all you can find, I'd hunt with them and try to hit shoulder spine bone connection. If it is a legal issue, I'd file the point off just enough so that they are no longer FMJ. A friend of mine in HS would file the points and then cut a small + across the tip and into the edges of the jacket when we went deer hunting. He never shot a deer for us to find out what would happen. That was on some kind of obscure Italian rifle and cartridge for which he paid $15 in about 1962.

JohnP · April 10, 2015, 08:19:06 PM

"He is one of the three best shots I've met in my life" That's because you never seen me shoot.

Okanagan · April 10, 2015, 08:45:32 PM

Quote from: JohnP on April 10, 2015, 08:19:06 PM
"He is one of the three best shots I've met in my life" That's because you never seen me shoot.

Without seeing you shoot I'll concede the truth of that and nudge him down to forth place!

Carolina Coyote · April 11, 2015, 06:00:55 AM

I hear ya Mr.John