1 Rifle
 

Got a question for everyone; tips, comments, suggestions wanted. I am an experienced hunter who has taken deer, bear, boar, many many upland birds, waterfowl, etc. I stopped hunting for several years and am looking to get back into some deer and predator hunting; fox, coyote and bobcat. My question is this: I want to buy 1 rifle that will do the job for both with not totally destroying the predator hides. Suggestions that will work for both? I have hunted and taken many big game animals but never predators.

There's not a perfect answer to this.

If whitetail and coyote were what I was primarily hunting for I would probably get a
.243.

-Jake

I agree with Jake in that there really isn't a perfect answer or a single rifle caliber that will work for both. For fox, coyote and bobcat, you're going to want something 22 caliber or less to avoid major damage on the hides. For deer, you're generally going to want something heavier. At least a 243 as Jake suggested.

I don't see an answer from Jake. Anyway, a .243 will suit your needs very well. It's about bullet choice. You will have to find a heavier bullet weight with a controlled expansion for whitetail and a light and tough bullet for the predators if you want to save the hide. If you are a very skilled marksman you could even go down to .223 with the same bullet specifications as before mentioned. Just make sure your rifle of choice likes both combinations. If you reload, you could do this with a .30-06 also.

Too bad.

It contained the secrets to the meaning of life

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I didn't see the comments from "Jake" either. Overwhelmingly when I ask this question different places, .243 seems to be the suggestions. Again I appreciate the answers to my post.

About any center-fire using expansion bullets will effectively turn a fix inside out, something on the order of a 6mm ARC will kill deer fine and with non expansion bullets MAY do ok on smaller predators

That's weird. It wasn't there when I posted. It was the original post then Calhunter. Now I see it there. Computers make my damn head hurt!.

243win brings a lot of extra heat which can mean big messes on coyotes - AND the slow standard twist for 243win factory rifles means they’re limited to lighter and/or less efficient bullet designs when it comes to knocking down deer - certainly the 243win will kill anything on this list, but it’s less effective at both ends of the spectrum than are some other alternatives. A 6 ARC, 6.5 Grendel, or the new 22 ARC, or rounds like the 6 BR, Dasher, or 6 GT are about perfect for the described spectrum of animals - less powder than 243win which mitigates some pelt damage on the small side, but access to faster twists for heavier bullets and more efficient BC’s so they retain impact velocity farther downrange to better anchor deer.

Going to have to totally disagree with you on the "less effective" part Nomercy. Got a .243 that has served 3 generations and has well over 100 whitetails to it's credit. It shoots 100gr Interlocks very well. And there are several ammo manufacturers out there with solid copper bullets that would be very effective on predators without blowing up the furs.

Better is better. Humans used stone tools for over 2.5 million years until the Bronze Age - metal tools are better.

The 243win was my favorite cartridge for over 20yrs of my life, but better is better. I used the 243win for years, but I realized I could get better performance with heavier, more efficient bullets, so I paid for faster twist barrels (and for AI dies and chamber reamers). I realized then it wasn’t a cartridge problem, but a bullet problem, so I realized I could do all of the same jobs with ~25% less powder when I used better bullets, which as I mentioned above, improved performance at both ends of the game weight spectrum.

The 100 Interlock is basically THE bullet for the 243win for deer, but it’s also THE reason so many folks consider the 243win to be a short range deer cartridge, best suited for “women and kids.” It’s a common lead point spitzer, with slightly improved core retention if it makes impact slow enough to retain the base integrity. Transversing the US by train was a better method than riding horseback when the TCR was completed, but today, flying is better than riding a train. The Interlock is fine if your expectations are moderate, but you can do a he11 of a lot more with less powder than a 243win with Interlocks will allow.

Separately - as plainly as I can state it: Copper monometals are super messy for pelt recovery, OR don’t do well for recovery at all, and the window between is exceptionally narrow. Weight retention is not your friend when it comes to pelt recovery, but reliable expansion still IS your friend. This isn’t internet speculation by me, it’s firsthand experience - when bullets like the Barnes TTSX violently open their nose on impact then drive through 2/3 of their weight as solid shank, they push a huge temporary cavity clear through the backside of the coyote. Monometal bullets are GREAT for ruining valuable Bobcat pelts. Lots of folks assume monometals will be good bullets for varminting because they “don’t explode” like a cup and core bullet, but in reality, they have highly reactive tips which do explode open on impact at high velocity, but then high weight retention pushes that explosion clear through the backside. But monometals run out of steam quickly - the monometal bullets suitable for 243win twist rates have abysmal downrange efficiency - they bleed speed like a wiffle ball AND they come with a 2000fps minimum expansion threshold… The Hornady 80 CX in 243win as an example (which is nearly identical in length to the Berger 105 Hybrid), leaves the muzzle at 3325, but has fallen below its expansion threshold by 400yrds, and is transonic by 700 yards… same problem for the Barnes 80 TTSX-BT, which is below expansion threshold by 450 and transonic by 750… Comparatively, a 105 Hybrid can leave a 243win at 3200fps and is still over 2000fps at 700yrds (where the 80 CX is only 1200fps), and falls transonic at 1400yrds… so if I pick a monometal, I have a bloody mess for shots inside 200yrds but I’m left with the equivalent of an FMJ penciling through anything past 400yrds, so unless I ONLY shoot coyotes from ~250-325yrds away, I’m stuck choosing to either ruin pelts or watch coyotes run away… monometal bullets poor tools for the task of pelt harvesting…