Hear are my results with a Mossberg 500 Tactical Turkey 12ga (20" barrel), Carlson's Dead Coyote Choke Tube, and Dead Coyote 3" "T" shot shells.
I used a 27" x 27" steel plate with a full size sillouette of a coyote stenciled on it for a target. This allowed me to see the actual hits on the coyote plus what kind of an overall pattern I produced down range at the target.
The first thing that I looked at was the choke from Carlson's. Their choke gave me a 1.362" extension from the barrel of the shotgun. It had a constriction at the muzzle of .653", and the lower end of the choke had a constriction of .721" This was an improvement in all three areas compared to the Mossberg X-Factor choke tube that came with the shotgun. Those measurements were as follows: 1.253" extension, a .666" constriction at the muzzle (can't be a good number for luck!!), and a .724" constriction at the lower end. For the record, I patterned "Dead Coyote" loads with the X-factor Tube earlier in the year and got the following results:
At 40yds: 14 pellets hits in the vitals, 4 pellets in the neck, and 26 total body hits.
At 50yds: 5 pellets in the vitals, 2 pellets in the neck, and 21 total body hits.
These would result in fatal shots on Coyotes. I used plywood full scale Coyote silhouettes only and was not able to see the actual overall shot pattern that was produced down range during this testing.
The following are the results of testing with the Dead Coyote loads and the Carlson Dead Coyote choke tube I have photo shopped the 40 and 50yd targets highlighting the pellet hits with yellow. At these ranges, some of the pellets hit very close together and it would be hard to see the double indentation marks from just the photo.
40YDS:
Total hits on target: 48 (96% shot retention)
Total body hits: 25
As you can see, at 40yds, a coyote encounter is more than likely going to result in a bang/ flop shooting. There is a fairly dense pattern in the front 2/3 portion of the body and multiple hits in the vitals areas including the neck.
50YDS:
Total hits on target: 42 (84% shot retention)
Total body hits: 23
Again, this would be a fatal shot on a Coyote. The front half of the body has a good pattern and there are multiple hits in the vitals area. The Dead Coyote choke tube has already proved a better choice than the Mossberg X-factor choke tube.
60YDS:
Total hits on target: 31 (62% shot retention)
Total body hits: 10
The pattern is starting to open up. There are dense pockets, but also some gaps. It looks that I might have shot a bit high to. I would still consider this a kill shot though. 70yds will more than likely be the max range and might be too far.
70YDS:
Total hits on target: 18 (36% shot retention)
Total body hits: 9
The pattern has become quite open and full of gaps at this range. Even though this test shot did hit the body in vital areas, it appears from the overall pattern that I could have just as easily missed vital areas. It looks likes that my weapons performance and range maxes out at 60-65yds with this load and choke combo. It should be noted however, that my shotgun has a 20" barrel on it. I feel pretty secure saying that shotguns sporting 24", 26", and 28" barrels, would more than likely make the 70yd mark with good patterns.
