hey guys im looking for a new gun. one that i can use from deer to coyote all the way down to groundhogs. im looking at winchesters coyote model in .308 win. is this a good caliber. ive never owned/shot a .308. what would recoil compare to. ive heard many good things about accuracy and from my research bullet availabilty is good for reloading. anyways if i did get it id probably mount a 4-16x on it. what do u guys think about this combo. thanks for your help. o by the way what are some of your guy's favorite loads for this caliber. thanks again

IMO the .308 is one of the most versatile rounds you can have. Its got a large effective range, and its pretty cheap even when buying factory ammo.

If this is going to be primarily a deer gun I'd say go with the 308. If it's going to be a varmint gun with occasional deer hunting thrown in I'd say the 243.

well see thats the thing. it would probably be my main deer rifle and my main coyote and groundhog rifle. thanks

how serious of a yote hunter are you? and how many do you think youd kill??? if your not that big into it or not to concerned about whats left of the yote a 308 will be a good gun for deer.....and will kill a yote and groundhog no problem.....but if you want the pelts you can use FMJ bullets if you are legally allowed....most states say no FMJ....or hand load light loads....or pick a smaller rifle.....its hard t osay without knowing you and what you want to do with this gun.....

well i just started yote hunting this year. im really into it and im having fun ive called in 2 so far neither gave me a shot as they ran full sprint across the field. but i see no reason in the future for me to stop hunting them. they're all over my property and if it could help with the deer population then ill do it. i hope this helps. o and for the other question i have a farm behind me that im planning to ask for permission to hunt on and if i get permission i honestly dont know how many yotes i could get. there are a lot around.

The .308 is a great round that can be used for just about any rifle game. Just don't get suckered into the ultra accuracy/hyper fast shooting crowd. I've found that the most accurate bullets are those designed for varmints. Those light accurate bits of metal explode on contact and give spectacular kills on game under 40 pounds (like the coyote). Don't feel compeled to use the same bullet on larger game like deer, hogs and bear. Unless you're taking head shots you're just going to wound them. Varmint bullets are designed to open up on contact and deliver as much hydrostatic shock as possible. Doing that requires a trade off in penetration. You don't need much penetration to kill a varmint but you doo need penetration to kill a larger animal. On a deer, hog or bear you need a bullet to penetrate to the vital organs and destroy them by breaking bone and ripping through a foot or more of meat and hide. A varmint bullet won't do it.
the Winchester Failsafe and Remington Core Lokt in .308 will kill a moose. The Winchester Partition gold, Silver tip, Remington Scirocco and Accutip will take care of the biggest black bear, deer and hogs your going to shoot at. The Win Power Point plus is great for the smaller stuff.
Anything better than that is going to require you to handload.

I have a 308 and love it for deer.... I just went through the same ordeal with what you are looking for a versatile gun to do it all and fill a void in my small collection....I ended up buying a 25-06 and love it so far!!! Just got it about a month ago but cant wait to use it for deer this fall already. The Coyote rifle is a good rifle from what i have seen, you might even take a look at some of the wsm chambering in that gun..

Good luck!!!