Airgun Hunting Woes

[wyshadow]

For the past year and half, I have been hunting coyotes with my air rifle. In that past year and half, I have only manage to get three but I missed about 10 of them. Of the 10 missed coyotes, I could've easily got them with a rimfire or a shotgun.

Today was coyote miss number 10, and right now I think I'm done trying to hunt coyotes with my air rifle. Coyotes are very weary of their surroundings which makes them very hard to hunt.

When I set up my stand, I range my surroundings and try to commit to memory the distances; take note of the direction of the wind but most of the time this doesn't make any difference because a coyote will always come in from a direction you didn't expect and they are mostly moving.

When a coyote stops, there is no time get a range and find your target. My .357 has the power to take down a coyote under 200 yards but the pellet's power doesn't make a difference if you can't hit your target.

The problem is the pellet's loopy trajectory makes a big difference every ten yards and you need to hit your target precisely in order to make an ethical kill.

I'm not saying my .357 isn't accurate. I can make ragged holes at 50 yards and have gotten one inch groups at 100 meters before. I can easily make 50, 75, 80, or 100 yard shots on birds or rabbits but the reason I can make those shots is because I have time to range my distances and calculate my pellet's drop.

Predator hunting is so much harder to do. I have decided my cricket is not up to the task of coyote hunting which is the reason why I got this gun. I believe what is needed in an airgun to take out a predator is the gun needs to have a flat shooting pellet from 30 yards to 75 yards to make it easier to hunt with.

I gave it my best but I believe there are other airguns out there which can do a better job. From now on, I'm going to use my .25 edgun for most of my hunts and start looking at others airguns. Not sure which one will fit what I need. sam yang recluse? Bulldog?

 

[Prouzy]

I was actually thinking the same thing last year when working with the Texan to find something both accurate and fast to at least 100yd. And in making a range card, I realized how much of a difference it made in 10 and certainly 15yd increments. I agree, power was not the issue, it is my ability to range appropriately. On targets that do not remain still for long, that ranging ability needs to be my own resort, mostly. What .357 are you using? Ive had the 909s, not the Recluse but similar in some capacity. The round ball, followed by EPP/UG and SWC will likely give you flattest trajectory, however the accuracy at distance may require some assessment. Bulldog somewhat more powerful. Depending on action, shot count, $$$ seems the Slayer in .357 is a good option for the FPE, and certainly the .308. I was awaiting the Texan release in .308 but could wait no more Went with a PBBA in .308. The .457 shoots big lead very accurate, still working on finding something in the 900fps range, but the .308 definitely up for the task. 

 

[Alan]

I've taken three coyotes this year with my .25 Marauder. In all three cases, I used a blind and a hand (mouth) caller. Average range was under 50 yards. I use AirArms 26.4 grain pellets at ≈884 FPS. Two just dropped in their tracks from a head shot, and the lung-shot third ran about 50 yards before collapsing.

Obviously, the secret is calling them in close. They're smart, and will try to get downwind of any distress call they hear. I do my best to circumvent this, by placing my back to some sort of obstacle like a small lake or outcrop. It is also been my experience that they tend to come out of a wooded areas, rather than run across a field., so proper shooting position is really important. 

 

[Prouzy]

Absolutely correct Alan! Im also quite confident .25 cal to the head and even body is more than capable at appropriate range. I was thinking more distance, but great points on calling and thanks for the input on position and path exiting wooded/protected areas.