oldwestbuff

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.

Bocajnala

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

CalHunter

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.

hunters_life

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.

Bocajnala

Too bad.

It contained the secrets to the meaning of life

oldwestbuff

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.

Ridge Runner

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

hunters_life

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!.

Nomercy448

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.

hunters_life

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.