Coyote Down

[Grumulkin]

I went out last evening to glass the "back 50" and saw a coyote by a fence line.  I had my Kel-Tec P3AT with me but didn't consider it adequate for a 200+ yard shot so quickly went back to the house and got the nearest rifle which happened to be a Thompson/Center Encore chambered in 22-250 Remington.


 


I went outside and peeked around the corner of the barn and noted that the coyote had moved a little.  Having shot some deer in the same general area before I knew the range was probably in the 225 to 250 yard range.  My Encore wasn't fitted with a bipod at the time so rather than taking my preferred neck shot I got in the prone position and shot at the chest.
 
  


The coyote took off and man was it FAST.  Its gait wasn't quite normal though so I thought I had hit it.  It went tearing down the fence line, then out in the soybean field, angled back toward me and disappeared.  I carefully glassed the area and saw no movement.


 


I walked back and there was a dead coyote.  By the bullet wound on the shoulder one can tell I made a lung shot and may even have gotten the heart.  Anyway, it took probably 150 yards for the coyote to figure out it was dead.


It was a redemption of sorts.  Several years ago I saw a coyote in the same area, shot twice with a 22-250 and missed both times.  It turned out my Tasco scope I had zeroed just a few days before was shooting about a foot high.  I got rid of all my Tasco scopes except one that seldom get used and have gone to mostly Leupold Mark 4 scopes.

[PowPow]

Nice shot.
Knowing it went that far is bit discouraging for me.
Missed one yesterday at 150 yds..
I say I missed; will never know for sure because they only have run 10 yds to be in thick stuff at our place never to be seen again.

What power was your scope on for that shot?

[Grumulkin]

My scope was a Leupold Mark 4 4.5-14X.
 
When coyotes are frightened, they leave much faster than a dog could or would and they can go quite a ways.  I've shot a couple that got into the corn field.  I know I hit one for sure because I found blood; the other I'm quite sure I hit because of the range and gun employed but found no blood.
 
If you wish to drop a coyote where he stands, shoot for the neck with a high velocity expanding bullet.  You could also go for the head but it's a smaller target with probably more movement than the neck.  The only reason I didn't is because I didn't have a bipod on the gun, didn't have an ideal rest and that gun only shoots about 0.75 MOA so I went for the larger target.  The two coyotes I got before yesterday's were both bang flops DRT with neck shots with a 204 Ruger.