Far or moving?

Yotarunner said:
Personally I get quite frustrated and beat myself up anytime I don't make a good shot on a coyote and when I say good shot I mean center chest. Only thing that frustrates me more than missing a coyote is gut shooting it and making a huge mess that requires follow ups.
With that in mind I will quite freely take the longer shot over the runner. My experience seeing running shots in person and in videos is they are seldom perfect and often make a mess.
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That's a good point. Sometimes it for sure does. I've had to sew up a few pelts because of it over the years. Other times it just caused internal damage and wasn't bad at all. That's mostly on coyotes running straight away and the bullet hit high and tore open the back of the coyote. Other times I've hit them right in the back of the head when the shot went high.

Running where I had a broadside shot I can't recall hitting a coyote in the guts luckily. Upper portion of the body (heart or lungs) and no second shot was needed. On a running straight away shot I can think of 5 instances where a second shot wasn't needed. Five out of I couldn't really say how many honesty. Enough that I've learned to have another round in the chamber as quickly as possible and the crosshairs back on the coyote. If it's still moving, shoot once more.

It's funny how you remember certain things or I seem to. My buddy shot one with a 58 grain Superformance out of a .243. It looked virtually unscathed except you could hear sloshing inside of it like it was full of water.

The second was one my Uncle killed with a 6.5x284. It went through the hind end and came out of its chest.

The 3rd one my Grandpa shot offhand at a pretty good distance with a .223 using 55 grain softpoints. The bullet hit it in the hip and ended up.....not sure where. It hit something that shut it down is all I know.

The 4th one was one I had coming in and it winded me. I barked several times and it paid no attention to that. It was still within 100 yards so I shot it in the butt. The coyote fell, spun and took off again. Made it maybe 30 yards and ran straight into a yucca plant and died. I shot another one years later that came in right behind a white-tailed doe of all things. I can't recall if I missed and it headed up the hill or what. But I shot it in the butt and it didn't require another shot either. Both of those I shot with a Hornady 52 grain BTHP out of a .223 with a 16 1/2" barrel.

If one is running straight away I pretty much count on having to shoot it again. I'm just trying to stop it before it gets out there too far. One shot kills at that angle are rare in my experience. But it all depends what you're shooting whether it be cartridge or bullet wise. If you're shooting a 6.5x284 or something similar it'll most likely be okay as far as killing on the first shot goes.
 
On sticks I would rather have the mover, prone on a bipod the 300 standing. 250-350 prone is fairly common shot, especially during breeding season stalking pairs. Kill the first, take the second when it stops.
 
I need to get better at long distance shooting. I actually started taking a range finder but wouldn't you guess, haven't had to use it yet. Which is okay, that's fine by me. Up close is where I like them to be. Regardless I need to get better for when I do have to.
 
I use the range finder before the coyote shows up and estimate his distance based on nearest known landmark when he does.
 
OKRattler said:
If one is running straight away I pretty much count on having to shoot it again. I'm just trying to stop it before it gets out there too far. One shot kills at that angle are rare in my experience. But it all depends what you're shooting whether it be cartridge or bullet wise. If you're shooting a 6.5x284 or something similar it'll most likely be okay as far as killing on the first shot goes.
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What's funny is the running dead straight away is one of the few running shots I like, provided I have a good shooting position and the coyote is on relatively flat ground. I was taught to lay the crosshairs directly between the ears level with the top of its head and 9times out of 10 it will hit it square in the back of the head.
 
I will take that 300 all day. I dont shoot at runners very often, a lot of the time they will stop if you are patient and you read their body language. if they got their ears slicked back running full speed I dont count on them stopping, but other wise i try to get them to stop or switch sounds to call them back, its usually after i have shot the first i am dealing with the others running. my rifle is zeroed at 200 and i am pretty good at knowing what is withing range by their size under my reticle.
 
Between those two I will take that 300 yrd plus standing shot.
Not very good on running coyotes, it's not something that I have ever practiced.
 
Would love to have access to some type of running boar outfit cause practice is what’s needed to make the running shots.if you watch that show featuring that German shooter that I’m brain cramping shoot hog after hog it’s because he’s had a ton of practice. I know I’ll never get good at shooting running coyotes cause I can’t get that amount of coyotes in front of me. Bet that German would kill the crap out of coyotes.
 
I used to burn thousands of rounds a year on running jackrabbits. Coyotes seemed really big and slow back then. Not anymore.

- DAA
 
Oh yeaah! Great fun. I don't know about you, Dave, but I missed a lot more jackrabbits than I hit back then. Unfortunately civilization has pretty well nixed our jackrabbit hunting.
 
I saw one jack two weeks ago. This one of those years when there are more coyotes than rabbits. Coyote crap is full of mesquite beans.

I have the answer I don't hunt where I can see them for a long ways, I like them up close and personal, the best thing in the world is the "Oh Sh-t" look they get when they realize there is a hunter looking at them 20 yards away. My idea of a running shot is the first step after they spin to get away. I have killed more than a few with the combo gun as they blow through the set.
 
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