I used to shoot between 10 and 20 coons a week either in traps or in trees with a .22lr. Even at very, very close ranges, seldom was one shot enough to immediately kill them. A shot to the head would kill them most of the time, but I actually had one or two where the bullet failed to penetrate the skull. Now that was the exception and not the rule, but if it won't reliablydisable a coon less than one foot away, I really doubt it will reliably down coyotes at any range.

If it wasn't a head shot, the coon never went down on the first shot.