Hevishot 4 Buck or T?

[montveil]

I hunt in the mountains of NC where the hills ate steep and shots are below 75 yards. 12 Ga 3 inch, dead coyote choke
I am considering Hevi-shot either in 4buck  or T
Assumptions are both rounds will put in acceptable patterns at 50 yards.
I have heard reported that the dead coyote line will kill a yote out to 60 yards
With these extreme ranges would 3-4 hits with the 4Buck  (30 pellets) and better penetration be better than twice the hits and less penetration with T ( 50 pellets)
Just some thoughts would be appreciated

[Thebear_78]

It all depends on how it patterns.  I have used #4 buck with good effect out to 50 yards and farther, especially when hunting over hounds where just getting a couple pellets into it will allow the dogs to catch the yote.   I used to shoot them out of a patternmaster choke tube and got really good patterns  out to 50 yards.    With the dead coyote 3.5" shells the patters were even better and might expand your range a few more yards.    I haven't used the heavy shot on very many coyotes but the three that I did shoot were DRT, and were at pretty long range.

[Hellgate]

How well the shot patterns is all important but I would lean toward the bigger projectile (#4 buck). Roundballs lose energy pretty fast so at the long range the larger shot will have more retained velocity. I don't know how deep #4 penetrates but for police/FBI/human use they want buckshot to go 12" into flesh to be effective. So #1 is the smallest they'll use. On a 'yote that only needs to be half that (6" penetration). #4 is too small for law enforcement (or deer hunting) but a good compromise between size and number of shot for coyote use. A very hard alloy or plated shot would penetrate better than soft lead too.