.17 HMR + coyote

First off, beautiful picture!

Secondly, even thought its much contested, if you can put a dosage of HMR under that red dot you can kill a coyote at 200 yards. I'm sure further investigation and load data could push the limits even further but shot placement is everything... this gives a visual to folks missing the point of how an HMR can kill a coyote.

Granted the 22/250 and similar guns have a much larger kill area the HMR CAN do it. 100 yards and less I'd take this shot all day... beyond that range there are variables I'd be concerned about but wouldn't rule it out. My primary rifle will still be the 22/250 or .223 but this accurately illustrates how this critter could be killed with the 17 HMR.
 
The problem with head shots is that the brain is only about the size of an egg. Hitting any other part of the head will not be a good clean kill. An egg from a bench is a big target but from a hunting position it is awfully small even at 50 yards.

Jack
 
Agreed Jack, practice makes perfect and practice makes confidence. If I couldn't shoot an egg at 100 yards I wouldn't take the headshot on a coyote. Also you have to throw in the whole variable of head movement and it only complicates the shot and lowers your success rate. The point I like to re-itterate is that IT IS POSSIBLE and IT DOES HAPPEN that coyotes are killed with a 17HMR. There are plenty of people who want to debate that week after week... I just keep kicking this dead horse to make sure everyone knows my stance! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
The head shot is the worst possible percentage shot you can make. To small a target, way to much fringe area to hit and wound on that hens egg size target. Move that dot low left, right behind the shoulder, and that coyote will fall down every time....no matter if it's a 17 HMR or a 22-250.
There is a kill zone the size of a large grapefruit behind the shoulder(heart/lung), thats where the red dot should be, Im not sure why fellas promote the head shot, buts it's a poor choice.
Ive taken 16 coyotes with my Ruger 77/17, and only once, accidently, shot one in the head. The rest, were all shot in the lungs, and they either went down right now, or sprinted only a short distance before cartwheeling, similar to shooting them in the lungs with any other cartridge. My advice....stay away from head shots, they are risky, and really foolish, when a much larger kill zone is available.
 
WT, your red spot is almost perfect, but very close to the shoulder bone, I'd put my crosshairs about two more inches to the left, and call it just right:)
 
Originally posted by ChileRojo:
[qb]WT, your red spot is almost perfect, but very close to the shoulder bone, I'd put my crosshairs about two more inches to the left, and call it just right:)[/qb]
Click to expand...
Thanks! I thought it might be a little too far forward, but for a reference point, it was a good start. I've killed a few with a .308 win, but shot placement wasn't so critical.
 
I'll skip the debate on the 17 HMR. I will say very few coyotes I have called in stand still for very long and offer a profile head shot. Also shooting conditions are well short of the bench. Give me a larger target body shot or a shotgun.

Yes the red dot does look nice in the picture.
 
Yea I remember when I was a little kid. We'd go to the livestock sale on Saturday morning and I'd watch a guy kill cattle and hogs for slaughter with a .22 pistol. One shot one kill every time. It sure did kill em.. I wouldn't advocate shooting wild boar with a .22 pistol though. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Hunting is a whole different ball game..

Hunt safe..Coyote6974
 
I grew up on a small farm and we raised our own stock to butcher. Beef cattle, hogs, chickens, turkeys. I was a shooter and have killed quite a few beef and hogs with a .22 rifle. The frontal brain shot was preferred, but the side brain shot was alright if the critter was alone in the enclosure. It's all good when it goes right. One of the maddest I've ever seen my Dad was when I pulled a shot on a big hog and failed to kill it. The shot drove that hog into quite a frenzy and I made it worse by trying a quick follow up that plowed through one eye at a shallow angle and exited without doing anything but make that one very, very, mad hog! Long story short it broke through our fence and got into the creek bottom behind the house and in the brush. Dad ended up wading in there after it with his .308 and ending the whole deal with a couple of body shots. A tractor couldn't get in there to it and we had to skin it in place on the ground and quarter if up to get it out. Needless to say it became a sausage hog and I messed up and lost a bunch of ham and chops for the family. The angle on that hogs head changed ever so slightly as I concentrated on the trigger of the .22 rifle and I didn't register that change and change my point of impact. That's on a hog feeding in a trough at a matter of a few feet. Head shots on game in the field is tricky business. Yes, it can be done, but it is tricky at times. The head is one of, if not the most, animated part of the body.
 
270Abolt - First of all welcome to PM !! There is always alot of debate on the 22 mag or 17 HNR for 'yotes, and you will get alot of good reading if you run a search on these calibers.

As far as head shots go, its hard enough to double lung a 'yote never mind a tiny little headshot at a very tricky target. Coyotes pause and start quickly coming to call and a head shot is chancey at best.

This is a textbook shot:

dotpic.jpg


Try to shoot them all here (at the red dot), and they will die fast with pretty much all calibers used within' each calibers known range. If you miss alittle either way they will still die. This spot gives you a little room for error. A headshot has NO room for error.

Say no to head shots, as the are for internet hunting experts :rolleyes:

Have fun, Sleddogg
 
Say no to lungshooting coyotes with a 17HMR (The topic at hand) unless you are ready for a tracking job OR know the coyote can't evade you in the last 14-18 seconds of his life (The common double lunged life expectancy). A critter hopped up on adrenaline and pain can make it a long ways in that time... I wouldn't risk the shot IF I intended to retrieve the animal.

Head shots are tricky, heads are constantly moving, coyotes that have been called in generally are more hopped up and perky than something you have a sneak attack on. Animals that are otherwise occupied such as those chasing livestock, feeding, drinking or just completely oblivious to your existance are MUCH easier to make head shots on. They are also the only cases I've even attempted a head shot. I've never attempted it during a calling scenario because I carry my 22/250 because its MADE FOR THAT whereas the HMR belongs picking off squirrels and smaller varmints that they can handle.

Bottom line, the HMR isn't a coyote rifle. It has its place but I digress back to saying there are two types of extremist on here.... one that says ankle shots from the HMR will roll a coyote four times and others that say point blank head shots will stick in the skull... then there's the rest of us who OWN the guns and have TESTED the guns and know its realistic limitations. Buy one and make educated, ethical decisions and you'll join the big crowd of guys that love the 17HMR.

P.S. Will be posting a few pics Monday from my Saturday morning hunting trip... I was a little shakey but the HMR made a bad day look decent! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
A hummer for a coyote rifle? I think that I will stick with something a little bit bigger and stronger, but thanks anyway. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Ohhhhhhhhh Okay, I started to reply to MATT'S post and realized whats going on. I've been wondering why the hell we were having the same argument all over again and it now appears we are running two very similar threads at the same time. I went from another conversation into this one and got confused and almost angry when I found myself explaining all of the above post again and again. Anyways, if everyone reads both threads they should be able to tie together what I was meaning and have a better understanding of the HMR's killing power. It still may not make complete since but somehow I tied all of this into one conversation and thought I made perfect sense! HAHA!

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Link posted below.

The other half of the story
 
LOL That's hilarious. I didn't even notice that other thread. I see you whipped out your crow pic again. I finally took one with mine a couple weeks ago at a lasered 105yds. No damage to the sucker, but he went down hard. I couldn't remember you saying if you'd shot any coyotes with it or not. I have tried out the 20 grainers and they shoot equally as well out of my Marlin 17vs. Good stuff. Love that gun. I've taken a dozen squirrels with it since season started too. I'll have to get back to the IPC chat to harass you some more if you still do it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Matt
 
HAHA, glad to see I'm not the only one that made some sense of the combination of the two threads. Sorry for the confusion. People asking about lungshots... people asking about shot ranges.... people asking about how many coyotes I'd killed with it... I was confused as hell!

I don't let that Crow picture gather dust either /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif Hopefully this winter I'll have some longer shots to post up but that summertime crow thing sucked! I almost popped a coyote last weekend with the HMR but decided he was too far to try with those new bullets. I've had some pretty good success with squirrels recently too, and some nuicense coons. Will post results soon, and I'll be in that chatroom too! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 


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