what rifle for fox,coyote,whitetails

[wihunter1388]

Probably the most popular question, what gun would people recommend using for fox,coyote and deer. I want a rifle that does not destroy the fox or coyote hid but strong enough to kill a deer-i would make sure my shot is clean in the head or neck. I could care less about shooting a deer, the people around by me can be pricks sometimes and it makes the youth in our area not want to hunt or just like them. I would not reload. I thought about the .223 because of such a variety of cartridges and $. In our state the lowest caliber for deer is a .22 centerfire. When I go up north deer hunting I would also bring the shotgun so I wouldnt need such a big caliber like the .30-06 even though they carry a very light unaccurate load for it. Thanks

[North Texan]

A .223 will do the job great for varmints, but it is a little on the small side for deer. Not saying it won't kill a deer, because it will, but there are better rifles out there. If you've already got a shotgun, I'd say go with the .223and stick withthe shotgun on deer. A .223 is definitely not a long range deer rifle, and if the deer is out of shotgun range, it probably is out of .223 range as well. If I shoot anything bigger than a coyote with my .223, I am nearly always within 20 yards. Most of the time, within 20 feet. If you want something that you can take deer at longer ranges than the shotgun with, look at a .25-06. It isn't as easy on hides as the .223, but it is a much more capable deer rifle.

One more thought to consider: be aware of bullet selection. There are very fewfactory cartridgesin a .223 that are loaded with a bullet suitable enough for use on bigger game. And just because they offer it, doesn't mean it will shoot well in your gun. I handload for my .223, and I am still not very satisfied with my results with the bigger game bullets yet.

[busyhunter56]

Well since you said that you didnt really care much for killing deer with this gun i would say a .243. But if you change your mind and would rather have a gun that would be able to kill a deer easier i would definatley say the 30-06.

[Zdeerslayer]

i would go w/ the .308, you can buy 125 grain bullets for coyotes or hand load your ow, and still shot 160+ grains for deer

[coloradoprohunter]

I would use a .243 or .270 because other than that you won't be under or over powered

[Legacy357]

.22-250 at least...prob a .243

[Coyotestalker]

personally, .308 win. You can control hide tearing with the choice of bullet.

[Gunwalkr]

Since you threw fox into the mix, I'd say a .243 loaded up with 100 gr. roundnose bullets to keep from blowing large holes in the fox hide. JMHO!

[djhans]

I am buying a Savage .223 for my coyote hunting & p.dogs. I love my Winn. model 70/ 270 cal. for deer. Very accurate.

[buckstalker1187]

Depending on the laws in your state, you could use a .223 or 22-250 or anything the like for fox, coyote and even deer sized game (there are people who hunt whitetails with .22 diameter calibers and harvest deer)

If the laws do not permit you being able to use .22 calibers for deer, then you could use a .243without it being too large for fox and coyotes. (anyone that claims the 243 is not sufficient for killing deer, is selling themselves short of what this cartridge has done for decades) Take a look at the hunters that have harvested deer for almost a century with rounds such as 30 rem, 32 rem, 35 rem, 250 savage, 300 savage, 243, and 6mm. Not the largest of bullets, but all proved worthy of harvesting countless whitetails.

Another thing, what round for the 30-06 is in-accurate? I can pick fly sh!# out of pepper with my 06. I assume that you are talking the 30-06 accelerator rounds , which are much lighter in weight than the 150 gr. bullets.I have shot these and found that they are not too in accurate. But thats just my experience.

In my opinion I wouldn't use the 06 anyways, seeing that you have a shot gun and it would probally be a bit too much for the fox? I hope you find what you need and good luck.