- - Best gun for Coyote and Deer
(https://www.huntingnet.com/forum/small-game-predator-trapping/313327-best-gun-coyote-deer.html)
Wolf killer
12-29-2009 09:13 PM
I am a 25-06 shooter also. You can not go wrong with a 25-06 for deer & coyotes.
Widgeonator
02-05-2010 05:45 PM
i have a .243 savage. amazing gun, VERY affordable price, low cost ammo with impressive accuracy. can't go wrong with it
NCZ09
02-05-2010 06:13 PM
Both the .243 and 25-06 are great rounds. I went with the .243 because I don't reload and you have more choices when it comes to factory ammo with the .243.
OregonHunter5
02-06-2010 06:13 AM
i saw my dad flip a deer in mid air with a 22-250.
mouthcaller
02-08-2010 11:37 AM
.243
Originally Posted by zmschillin
(Post 3538364)
Im in the market to buy a new rifle and I want to know what gun would do the trick for both coyotes and whitetail deer?
Depends on what you want really. I finally bought a .243 a couple years ago and set it up as a combo rifle because deer and coyotes are two of my favorite things to hunt and I tend to hunt them in the same times of the year (fall/winter). With a good all-around scope that is not overpowered I feel comfortable hunting the woods or large expanses of open ground.
If you will tend to use the rifle more for coyotes than deer then the .243 woud be my recommendation. I am shooting handloads with Sierra's BTHP 85 gr. bullet, which is a very accurate bullet designed by Sierra for deer. I recently shot a 3-shot group of 0.64" using 36.9 gr of Varget and this bullet. It runs about 3200 FPS. It opens fast and hits hard. My gun is a Browning A-bolt hunter, sporter barrel, relatively light so I can carry it all day walking. I love it. Killed several yotes and two deer with it so far with no issues. With neck shots or broadside heart/lung shots the .243 will flat get the job done on whitetails.
IF you tended more toward deer and hunted less frequently for coyote then the 25.06 or any other good deer caliber would be a good choice. I shot coyotes with a 30.06 for several years before getting a .243. If you aren't trying to save the hide then what difference does it make what caliber you shoot them with. There are a lot of flat shooting deer calibers that would work well ---> 25.06, 7-08, .270, .257 Roberts, 308, .280, 30.06.
FYI - in my experience if you avoid hitting the shoulder of a coyote you are more likely to get a clean and relatively small entrance and exit would, such as in the picture above. If you hit the shoulder or pelvic/hip bones with a good size bullet from a .243 or larger caliber then you will get a mess. I've seen some you could stick your fist through.
