Need something quiet for coyotes and turkeys

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Mk12mod1

Mk12mod1

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Apr 14, 2017
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NJ
Really do not live in an rural area, yet it is not suburban either. Right in the middle, lets call it. Just enough houses where a 'bang' may upset some people.

We have faced our fourth coyote predation on family pets in 6 months. Wildlife officials really do not seem to care much.

It's time to do something about it. I have talked to the neighbors and they are all for getting rid of the coyote(s). Did not tell them how though😉.

Normally I would take out the 22-250 and give it a 55 grain pill @ 3700 fps, however I know little about air rifles and terminal effect on larger animals.

What would be the minimum caliber for taking on a coyote at a distance of 50 yards max?

Obviously quieter the better.

As for the turkeys, I have access to a host of private land to hunt on during the season however the owner has asked me to use bow versus a shotgun. He feels that as others hear big bangs coming from his property this will invite the "un"invited. Who am I argue? I asked about using an air rifle and was given his blessing. Again about 50 yards max.

First though was to go with the Airforce Texan, but is that overkill?

Any help would be appreciated.
 
Any matchs near you? Best way to learn about airguns is to get to a shoot.

Airguns are all about shot placement and do ( should) have pin pint accuracy.

That said IF you can truly hit your 1/4" kill zone at range ( say 50 yards ) most any pre-charged airgun will take them down. Now that "prefect shot" mat not present with yotes perhaps moving at night. IF needing bodt shots most will say .25 cal. but a . hot .22 certainly will do.

Now on those turkeys ( depending on applicable laws) you only need a "20fpe" .177 for drop in there tracks head shots.



John
 
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I agree with BOB coyotes 30 cal the texan .257 s a great gun and the .30 as well , but those carry a long ways not like the PCP pellet guns , If you have clear shots the Texan is a great choice at 300fpe , but texan is overkill for turkeys and a body shot with Texan forget about meat .

The Edgun R-5 30 cal is perfect for coyotes , I cam getting 90fpe and deadly out to 200 with mine .

Turkeys are very easy to kill , I have killed them with under 20fpe , but shot must be precise to hear or neck . I have taken a adult Tom with a body shot 1 time and it was also with 30fpe,, but head shots is best just like shotgun hunting ,

If I had to use a .25 caliber I would only look at very hi powered ones and use heavy slugs for coyote , like Atamin or seneca you really want to be near 80fpe or above

under this you would wound animals .
 
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50 yds or less and you want quiet, I would just stick with a 25 caliber. It will do just fine and you will continue to have more uses for it later on. I would also get something that’s easier to quiet down with a moderator like marauder or fx offering, etc. the Sumatra would be an excellent choice I am just not sure about how well they quiet down.



one thing to consider is how much money do you want to spend?
 
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Nobody has really mentioned budget here. A lot of the guns we're talking about are quite expensive. While my personal choice would be an FX Crown in .25 cal tuned to shoot the heavy .25s. It is far from the only choice though. The Umarex Gauntlet and Diana Outlaw are both available in .25 and have both their advocates and detractors. With all these though you're talking laser accuracy in order to make a humane shot. In general airguns really don't have the power that powder burners do, so your marksmanship ought to be exceptional before you consider taking such a shot. 

The other thing to consider is that there are going to be some long dark nights hunting these things. You'll want a night vision setup that you can practice with in the day, and are comfortable using for fairly long periods at night. Some sort of digital night vision rig with an IR illuminator would probably make the most sense. And don't forget some sort of practice targets. There is a lot of drop involved, compared to the size of the target anyway, so you'll want to have a bunch of different spots ranged in advance and know exactly what your hold is to make the shot. 

All in all though, this might not be the safest and most logical way to deal with your coyote problem. There are pest control experts who you can probably hire to get this done for a lot less than the gun, optics, range time, practice, etc. 



Food for thought. 
 
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On a budget without a lot of mods the senaca Sumatra .25 with a quiet piece will sling 48 grain hollow points and do the job nicely. Also the Evanix .30 with a moderator will do nicely and mine shoots the Nielsen 50-55 grain accurately, so you can reach out a bit further, or stick with the 44.75 or 50 grain jsb. Your pellets will lose ft lbs of energy faster than shooting a cast or swagged bullet. Either won’t be overkill in your situation but still humane. Although, I’ve got to be honest, when it comes to predators taking one of my family pets or livestock, dead is dead. As stated, a well placed .22 will do the job also. The Sumatra’s have a power wheel that can be adjusted externally, the rainstorms require the stock to be removed. Both guns will give you a magazine, the Sumatra a rotary. Going up in price you get more adjustability but not necessarily more power unless you go bigger bore and that may not suit your situation. If your willing to invest more in a gun, some of the stated guns above, fx, taipan, raw, American air arms as well as war has some very nice offerings. Hope this helps




 
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 I am with STO....A lot cheaper way and less hassle.... what are you gonna do after you shot the coyote? It's like this ,a powerful enough air gun will be loud unless you spend more money,then how are you going to fill it?Are you willing to spend over $1000 for a cheap way to get into a powerful PCP?

Just to be fair,PCP are way more expensive than powder burners,butt they are ,or can be a lot more FUN....
 
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I'm in the could you versus should you camp. Pellet guns in general but PCPs specifically are the same as powder guns but also totally different and for a 40 pound animal with a ethical kill you're really going to want a PCP. I guess the Hatsan AT44 long QE in .25 would fit the mark and be a "lower end" PCP with a wide range of other uses. But I can't see you coming in at under $500 after you figure out a way to fill it so I would have to think there are better options. I've shot some pretty quite CBI .22 rimfires in my yard that were rather silent but I wouldn't trust for an animal that size at that range. 



Anyway, you have some thinking to do for sure.
 
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Turkeys, a .22 will do the job with good placement. Coyotes are a different matter. Power also equates to noise, so it's a tradeoff. If it were me, Impact with minimum caliber of .25. With a smaller caliber, you'll need to have excellent shot placement and probably a head shot.

Main advantages to air rifles are quiet and the pellets lose nearly all energy in 100 or 150 yards, unlike a .22 that can ricochet and injure at much longer ranges. My concern with the .257 is the same as a .22LR, and the range it may have. I believe it's a slug gun, so the aerodynamics are quite different from pellets. You'd need to treat that more like a 22-250 for power and be extremely careful with the backstop.

Another option might be a nice springer. Stay away from the cheapo's that advertise 1100 FPS or more. Noisy and usually lack accuracy. Miserable to shoot. I am told though that some of the better springers are a joy to shoot. Still going to run $500 and up for a really good springer with the power to take larger game.

If I had an unlimited budget:

FX Impact at $2000, Compressor at about $2000, large air tank at about $800, Scope, ammo and the rest could cost another $500. Talking over $5000 for that rig - or

if I had a really limited budget - Marauder at $500 and a hand pump at $50 on eBay.

To save a bit more, the Marauder is $540 on the Crosman web site. Use the discount code on the banner above for a 25% savings taking the price to $405. Order on Friday for free shipping. Every penny adds up to more ammunition later. The Crosman site also sells budget scopes to get you started.

Moderate budget - Marauder for $500, and a 90 Cubic Inch fill bottle for $350 if you have a paintball shop close by. Add scope and ammunition an you are at $1000 really quick.

I suggest a Marauder in .25 for the budget gun because it's got a good trigger, it's reliable, 10's of thousands are out there and there's a large community that can help with problems. It's a proven design and it uses a Green Mountain barrel that's really accurate.

for the unlimited budget gun, if you buy an Impact, you'll give up powder burners and ditch all of your other shooting gear. It's a dream to shoot. Phenomenal trigger, accurate, and powerful. Fully adjustable, and really incredible gun. You would be in way over your head (as am I), but it's so much fun to shoot at 75 or 100 yards and out shoot the PB boys at the range!

Disclaimer - I own both guns, the Marauder and Impact. I like both guns and am not selling either. You can tell I'm a bit prejudiced with the recommendation and I don't mind saying so.

Good luck on your choice, do keep us posted.
 
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I have both in 0.25 a Gen 2 Marauder and Edgun R5M long.

The Marauder would do the job at a much lower cost and has a better trigger (other then the over travel) than the much more expensive Edgun. However stock it will only drive at 25.4 JSB Kings to about 850 fps for 16 shots. With proper placement at the head it will easily kill a coyote within 50 yards. 

The Edgun will shoot JSB kings to over 970 fps, but I have found accuracy falling off above 950 so I shoot them at 920 or less. At 920 I get over 50 shots with a 3500 PSI fill. Just tried out some JSB MK2 at 34g and got those to shoot at 890 fps with the stock regulator setting (seems to be 1950 PSI) Don't know how many shots yet. Even with the greater power of the Edgun, I would still limited your shots to the brain of coyotes. The added power will give you more range and shot options but I still would not go for a lung / heart shot unless you don't care if the coyote runs off a ways before dying possibly a slow and painful death.

The Edgun long's big pluses are more power, more shots, a little lighter, much better balanced for off hand shooting and super quiet. I just smile when I barely hear any muzzle noise even when the gun is shooting at a max power setting. The best way to describe the sound would be the fake sound effects that most movies use when a silenced gun is shot. It makes my Marauder seem loud and it is consider one of the most quiet 0.25 air guns. The RM5 quietness is without adding an LDC that would add to the cost, length and weight to the gun. I really doubt that there is another guns that can shoot MK2s at 890 fps as quiet as the R5M long does that only 32" long. The huge volume of the offset shroud of the R5M long really does a great job on quieting it down. As far as muzzle report I betcha it would give stiff competition to other guns with even with added Donny Emperor LDC. and that thing adds 10" and 13 oz to the end of the barrel!

Note I did take the advice of another Edgun owner and stuffed some foam and felt inside of the shroud. That seems to help a lot in damping higher frequencies and lower overall sound level.


 
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I have found myself in a similar situation, honestly, my taipan mutant Std in .22 (currently shooting about 35 FPE) has been very effective in dispatching both skunks, raccoons, and rats. it is quiet enough (with a Donny LDC) that my neighbors ( about 30 yards away) have not been alerted. other than the smell. I have also used a .25 airforce talonP with a talon tunes shroud, for the above animals. Both I would feel comfortable shooting to 50 yards but would lean towards the .25. Caliber increase is a little more forgiving to shot placement. Just remember to keep a safe backdrop.



Good Luck, and sorry to hear about the family pets.

Cally


 
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Holy cow guys? I've got a lot to digest!

The coyotes will be taken off my back deck and I have all my shooting lanes ranged out, longest being 75 yards. Unfortunately, that backs up to a neighbor's yard. My biggest concern it not dropping the coyote DRT and having track it through multiple properties.

I shoot HP and Benchrest so my skills set for accuracy is there.

As for optics, I have a new ATN 3-14 4K PRO waiting to be mounted, which came with an illuminator. 

I have an air compress for filling, no worries. 

So, I am leaning towards a .25 or .30 caliber PCP. I am asauming I can dial down fps on some models as to not go crazy on the turkeys.


 
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I’d say go with an Airforce, and go with an SS model. Either a .25 Condor SS or a .308 Texan SS. The .308 SS would be the better coyote gun and is a heck of a shooter with .300 pellets and sub 100 grain .308 lead bullets. The .308 SS shooting a .300 Predator Polymag pellet at 1000fps would be a fearsome setup for either turkey or coyotes with 50 yard lung shots and would still give you limited pass thru for safety purposes. Would also be a quiet setup for the power. 
 
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I just saw your last response. If you need them to drop right there and are a good shot, either a .25 or .30 will do you fine for brain shots. The Condor SS in .25 would be all the power you’d want for that. 

I also own 2 high end WAR Flex .30 air rifles and with the aftermarket DonnyFL moderators they have, they are probably the quietest and most accurate big bore air rifles out there for the power. But you’ll be looking at a $2400 gun by the time its built. The Airforce guns are the way to go for the first time airgunner for easy of use and cost. If you get addicted to the airgun hobby, then that’s the time to look at the $2k guns. 
 
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You can build a .172" air gun that will dispatch coyotes shooting 950+ fps...caliber isn't really the issue unless legislatively...what matters is FPE on target and shot placement. I'd personally think 40+ FPE right @ the off switch (between temple / eyes ) would suffice for Yotes. Maybe less maybe more...depends on age of the Yote in question, its bone density, and the angle of the shot...HIGHER FPE corrects for poor angles or placement. The age / bone density would be a smaller variable to determine FPE requirement to dispatch.



For a turkey, a head shot @ 8 FPE (at impact) would probably suffice. So a .22 / .25 cal that has variable power control would allow you to hunt both animals with 1 rifle.



For 75 yards, You can do a .22 or .25 caliber just fine provided they're shooting pretty hot at 50-60 FPE. A .30 cal would be near perfect from factory if you don't want to tune it to shoot hot.
 
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