25 cal for coyote

[Hard2hurt223]

Ive been reading about a lot of ethics and penetration vs expansion topics lately associated with coyote hunting and of course like everything it's back and forth depending on who you ask so I figured that I'd post my coyote hunt from a few nights ago to maybe she'd some more light on the subject my equipment setup is a fx Maverick shooting a nsa 38.5 gr slug at 940 fps and getting 75 fpe I'm also using a pard nv007+ for my night vision I shot the coyote right in the vitals from 100yds away and the thing spun around a few times took maybe 10 steps and dropped and it wasn't a small yote either it was if I had to guess 40-45 pounds so not little but that 38.5 Nielson dropped him with ease so just saying I'm curious what everyone else has to say if I just simply got a really weak one or whatever

 

[Emu]

Well placed shot ….. That is the key !!

 

[qball]

A good vital full pass through will drop anything regardless of size, nice shot at 100 yards! In case anyone cries ethical kill and to put things in perspective, that slug had over 50FPE when it hit the yote......which is more than most airguns at the muzzle.

 

[Chukar60]

What could be the issue? The animal expired in short order. A well placed broadhead would not drop it that fast and I don’t hear anyone saying that a bow shot coyote going 20 yards is a problem, in fact it is expected.
Good shooting and thank you for being concerned about ethics when hunting.

 

[davidsng]

Great job! 90% of airgunning is accuracy over power. If you go for the head, FPE does not matter much. To penetrate heart and lungs is a different story, especially if the shot is not perfect FPE becomes a major factor.

I had a 80fpe .25 slug, to a body shot on one and watched it roll around, then get up and run. I never found a spec of blood, or a carcass. I determined the shot was high and did not exit, possible due to striking one of the shoulders. I spent two days looking for it, and lost a lot of sleep & time over it. I never want to experience that again, so I changed my tactics around.

Now, I'm going with accurate .308 and .357 for coyote guns just in case I need to a shot in the body again. My last one dropped in place with a .357 (138 fpe) body shot. My .308 shoots 160fpe with nearly MOA accuracy at 100yards, but I'll always try to go for a head shot with them first, only body shot if I don't think the head is possible.

 

[Hard2hurt223]

I just figured I'd post this because of everyone crying about ethics and I was kind of uncertain about it until of course I actually shot it I wouldn't hesitate to take one a much further distance if the opportunity arises

 

[MEC17670]

You put a hole in the "basket" any animal will go down in short order. I totally agree with Chukar60, that's why tracking skills are so important.
The animal gets tried and lays down, goes to sleep. Very humane.

 

[GeronimoKY]

Killed several with my cricket 2 .25 and haven’t had one escape deaths grasp yet. Non hollow point have been my go to for larger game and hollow point for squirrel because I love the sound of a 60+ fpe hollow point head shot. Just my opinion though. Accuracy is king in every situation even when over powered.

 

[N2 Shooter]

I think we as airgun hunters are more hard on ourselves than we need to be in the ethics department. Prey we take is dying in one of two ways:

• Brain Damage
• Other Organ Damage/Blood Loss

Taking headshots out of the equations for a second (we know they drop them on the spot), we see that airgunning in is like a more flexible crossbow in some ways. How many times have we had a bow hunter shoot a deer that takes off and runs over 100 yards and not be recovered? We have proven time and time again, that we can be around MOA at 100 yards and easily take the heart and lungs out of a yote. I think if a yote ran 50 yards, most deer hunters would be ecstatic if they could be in the same situation.

Just watch the 'Night Crew' coyote hunting, and you'll see quite a number of shots on there that they had no damn business taking, even with a powder burner.

As a whole, our ethics are very well in check, and that is something we can all be proud of.

 

[zumakid70cc]

I think we as airgun hunters are more hard on ourselves than we need to be in the ethics department. Prey we take is dying in one of two ways:

• Brain Damage
• Other Organ Damage/Blood Loss

Taking headshots out of the equations for a second (we know they drop them on the spot), we see that airgunning in is like a more flexible crossbow in some ways. How many times have we had a bow hunter shoot a deer that takes off and runs over 100 yards and not be recovered? We have proven time and time again, that we can be around MOA at 100 yards and easily take the heart and lungs out of a yote. I think if a yote ran 50 yards, most deer hunters would be ecstatic if they could be in the same situation.

Just watch the 'Night Crew' coyote hunting, and you'll see quite a number of shots on there that they had no damn business taking, even with a powder burner.

As a whole, our ethics are very well in check, and that is something we can all be proud of.

I've talked to my wife about our ethics before and her and I both thoroughly agree with this post. Us airguners are very hard on our selfs when it comes to ethics. Which there is nothing wrong with but if you watch videos of the groups a pb puts out to 100yards and the ones we put down, ours can be much tighter and the confidence in our rides grows as to we know what we are capable of. I feel that if you have a shot let it be at 25 yards or 200yards and you are confident in it that's where our ethics kick in.

 

[AncientSword]

Congrats, shot placement is king. Good job.

 

[timmah]

Looks like you dropped him good. Nice shot!

 

[huntin86]

Nice shooting. Have yet to get the opportunity with my .25 impact. But will not hesitate when the opportunity arrives.

 

[sasquatch]

He's dead, Jim

 

[MongooseV8]

I think we as airgun hunters are more hard on ourselves than we need to be in the ethics department. Prey we take is dying in one of two ways:

• Brain Damage
• Other Organ Damage/Blood Loss

Taking headshots out of the equations for a second (we know they drop them on the spot), we see that airgunning in is like a more flexible crossbow in some ways. How many times have we had a bow hunter shoot a deer that takes off and runs over 100 yards and not be recovered? We have proven time and time again, that we can be around MOA at 100 yards and easily take the heart and lungs out of a yote. I think if a yote ran 50 yards, most deer hunters would be ecstatic if they could be in the same situation.

Just watch the 'Night Crew' coyote hunting, and you'll see quite a number of shots on there that they had no damn business taking, even with a powder burner.

As a whole, our ethics are very well in check, and that is something we can all be proud of.

In my opinion I think that is a good thing. I think a good hunter is always striving to be more ethical.

Question for the OP(or anyone else) do you have any other experiences with other slugs to compare? My buddy has a coyote that doesnt mind exploring his porch were his two very young kids play. He is wanting something with a hard alloy that still shoots well. Thanks for your insight.

 

[Solo1]

I think people genneraly talk a lot about ethics because they imply too many human feelings to animals. I shot a deer with the bow once right thru the heart deer ran 50 yds the first 35 yds it was very easy to track as every time its heart would beat blood squirted out both sides the last 15 yds there was only a drop or two on the ground. When a wild animal is wonded or scared and its body kicks into survival mode its much different than the average human

 

[Hard2hurt223]

Is he looking for a gun a or caliber and at that close you could headshot it with a pellet or vital shot as for slugs really any of their slugs above 177 would do the job

 

[Hard2hurt223]

In my opinion I think that is a good thing. I think a good hunter is always striving to be more ethical.

Question for the OP(or anyone else) do you have any other experiences with other slugs to compare? My buddy has a coyote that doesnt mind exploring his porch were his two very young kids play. He is wanting something with a hard alloy that still shoots well. Thanks for your insight.

The comment above

 

[MongooseV8]

Is he looking for a gun a or caliber and at that close you could headshot it with a pellet or vital shot as for slugs really any of their slugs above 177 would do the job

Well he has a 25 cal Gauntlet 2 and a 22 cal Avenger, but neither shoot slugs very well. He hit a racoon in the skull recently with his 50-55ft-lb Gauntlet 2 and using a pellet it bounced off and only stunned it. He is in the market for something more powerful, like an AEA perhaps. We are both well seasoned hunters but new to air. My guess is the pellet alloy is very soft, and many slugs are as well. Not really a lot of info out there when it comes to alloy composition, so first hand experience would tell us a lot. I think the issue with air is going to be penetration so it would seem a harder alloy would be better.

 

[Nomadic Pirate 66]

Well he has a 25 cal Gauntlet 2 and a 22 cal Avenger, but neither shoot slugs very well. He hit a racoon in the skull recently with his 50-55ft-lb Gauntlet 2 and using a pellet it bounced off and only stunned it. He is in the market for something more powerful, like an AEA perhaps. We are both well seasoned hunters but new to air. My guess is the pellet alloy is very soft, and many slugs are as well. Not really a lot of info out there when it comes to alloy composition, so first hand experience would tell us a lot. I think the issue with air is going to be penetration so it would seem a harder alloy would be better.

It's not about power or pellet, it's about angle !

I've been criticised in the past for taking Wild boar with 50-60 FPE .22 or .25 ( a couple times much less then that ) people come tell me " I shot one with my 30/30 between the eyes and it just bounced off "......well yeaahh doh, that is the wrong shot to take because the skull is so slanted it will just bounce,

need to wait for the head to go down and take a square shot a couple inches above the eye line, .......same for a quartering shot it will just bounce

Key is to take a square shot either broadside between eye and ear or as mentioned above the eye line

Take a look at this video, that big boar was just not in the perfect position for 10 minutes ( just quartering away ) so patience becames key,
Took the risk of it spooking and taking off but I waited 10 minutes ( that is a Looong time ) but as soon as he gave me the square broadside I took the shot,.........25 cal between 55-60 FPE