Coyote hunting

[Itsazonik]

So there's a guy in southern Florida who does coyote hunts. I thought about checking him out and doing a hunt. I emailed him and asked his average range for shots and success rate. Says his rate is 50% and the average shot is 500 yards. So my question is..... What to use for a rifle? Is the 6.8 effective out that far? Step up to a 300 win mag? Wait till I finish my 6mmBRX?

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

500 yards!!!! Really wow! No troubles getting them well within 100 here. I would think a 6.8 would have enough oomph at 500 for a coyote just need to know your drop.

 

[Itsazonik]

He says they are so skittish down here they won't come in close to calls or decoys. I have never hunted coyote in Florida so I don't know. When I lived in Nevada we could call them in to 30 yards before they spotted us usually. Many times I was grabbing the shotgun to drop them when they were on a dead run

 

[pruhdlr]

Something is not right with this. I guided coyote hunters in Maine for some 20 years and this would never net him a profit,IMO.

WHY ---> 1. The average "sport" cannot hit a yote at that distance. 2. The a average "sport" does not have the chambering,the bullet,or the scope for that kind of shooting. 3. Most "sports" DO NOT know their weapon,load,or ballistics. 4. You can get to within about 200yds of most any yote. At 200yds you can actually make "mistakes" and still get a shot. 5. If you advertised ...."Come coyote hunt with me. Your average shot will be 500yds",you'd probably die broke.

When I guided I killed yotes by a combo of calling and baiting. However NEVER both at the same time. My shots to my baits would be 125-150yds. I had almost 30 baits at one time. After a few years I narrowed it down to 11. My blinds had a wooden front that was brushed in. Inside was a shooting bench with bags for stability. My "sports" would still miss 1 out of every 4 shots.

I would guarantee a shot at a coyote. If you did not get a shot you could either come back free OR you did not have to pay. If you shot and missed...pay up. If you refused a shot...pay up. If the yote was small...pay up. The area that I guided in was the western mountains of Maine. ---pruhdlr

 

[Wassman]

At that range I would pick the rifle that you shoot best and practice at the range before going. I have shot my 6.8 to 600 and it isn't that hard if you know the ballistics and have a solid rest. But anything over that I would want something with more power so the bullet drop isn't so dramatic.

As for the effectiveness of the 6.8 at that range, I wouldn't worry. Yotes are pretty soft targets and even if you hit them in a vital area you will kill them. These guys shot yotes at ranges over 1000 yards and when they recover the bullet it is still intact. If you watch closely you can see the bullet dropping. They are using 6.5 cred, 338 lau, 243 win.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClxWEoO9fXxVIRJ-oePm-aQ

 

[pruhdlr]

More "concerns". ---> If the guy is calling he should quite easily get the yotes in allot closer than the mentioned 500yds unless he's playing Michael Jackson music at a extremely loud volume. I was told by two different wildlife biologists that specialized in predators,that if you blow a dying "whatever" call,a yote can narrow down where that sound is coming from to a 10yd X 10yd square, at the distance of 1/2 MILE. Given that...why would he hold up at 500yds ??

Most people blow a call waaaaaaay tooooooooo loud. This could be the problem with not having the coyote come any closer. Imagine the size of the rabbits lungs...now....blow the call accordingly.

Cats come in slowly. Some take up to 1 hour. A coyote will come in to a call in 20 minutes. After that time,move to a new location. This is why I like to call roads (into the wind). Call using medium volume for 20 minutes than move up the road 300yds or so,then call again. Your overlapping the sound a little,but not allot. You ARE getting complete coverage.

A well made bullet out of a 223/5.56 is all you need to slam a coyote. Obviously if you are not selling the pelts.....heck....use a 50BMG. I have a friend that does just that. --- pruhdlr

 

[Itsazonik]

I have no idea why they are at that range. All he told me was they come in slow and never get close. Not a lot places here in Florida to go hunt just for coyote though. That's what I miss about living in Vegas

 

[FrankT]

NW FL has tons of yotes, maybe due to all the WMA and Military land...well that and the alabama people live close...LOL

 

[Itsazonik]

It's so hard to hunt WMA's though. Every person with a gun lines up to go out there. Over at the green swamp the guy told me a tree stand is a must over a ground blind because your likely to get shot with stray bullets. I thought it was just rambling until I heard it from 4 other people at 4 different WMA stations

 

[FrankT]

No I mean that is why we have all the yotes because they have that WMA land to retreat to if pressured. We have many on our lease. I am scared to hunt on them because you are right, you may get shot.

 

[Itsazonik]

I won't go anymore. Ill wait and find private land to hunt

 

[pruhdlr]

The problem with hunting the WMA's for yotes is that you can only hunt them during certain times of the year. During those times there are tons of deer hunters also in the woods. Also..... they really get pissed when you are in there hunting yotes when they are hunting deer. Also......during deer season if your not hunting deer you do not have to wear orange....however if I was in there hunting frogs I would wear hat and vest at least.

Florida has made it so darned hard to hunt the WMA's(same with Eglin) that I will never go back. ALSO....you can't bait....even coyotes...in a WMA. ---pruhdlr

 

[Itsazonik]

I won't drive through a WMA without orange let alone walk around

 

[Ratdog68]

I don't know about hogs... but, I KNOW that deer do NOT see orange. (Time for a story... just for TLM)

In '08, I was out elk hunting, south of Mt. St. Helens (in WA). As is with my luck... deer season was closed, elk only. So... there I am, sittin' on a stump, leaned up against a tree and less than 100' from a logging road. Had my hand in my coat pocket and was just sittin' there enjoying the smell of the forest. This part of the forest isn't OLD growth, but, 2nd growth timber country. Just high enough that the underbrush isn't quite as thick as it is down at lower elevations.

04 does round the bend and head straight towards where I am... then pause on the road in front of me and pose. 100% relaxed. After a few minutes of watching 'em pose, I gave a squeeze on my cow elk call (inside my pocket). Since I hadn't (visibly) moved, all they got was a sound from the silence of the forest. All four noses pointed right at me and they just stared, searching for the elk. Unable to locate the source, they went back into "pose mode" (short attention span, I guess). Well... this is fun, how often does a guy get to torment deer on their turf? So... I give 'em another bleat. Again... all noses pointed at the tree I'm leaned against, but since I'm not moving, they couldn't pick me out. I was in full camo, and wearing an orange camo vest.

After about 10 minutes, they decided the runway show wasn't paying good enough and started down off the road... just to my left. They all walked within 20yds of me, but, couldn't find me when I was givin' them a parting bleat. And, they wandered off, never knowing how close to death each one of them was. About 20 mins. later... another four does/fawns appeared from another direction, and, got the same torment from me the first batch had. They too... never made me... sitting in the open, leaned against a tree, "still".

Nope, never saw an elk that outing... saw some more deer though.

 

[Itsazonik]

that would be an awesome thing to get on video, you should work on that lol

 

[Ratdog68]

that would be an awesome thing to get on video, you should work on that lol

Yup... here I am... got my Gorilla Tape out (and my zip-ties)... gonna take my 2'x2'x6" VHS video recorder and some camo wrap and put it on my AR. What? There's things more advanced/smaller than THAT??? Me thinks you're liein' to an ol' man. LOL

 

[Itsazonik]

sure, use this

 

[Ratdog68]

sure, use this

View attachment 281

Keep it up bucko... and I'll be delaying my hog hunting trip a while longer... and Afalex1 will have yer hide. LOL

 

[Itsazonik]

i have waited 3 years, i can wait a little longer lol