New to varmint hunting

[bklimek]

I just purchased a Winchester M70 Coyote rifle. Can anybody tell me about this rifle. It seems like it will be a good fit for me. I was looking for a rifle that would serve numerous purposes. I want to get into varmint hunting, use it for deer hunting, and possibly someday for antelope. I ended up going with the .243 WSSM. Man is that a cute little round. My only concern is Winchseter is currently the only ammo manufacturer that has a wide variety of shells in this caliber. Is this caliber going to stick around? I heard Federal has picked up that caliber and will soon be making that round as well. Any tips on baggin my first coyote?

thanks

Butch

[catman71]

i am jealous of your purchase! That is a great gun. You;ll find ammo, but i bet it will cost you. Save your brass and you can maybe get it reloaded. We have already shot a few fox this year night calling, but when there is snow it is way easier. I am no expert but you really need to play the wind as those yotes have great noses and know how to use them. I just call in good area and don't give up. You will get them comming in sooner or later BTW What kind of scope are you going to put on?

[bklimek]

I can't wait to get out and try it this weekend!!! I went with a Nikon Buckmaster 4-14.5x40 in mil-dot reticle. Not the best for low light conditions but I think it will be awesome. Now I need to figure out how mil-dots work. Any ideas? I want to get out this weekend and try to take my first 'yote. Are there any regulations or seasons I need to be aware of?

[picksbigwagon]

no regs or rules, just remember that there are other hunters out there chasing pheasants and deer....don't bust some one elses hunt....watch the wind and keep your scent down to nothing....The only other thing I could recommend is shooting sticks, I am dialed in off of sandbags and am pretty close to that with the shooting sticks....good luck and let us know how you do....

[Gissert]

All good points by Picks... One more thing to add, try and get away from your vehicle and roads as much as you can. Some call shy 'yotes are really tough once they have been tricked from roads before and survived.

[CASTnBLAST]

Quote:

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i am jealous of your purchase! That is a great gun. You;ll find ammo, but i bet it will cost you. Save your brass and you can maybe get it reloaded. We have already shot a few fox this year night calling, but when there is snow it is way easier. I am no expert but you really need to play the wind as those yotes have great noses and know how to use them. I just call in good area and don't give up. You will get them comming in sooner or later BTW What kind of scope are you going to put on?

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Cat you using night vision equipment or what? Calling and shooting fox at night with no snow?????

[FlyingV]

I was thinking the same thing. I missed a coyote the first week of November at first light because I could not see it well, even in the scope. Then on Friday morning I lost another one coming to the call in the distance. I barely saw him coming over a hill about 150 yards away. He blended right in to the pasture grass. He never did show up. I don't know how I could ever see them without lights with no snow on the ground.

[catman71]

no night vision. a friend and myself caught 2 fox crossing a beaver dam comming to the call. There was a pretty good moon and i could see them pretty well and I knew exactly where they would cross so we set up on the high banks and it worked out perfect.

[Valv]

I am looking to get setup for same purpose, coyote hunting.

I asked many shops and found Winchester has a Silvertip bullet which will not ricochet and does a lot of damage to target.

Going with a Ruger or Savage 243, I was set on a 25-05 but everybody made me change my mind, the 243 is by far the straightest shooting bullet.

I need a suggestion on a good low light scope but with budget on my mind....

[roosterslayer]

Valv if you are shooting the 243, try the 75 grain V-Max if you do not want to save the pelt. also i shoot a bushnell banner 4-12X and i dont have a problem seeing with low light conditions. Good luck!

[gethanet]

I shoot .243 hornady v-max bullet in 58 grains and have yet to go threw a yote. Most of the time it just leaves a bruise on the other side of the ribs. This round puts them down good.

[Rippinlip]

Val,

I bought a .25-06 for the same reasons as above (multi-purpose) and it does wonders on yotes, more damage to pelts than the 22-250, 223, 220. But I do not think you can buy a flatter shooting gun for long ranges. I an zeroed at 150 yards, only about 1 inch high at 75 and about 4 1/2 inches low at 400, I put a good scope and bi-pods on and I shoot Winchester Supreme Silvertip Ballistic in the 90 grain loads. The wind does have some affect on bullet travel, especially lighter loads.

Good Luck on whatever you purchase.

Remember practice, practice, practice.