Originally Posted by homers brother

There are a number of variables you might consider when hunting for a dedicated coyote rig. If you're walking around calling, you'll want something fairly portable - not the heavy-barrelled long-toms that are best used over a prairie dog town. If you're selling pelts, you'll want to be careful with bullet and caliber selection. If you expect to deal with wind, selection becomes a bit more difficult.

I've gone through fits and starts because I often have to deal with the wind. I sell pelts when I can. I call and often walk quite a bit. I tried using my dog-town rifle for awhile (a CZ550 Varmint Laminated in .22-250), but it's far too heavy for walkng around and too long to carry through the brush. I liked it enough that I tried a CZ527 Varmint in .223. A bit shorter, still a heavy barrel but the micro-Mauser action compensates somewhat. Not as much power as the .22-250 at long distances, but my shots are most often from 75-150 yards and the .223 is plenty of gun in that window. On windy days, I'll stay indoors or take one of my deer rifles - A Ruger No. 1 in .243. I know I won't be saving many pelts on those days.

As far as bullets go, I've been using the 50-grain V-Max in both the .22s. (Yes, it's true - the .22-250 and .223 can be loaded with the same bullets). Closer than 75 yards, the blistering velocity from either opens the bullet up violently and blasts gaping holes in pelts, another reason for shooting a bit farther out.

Given that I now have three rifles and a single-shot pistol chambered in .223, it's probably no surprise that it's my preference on coyotes. AR-style rifles can become heavy and are initially almost double the price, but can make a great coyote gun as well.

But, my recommendation for most coyote hunting would be a bolt-action .223 in a standard-taper (not heavy) barrel, topped by a good quality 3-9x scope. The CZ I have is great, but it's a bit more expensive out of the box than some will want to pay. It's not made any longer, but a couple friends have old Remington 788s that are just fantastic walkaround coyote rifles. I still see one on the auction sites every so often. That particular configuration is probably as close to ideal for my kind of hunting as anything.

Originally Posted by kfinley0006

i like the 22-250 but id raher use my remington r-15 223. i love it and it is a great shooting gun. i keep 3" patterns at 200 yards and with the free floating barrel, it will fire quite a few rounds without warming up and slinging them.

Originally Posted by genesis27:3

Is the picture you attached, the gun you have????