.17 REM for Coyotes (People that actually shot them)

Guido

Guido

New member
Okay, I have a .17 Remington and haven't used it on coyotes yet because I hear a lot of negative stuff. Is anyone here actually using a .17 to take down coyotes? I'm very happy with the rifle and the accuracy of the round.

I would like to hear from some people who actually have first hand experience of using a 17 rem on coyote sized game and what weight bullets you are using.

Thank you for your input!
 
Guido--I have used a .17 Remington for a coyote rifle and my bullet of choice is the 30 gr. Starke Red Prairie Varmint bullet. I has a nice big hollowpoint and packs enough ft-lbs of energy to knock down coyotes at extended ranges. One thing I like to stress to someone who is going to use the .17 Remington as a coyote rifle is to be careful about bullet placement when you shoot. I don't recommend taking questionable shots where you don't think you have much chance of a killing shot. I'm not telling you to never take a running shot, etc., just that you have to be fairly precise with your shot placement or be ready for a long tracking job on a wounded animal.

Prior to using the 30 gr. Starke bullet I had used handloads that had the 25 gr. Remington bullet in them and they were a terrible coyote bullet. They acted like solid jacketed bullets and would pass through the animal and not impart much energy on the way through. I shot a few coyotes with the 25 gr. Hornady HP, but wasn't satisfied with their performance either.

There are other manufactuers of 30 gr. bullets such as Berger, Todd Kindler at the Woodchuck Den, and Hammett. I am sure there are others custom bullet makers as well who make 30 gr. or heavier .172 caliber bullets.
 
I have one and only shot one coyote with it so far so I'm no expert at all. I use the Remington factory 25 gr hollow points because I don't reload. I hit the coyote in the guts on the first shot and it spun around a few times, then he realized he wasn't interested in a rabbit in distress and decided to move on at a slow pace. I hit him with the second shot on the last rib and he went down like a ton of bricks. He weighed 37 pounds. I stepped the shot off at 200 paces. His guts were mush when I skinned him. The rounds left only two very small entrance holes and did not exit. I could only find fragments of the rounds.
Others on this board who reload will have better stories to tell.
 
I have a TC Contender carbine in 17 Rem and have killed a number of coyotes with it. It's a lightweight, compact rig that will kill like a lightning bolt out to 300 yards. I hand load the Hornady 25 grain bullets and haven't had any problems yet. The most important thing is to put the bullet in the boiler room. Yes, I've lost coyotes with the 17, but they were a bad hit. I've also lost a coyote that was hit with a 7 mag. Regardless of what caliber you shoot, you've got to hit the vitals. I've also shot fox with mine with mixed results. At 100 yards and more it is fine, but under 50 yards you just end up with a blood stain on the praire. When the 17 was first introduced, it got a lot of bad press and many people just repeat what the "experts " say. Reasonable care taken with shot placement will result in a quick and humane kill, and even a coyote deserves that much. And best of all it's very fur friendly. Haven't had an exit wound on a coyote yet. Keep the faith. Dale
 
OK, I will weigh in here. I have shot prob 90% of my coyotes with a 17 rem. I simply love the light carry rig, the absolutely minimal recoil(to the point you can see the impact on the target object)the report is very low and there is absolutely no chance of ricochet. I have also taken yotes with a 22 hornet, 22 lr, 222 rem, 223 rem, 22-250, 220 swift, 25-06, 270 rem and 30-06. The 17 will drop them as fast as any of the guns I have tried. Yes a bad shot is gonna be a bad shot with any rifle you have. I have had the 17 splash on the front shoulder but would not hesitate to shoot another one in the same place, Simply because I have shot many others in the same place and they all went down.the farthest I have ever tracked a coyote was one I shot with a 30-06 using 165 grain bullet.IT WAS A BAD SHOT. Take that 17 and shoot the coyote. You will be hooked for life. I have always used the 25 gr.HP. Tried the Hornadys and didnt like them. That was the splash I talked about. Have since gone back to the Rem HP. Rem is no longer making the HP from what I can gather. They are loading their factory loadings with Hornady's. With the rem HP i have dropped them from under my nose to past 300 yds. Only a small few I can count on one hand have ever taken a step. Take that 17 out and give it a try, you will be hooked. Randy
 
Guido-
I might add that if you have a 17 Remington w/ a 1 in 10" twist you should load bullets less than 30 grains--if a 1 in 9" that is not the case, then you can load the 30's. Mine is a 1 in 10" and I stick to the 25 grain bullets. I have heard good reviews of Berger's 25 grain match bullet working very well on coyotes and I hope to try them this fall. MH
 
I will agree with all the above post regarding the .17 and shot placement. There are many 17 shooters on this board. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Shot placement is the most important with this little speedster of a bullet. I have shot factory ammo with excellent results, and tested both Hornady and Berger bullets. I've had the best results with Berger.

Don't care what your told, if your bullet is not placed well with the vital zone, then you might have a runner. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

I've shot over 40 yotes with my .17 and have only had 4 or 5 run off and found all but one. That was my fault, not the rifles. I still get the fever when shooting yotes and sometimes pull my shots. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif
 
I hunt with a 17 Rem in my TC -- 21" barrel. I love it at 4 1/2 lbs scoped. It hits where you aim it. I have only lost one coyote out of many (sorry,not counting) That one was hit right in the shoulder bone which was my fault. They don't mess up fur, usually a pin hole in and no exit. The head on, down the throat hit is best - lights out, no exit, only a pin hole going in. Try the 17 Rem I'm sure you will love it.
 
I just shot my first coyote with my first 17 Remington about a month ago. At about two hundred yards or so, I hit him at a trot quartering towards me just in from his armpit.
I could see the bullet splash the fur and cause a shockwave to go through his hide right through my scope! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif It was absolutely awesome. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif The 'Yote pulled up his front legs and rolled over backwards DRT! (dead right there) The 17 Remington Rocks! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowingsmilie.gif

I'm using the older Remington factory load for now.
 
I shoot a .17 rem almost exclusively for foxes and coyotes.

In most calling situations, the .17 rem is excellent. Get those critters inside of 150 or so yards and it's usually like lightening struck them. It's *USUALLY* very fur friendly if that's your bag.

It has it's limitations though. I'd say that if you didn't care about fur a bit, move up to a .22-250. That will reach out and touch a critter with authority. But, my area is very populated and I don't like a round with a high probability of ricochet. My .17 rem kills 'em dead on the spot more times than not.

Just a warning though: The .17 rem is NOT an adequate round for coyotes, bobcats or grey foxes if you are hunting in Texas. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
 
One little item I've noticed is that the "WHAP" of the bullet impacting the 'yote seems louder than the shot sometimes. My partner has commented on this several times, and he is usually set up directly downwind of me.
 
Here is my 2 cents worth. I agree with everyone with shot placement. I probably have shot 150 or so coyotes with my .17 rem. I have only lost 1. I shot him about 350yards or so. Too far of shot for the .17rem. In my opinion. I have only used the 25gr. Hornady. Can't say anything about any of the other bullets.
 
Guido, I have shot over 50 coyotes with my 17 Remington over the last few years. I would agree 100% with Randy's comments about it being a great gun from close range to about 200 yds. I've shot coyotes at all variety of ranges, the furthest being 370yds(although this is something I usually don't do) My average shot distance on these coyotes has been 109 yards. I have used Berger Non mef, standard 25 gr Hp's and the Hornady 25gr Hp's. In my experience, the Bergers seemed to hit the coyotes harder than the Hornadys. I've shot a lot of coyotes that simply dropped in their tracks without any visible damage; it was like they just died of fright from the gun shot. For this season I will be using 26 and 29 gr Gencos. Both my brother and brother in law shoot 17's too, and so far we have had excellent experiences with this caliber. If you have further questions about 17's, go check out the coyotegods.com or do a web search on Blaine Eddy... hope this helps.
Good luck to you!
 
I don't want to detract from this thread or start a .17 HMR war (PLEASE NO!!!!).

I've thought about a .17 Remington but went the low road and bought a .17 HMR due to some of the places I hunt being close to houses, short range, etc. Given they're both supersonic, i.e. 2600 vs. 4000 fps, and the same caliber, are the noise levels comparable also?
 
i have been hunting coyotes since 1966.i started with the 22-250 257 weatherby,etc. i just put a pac-nor barrel on my 17.rem. because the original barrel was shot out rem makes there throats to long.it would still shoot hornadays and some of the others. but25.gr.bergers kill them better than any of the others.i have shot coyotes out to 450 yds.and killed them stone dead they are a great cal. i know blaine i bought the gun from him.i have had more experence shooting coyotes.this is a great cal. i am going to use the new barrel this yr. it shoots one hole groups and the coyotes aren't going to even quiver.train yourself not to blink and you can watch them drop.
 
Not to long ago I think it was the largest Polar Bear ever shot was shot with a 17 Remington, It was shot right in the eye ball, I guess it was a Air Force guy up in the north country somewhere, He was out calling and he called up something he didn't want to see, Got into a bad situation and he made the shot.

I have shot close to 50 coyotes with the 17 remington and I did lose 2 but most were dead B4 they dropped 1 inch !
 
Thanks Guys, I feel a lot better now! I can't wait to get back the the states and reload some rounds for it.

I appreciate all the feedback, and I definelty understand shot placement and how important it is with a smaller caliber and weight of bullett.

Keep the comments coming, I just wanted to say thanks! The Nevada coyotes have about 5 or 6 months to find somewhere good to hide and then I'm on the fastest plane from Iraq to them!

Thanks again guys!
 
GUIDO: From a Texas Varmint Hunter THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE TO AND FOR OUR COUNTRY.
be safe and we will be praying for your safe return
Navarro
 
GUIDO: I also have a Rem. 17 Cal. on a Sako Action with a 24" Pac-nor Bbl in a Mcmillen stock . I have not shot any Coyotes Yet but did go to South Dakota (Sturgis) and shot a bunch of PD's with it .It shot great , probably some PD's wish it hadn't but life goes on .
take care of yourself.
navarro
 
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