It is a very capable squirrel hunting caliber and the two guns I have owned were capable of 100 yard head shots with 12 to 16 power scopes.they were a savage and a marlin bolt action guns,both were accurate.As for coyote hunting if you have a centerfire rifle it would be a lot better choice if not then you could kill one with it at close range and a head shot if possible,this subject has been asked a number of times on this forum and usually ends in several pages of yes it will and no it wont.I know it will if everything is right,but one slight misjudgement,calculation,or missed shot placement and you will not retreive that coyote.And trust me it can and will happen,I shot a big male dog last year that ran across the feild 60 yards in front of me thought I had missed him completely with my 223 looked for him and sign,nothing.Went back the next day and found him about twenty yards from where he had entered the feild circled back and got into the woods,good sized hole behind the shoulder,traveled about 175yards on adrenaline and got out of sight,no death spin,and no drop dead in their tracks,struck by a 53gr.softpoint in the lungs at over 3300fps you are using a 17 to 20grn bullet at 2500fps or less at impact to try to do the same thing,if you hunt coyotes with it pick your shots and you may kill some of them with head shots.Good Luck!!