Shotgun range for coyotes?

[scruffy]

Ok, I've always lived by the rule of 50 yards for #4 buck for coyotes.  Yesterday I was reading on another sight about a guy saying the #4 buck has a range out to and exceeding 100 yards.  Saying he took one as far as 110 yards.  :eek:

My longest shot with a shotgun is 45 yards with 2 3/4" #4 birdshot (all I had, 12 gauge 870 super mag 24" mod choke and half box of #4 pheasant load, I just moved into a new house) and it took two shots.  One to kick him out of high gear with the after burners on spinning him around and the other to put him down.  I was standing on the deck and the coyote had snuck up and attacked my black lab mix.  The coyote weighed just under 40lbs, a large male, and when I skinned him I couldn't find which pellet killed him.  I honestly don't know why he died.  He had a couple broken bones (small bones) but no major life ending damage or trama.

A month later I upgraded to 3.5" 00 buck and full choke and when  another coyote tried the same thing I unfortunately wasn't as quick and the coyote was round 80 yards before I got off a few shots.  I don't know if he ran through a pattern hole, if they bounced off, or if I just plane missed, but he didn't go down or really break stride.  Changed directions a few times, but that was it.

So what's your experiences with a shotgun?  What range would you say is max for a shot load based off what you've done?

Incidently, my calling shotgun is now my 870 supermag, 20" IC rifle sight slug barrel, Fed 2 3/4" #4 buckshot or Rem Premier 3" #2 hevishot.  The hevishot patterns tighter and denser but the #4 buckshot has more knockdown and is cheaper.  I'm not sure which I like better yet, need more field experience.

later,
scruffy

[Feez]

In PA the biggest shot that's legal (for furbearers) is BB lead.  I use Federal Premium 3" mag 1 7/8 ounce.  I hit a fox at 65 yards one time.  I did an autopsy and the only pellets I found were just below the skin.  None in the head.  This really baffled me.  So I cooked the whole animal down in a crock pot.  (half at a time)  I literally spread the mess out on the driveway and patted it down with my hands. Didn't find one single pellet.

I think there must be some shock mechanism that kills them.  Just a wall of lead that slaps them.

Here is a link to shotgun info by Remington.  Scroll to page 13 and it gives energy for pellet sizes at different ranges.
http://www.remington.com/pdfs/shotgun.pdf

[DesertRam]

I'm gonna be blunt here - only an idiot or a braggart would take a shot at anything with a shotgun (shooting shot, not slugs) at 100 yards.  That's about the most irresponsible thing I've heard.  At that range a #4 pellet has less energy than a sling shot.  A kill at that range with any size shot is pure dumb luck.

Personally, I think even 50 yards is pushing the effective range of a shotgun and prefer to keep my shots under 40 yards.  At that range #4 or 00 buck is very effective.  Over that, I use my .223 with excellent results.

[Wlscott]

I have to agree with Desert Ram too.  

A hundred yards is a loooooong way for those itty bitty pellets to carry any kind of energy.  Not to mention how big the pattern would be at that range.

[scruffy]

Thanks for being blunt and reaffirming what I thought.  I registered and explained the ballistic comparison of a 3" mag #4 buckshot's 41 .24 caliber pellets traveling at a muzzle velocity of 1200fps and 41 individual .22 caliber 22lr bullets also travelling at a muzzle velocity of 1200 fps.  The problem being you can't aim each individual buckshot pellet.  To him saying he had a "tight" 15 foot pattern I responded spreading 41 pellets over a 15 foot diameter circle isn't tight IMHO.

I was nice about it.  Said #4 buckshot will kill a coyote at 100 yards, but it's luck, one or more pellets have to hit just the right spot to kill it.  And over time alot more coyotes would be wounded than killed by shooting over 50 yards with any shotload (slugs are a different matter).

He has starting to get more flack about his story and pic (story is growing all the time).  One person is questioning it's reported 50lb weight, a few people are disputing the distance, there's another thing I don't like about the pic.  He said the bloody hole over in the rib cage was from one buckshot pellet.  I've shot coyotes furred up less than the one in the picture with a .270 that bled less on the exit side than this "buckshot" did on the entry, so I have my doubts the coyote in the pic was even shot with a shotgun.  Also, his story states he hit the coyotes on the third shot on his right side and he fell over.  In the pic the coyote's wound was on the left side.  I doubt the pellet exited out the right side.... but that would probably be the response since he's implied multiple times #4 buckshot will blow through a 3/4" peice of plywood at 100 yards and stated in his last post that #3 buckshot will "cut a hole" through 3/4" plywood at 100 yards.

Had to strap on the waders...  :wink:

It's unfortunate though that he mentioned shooting a 50lb coyote at 100+ yards with a shotgun with the outstanding pic.  If he would just have said he shot it with a shotgun and that it was a very large male everyone would have been patting him on the back.  But as it is, it's like a fish story that's been told a few too many times.  The coyotes weight and shot distance grows each time the story is told and now it's reached the unbelievable level (shot it in '87).  When one part of the story becomes suspect, no big deal, but when a few critical points become suspect the whole account becomes suspect...  Really nice coyote though!

later,
scruffy

[oso45-70]

Gentleman,
It sounds as if this ol boy was in Roswell,N.M. in 1947 when the little people came out of the weather ballon. I bet he goes back there every year to the festivitys to see if any of his relatives from space showed up.
Just a thought................Joe.............

[scruffy]

I literally spread the mess out on the driveway and patted it down with my hands. Didn't find one single pellet.

I think there must be some shock mechanism that kills them.  Just a wall of lead that slaps them.

I didn't think about it until just now but last november I hit a coyote in the backend at 10 feet.  He came in and was trotting past me when he paused for a split second and then went to bolt.  I aimed for his chest but man those coyotes can accelerate (and the 12 gauge had a tight pattern at 10 feet...)  I hit him a little far back, ok, gut shot, and it sat him down.  Since I was using 3" #2 hevishot ($2 a shot) I pulled out my 1911 to pop him in the head.  He was trying to get up when I fired.  He instantly went limp.  I got up, walked over and picked him up to carry him back to the jeep (was late to be somewhere...).  The coyotes head was totally intact.  I missed (yea, 10 feet.... shamefulll...).  Anyway, the instant the bullet buzzed his head he died, stone cold limp.  Since it had only been seconds there was no way the gut shot would have killed him, and it was a very dramatic, trying to get up, front legs having his upper body stretched up, then pop, then limp.  The 45 acp is sub sonic so there's no sonic boom that could have scrambled his brain cells as the bullet passed by his skull.  It's like the 45 scared it to death.

Anyway, I guess the 45's now my best fur cartidge I have.  :wink:

Things that make you go hmmmm.

Oh, and yes, I'm usually a better shot than that.  Gut shot at 10 feet and then a miss at that range.....  I wouldn't have told anyone (hadn't up until this point) but it was required to complete the story....  :?   I'm just lucky the coyote wasn't 15 feet from me, he would have been out of range for me that day....   :roll:

In my defense I think there is such a thing as coyote fever when you can see the druel dripping down off their jaw as they think about the bunny they heard.   :wink:

later,
scruffy

[varmit_master]

Hi  i have been reading about the new load DEAD COYOTE made by Hevi Shot and it was in Predator Extreme mag and was on the web site www.predatormastersforums.com there was some guys feild testing it and they said they kill coyotes at 80yds with it and they look the coyote over to see what it had done and and the shot had entered the skull and Bryon South who has the predator hunting video's out field test it too and he said it work good hope this has help VH