4 Guns Every Coyote Hunter Needs

The coyote has been described many times as cunning, and that’s fitting. Coyotes thrive in environments that wouldn’t be suitable for other animals. They do just as well in the desert heat of the southwest as they do in the bitter cold of Canada’s forests. You simply won’t find a more adaptable species than the coyote.

Ever resourceful, coyotes have adapted to thrive over a wide range of environments. Image by Brooke Barnes Photography

Because they thrive in so many areas there are a variety of tactics used to hunt coyotes. In the dense brush country of Texas, coyotes are often targeted where shots will be close and fast. Farther north in the Great Plains, coyotes inhabit wide-open spaces where hunters take long shots, and there’s little to stop the wind that washes over these empty spaces. In the eastern U.S., coyotes do quite well on the fringes of forests around suburbs. One coyote gun might work in all these areas, but if you’re serious about hunting song dogs, you need a battery of guns that is as versatile as the coyote.

In areas like the dense brush found in Texas, shots at coyotes can be close and happen in a hurry. Image by TFL Productions

We have compiled a list of the ultimate four-gun coyote battery, a lineup of firearms that are well-suited for hunting coyotes anywhere in the United States. You don’t need all of these guns, but if you have them, you’re prepared to hunt these predators anywhere you encounter them.

The Long-Range Rifle

Some of the best coyote hunting in the country occurs in wide-open country where shots are often long, wind plays a factor, and success oftentimes requires using a dedicated long-range coyote gun. This rifle in your coyote battery will favor maximum effective range over minimal mass, and you’ll want a gun that can shoot effectively beyond a quarter mile.

Long range shots in wide-open country require an accurate rifle and scope combination. Image by Realtree Media

Long-range competition shooting is quite popular, and many of the features found on dedicated target rifles have made their way to the hunting market. Your long-range coyote rifle must be accurate, so choose a rifle with a great trigger and barrel. If you’re going to build a coyote gun I’d start with a precision action. Stiller’s Predator Medium is one of my favorites, but there are plenty of available options. A heavy barrel isn’t absolutely necessary on a rifle like this, but a stiff, heavy-contour barrel takes longer to heat and will help dampen recoil so you can call your shots. I like a threaded muzzle because I use suppressors when hunting. I also prefer an adjustable stock with a versatile forearm that allows me to stabilize the rifle in a variety of ways (bipod/tripod, ARCA rail, and so forth) because stability is crucial for long shots.

Choosing the right chambering is important for a dedicated long-range rifle. Out to 500 yards the classic .22-250 is a great option, but the new crop of long-range .22s like the .22 Creedmoor and .22 ARC offer appreciably better performance. Both are designed to be loaded with long, heavy-for-caliber bullets that drift less in a crosswind than lighter projectiles, and these cartridges carry energy to kill coyotes cleanly at extended ranges. Know your DOPE and mount a mid-range scope on these rifles for day hunting or a thermal optic or clip-on for day/night hunting. Practice is critical with your long-range rifle to make first-round hits.

Rifle Option: Uintah Precision in Utah offers complete .22 ARC rifles as well as .22 ARC bolt-action uppers for AR-15s. These uppers allow you to instantly transform a standard AR-15 into a tack-driving, long-range coyote rifle.

The Lightweight Rifle

Once called “stalking” rifles, lightweight sporters are easy to carry all day and are well-suited to multiple setups. The lightweight coyote rifle is the second most versatile weapon in your song dog arsenal (behind the crossover rifle) because it should be light enough for long hikes and capable of hitting targets to 400 yards or more. For most of us (particularly in the forested eastern portions of the United States) shots on coyotes are generally much less than 400 yards, and the lightweight coyote gun allows you to make those shots effectively without having to drag a 10-pound rifle through the woods.

If your coyote plan requires long hikes and multiple sets, a lightweight but still accurate rifle will come in handy. Image by Jeff W Jarrett

The lightweight rifle can have a traditional “sporter” profile with a mid-weight barrel and an overall mass (including optic) below ten pounds. I prefer my lightweight coyote guns to have short barrels for multiple reasons. Short barrels cut down on weight, but they also make the rifle more maneuverable with a suppressor in place. I’d also add a lightweight bipod or tripod in situations where I can lie prone, but I wouldn’t want anything on the forearm of the rifle that precludes me from simply kneeling with the rifle resting on my knee for fast shots.

A lightweight coyote rifle needs a lightweight scope with a broad magnification range, and Bushnell’s Elite 4500 4-16x50 is an excellent choice. The Bushnell offers a broad magnification range that’s suitable for most hunting scenarios yet it weighs just 20-ounces, perfect for your light predator rifle. You can also add a thermal clip-on to the front of the scope for around-the-clock coyote hunting.

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Choose a lightweight coyote rifle chambered in a versatile cartridge. If shots are relatively close rimfires like the .17 WSM work well on coyotes. Centerfire cartridges like the .22 Hornet, .204 Ruger, and .223 Remington are ideal for lightweight varmint rifles because they offer more energy for clean kills and a flatter trajectory for the occasional long-range shot.

Rifle Option: Savage’s 25 Walking Varminter weighs seven pounds so it’s easy to carry, and when I tested this rifle in .22 Hornet it shot extremely well. I’d probably choose the Savage in .223 Remington for my own lightweight coyote rifle because of that cartridge’s versatility and availability.

The Scattergun

This is the most specialized weapon in your coyote battery. Designed specifically for close-range shots at fast-moving coyotes in heavy cover, the scattergun needs to be handy and offer plenty of knockdown power.

Generally speaking, this is a 12-gauge shotgun with at least a three-inch chamber. The barrel should be short enough that you can maneuver the gun in cover, especially since you’re likely to be set up in brush with the coyote coming in quickly. Long barrels are unwieldy, and the longer barrel will make any movement more pronounced. For me, a dedicated coyote scattergun needs a barrel no longer than 24-inches.

For close range action in heavy cover, it’s hard to beat a compact 12 gauge shotgun. Image by TFL Productions

I grew up shooting pump shotguns and they work on coyotes, but the rapid second shot offered by a semiauto makes them the best option. Optics are becoming more popular on shotguns, especially specialized guns like this, and I think a red dot is a beneficial addition to any coyote shotgun. Red dots offer a parallax-free, easy-to-use aiming point and they’re ideally suited for close-range shots where a magnified optic may actually make it more challenging to hit the target.

Although I was slow to warm up to pistol grip shotguns I’ve come to appreciate them for coyote hunting. Pistol grip guns offer excellent control of the gun under recoil and allow for quick adjustments from a seated position. Some offer adjustable stocks, a nice feature when you need to adjust length of pull based on sitting position or clothing. You’ll need to spend time at the range determining which load and choke work best in your gun, but I’ve been very impressed with HEVI-Shot’s Dead Coyote 12-gauge load which drives a 1 5/8-ounce load of T-shot from the muzzle at a velocity of 1,350. That ammo is expensive, but it’s aptly named.

A pistol grip stock offer excellent control and quick adjustments for fast follow up shots. Image by TFL Productions

Shotgun Option: Retay’s Gordion Turkey is a 12-gauge semiauto with a 3-inch chamber and 24-inch barrel. The pistol grip stock makes it very maneuverable, and an optics rail is included—all for under $1,000.

The Crossover Rifle

This was probably the first rifle in your coyote battery, although you didn’t call it a crossover rifle. Instead, you were buying a rifle that was very versatile. Maybe you’d fill your deer tag with this gun, shoot some feral hogs, then poke around the woods at night in search of coyotes.

You can kill coyotes with hunting rifles of just about any caliber, but if you want a single rifle that’s well-suited for ‘yotes and big game like deer you need a crossover rifle. Even if you have more specialized guns like a long-range coyote rig and a scattergun, the “crossover” coyote gun is still an invaluable addition to your collection.

Versatility is the key to a crossover rifle, so you need to pick a gun that can do it all. Either an AR or bolt gun will work so long as it’s chambered in a round that is sufficiently powerful for deer-sized game yet not grossly overpowered for coyotes and other predators. To my mind, this gun should be a midweight rifle chambered in a versatile big game/coyote cartridge like the various 6mms (6mm ARC, 6mm Creedmoor, .243 Winchester) or a 6.5 like the Creedmoor, but a .308 rifle, a .25-06, or Bill Wilson’s underappreciated .300 Ham’r cartridge could all fit the bill.

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The concept of the crossover rifle is simple: you’ve been deer hunting all day and haven’t seen a thing, but there’s a coyote trolling the edge of an alfalfa field a couple hundred yards way. A .300 Win Mag will certainly make that coyote go belly-up, but a versatile rifle chambered for a flat-shooting cartridge like the 6mm Creedmoor will give the ‘yote a sudden sendoff without making your molars rattle. The ultimate crossover rifle is one that you can take deer hunting in the morning and coyote hunting at night and not feel disadvantaged in either situation.

The crossover rifle should have an overall length that is relatively short to accommodate suppressors, weave through brush, and remain maneuverable in treestands or blinds. It should also be light enough to carry all day. Chambering must be such that it isn’t too big for coyotes yet will dispatch deer-sized game with relative authority. It should be accurate to several hundred yards so that it could serve as a dedicated coyote gun if you’d like and recoil should be modest enough that you’re willing to shoot it multiple times on a single setup and call hits and misses through the scope. If you’re selling pelts it would be nice if the cartridge didn’t damage hides too much either.

Sure, that’s a lot to ask of a rifle, but this gun will see a lot of use. And if you want to turn a slow day on the deer stand into a dedicated dog hunt, you’ll be well-armed with your crossover rifle.

Rifle Option: Ruger’s new American Rifle Gen II in 6mm Creedmoor is the gold standard for crossover rifles. It’s light, handy, accurate, and affordable, all of which make it ideal for a variety of hunting situations.

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