25-06 for coyote

N

NWCP

New member
I finally picked up a 25-06. I've been wanting a quarter bore for a long time and finally made the move. I picked up a Weatherby Vanguard Series 2 and mounted a Vortex Viper 4-16x50 on it. I'm going to try shooting Winchester Super X 90 grain expanding point ammo and see how it does out of this 24" barrel. It's supposed to push around 3440fps as I recall. I thinking of using it for long range coyote hunting and antelope. Right now I use an AR15 with a 6.8 SPCII upper and have been pleased out to 250 yards. I'm thinking the 25-06 would get me out to 350+ yards. Actually 300 yards is my real comfort zone. I've been told I could push the 25-06 to 400+yards, but I want to ensure a clean kill and not just take the shot because I can. Is anyone hunting Coyotes with a 25-06? I'm not concerned about the fur when using the quarter bore. My primary use for the rifle will be pronghorn. I plan to take a guided hunt here in the next year.
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Ive done antelope and deer both past 400 using cheapy midway 2nds, middle powder charge, and a 20" barrel no issues. The longest track was maybe 30 yards. A coyote should be no problem.
 
The 25-06 will get you way past 350yds for yotes, if you're up to the task. I've seen yotes taken at 475yds+-(my old range finder was junk). A guy I hunt with regularly takes speed goats in Eastern MT at over 400yds with his 25-06. I know for a fact that lopers can't tell the difference between my 7mm rem mag and the 25-06 at the 350yrd ish range (last time I hunted antelope, mine was way smaller than my buddies and made it 50yds before it dropped, his just dropped with the 25-06. Both were well placed shots) The 25-06 is WAY under rated regarding it's ability to fill a freezer!
 
I am a big quarter bore fan myself, I have a Roberts and a 250-3000, both have been excellent varminters for me, I have always wanted a 06 just never have found one to pounce on, I bet it will really reach out there for deer and coyotes.
 
I agree with the 25-06 being way under-rated. It can get you way, way past 400 on coyotes if you do your part. I love my little CZ in 223 for calling in brush country or where the shots will be under 250 or so, but when the ranges get long and the wind gets up is when the 25-06 comes out. My father shot over 200 coyotes with his before he passed away, at ranges out to 500+. It was his favorite coyote rifle.

That is Dad's old Savage in my avatar, and that coyote was right at 400 yards. I shoot the 115 NBT for everything from yotes to hogs, it has never let me down and has a pretty dang good BC for a 25 cal bullet.
 
25-06 is very underrated! I like it for windy conditions. Holds up well against the wind compared to the traditional coyote rounds like 223 and 22-250.
 
I got a Rem 700 CDL in 25-06 last year. Topped it with a Vortex Viper 4-16x44 and had Venatic handload some 100 grain Speer btsp.

I went on my first antelope hunt in Wyoming this year and got my first buck at 350 in a 25-30 mph wind. I held for drift and dropped him in his tracks. Got my doe later that evening about 160 yards and got a triple on coyotes the next morning all at the 200 yard mark.

Then while deer hunting in south Texas this year took another coyote. Have also gotten a deer and a couple of hogs with it so far.


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That 100 grain speer is a good bullet.
 
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My primary dog rifle is a model 70 25/06 with 100g NBTs at 3375fps under 1/2 MOA

Works great out to 600 which is as far as ive been able to hit them at.

Doubles up equally as well on antelope and deer with 100 or 115 nbts which I prefer for deer.

One really cant go wrong with a 25/06
 
Way underrated?First I've heard of that.If you want reach for lopes-coyotes and not worried about fur damage other than the .257 Webby I can't think of a better choice.
 
When I was a kid my dad's friend had a left handed savage (first ones to make a lefty) 25-06 that he loaned me. Killed my first buck, goat and numerous coyotes with it. It will kill coyotes as far away as your ever going to consider shooting at them.
 
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With out a doubt my favorite caliber. If you can get a bullet that it shoots well for antelope/deer I would use the same on coyotes. The varmint bullets like the 75 grain V-max will tear up a coyote and 100 grain Ballistic Tips just flattens them, but with a little less damage. I've hunted coyotes with 204, 223, 22-250 and 243 also but have taken more with the 25-06. If I hunted out West where there were bigger predators like cougars I wouldn't consider anything else.
 
Originally Posted By: Bernie P.Way underrated?First I've heard of that.If you want reach for lopes-coyotes and not worried about fur damage other than the .257 Webby I can't think of a better choice.

I agree with you. I think underrated is the wrong word, more like under-thought-of.

There's a lot of glamorous flat-shooting rifles out there that get a lot more press when it comes to coyotes. Add to that the fact that over the last 20 years, deer have become bigger, badder, meaner and darn-near impossible to kill with anything less than a .338 and that left the quarter bores out in the cold in many people's minds.

The .25-06 was (and still is, IMO) the King of the Pronghorn calibers for good reason. Flat shooting and with enough whollop to get the job done on antelope, deer, and don't tell anyone but plenty of elk have met thier maker after a .25-06 barked in their direction.

Yes, the .257 Weatherby takes it to a new level, but the Weatherby Mags have always been an aquired taste. The .25-06 got it done with ammo that can be found in most hardware stores in the west.

There is absolutely no reason why NOT to use a .25 on coyotes if fur isn't the goal.

Grouse
 

I have had a Browning A-Bolt (Composite Stalker) 25-06 for about 20 years. It has taken 7 antelope, two deer, a Corsican Ram and some groundhogs and crows with the bullet Yellowhammer mentioned, the Speer 100 gr. BTSP bullet. That is a darn good bullet, accurate and penetrates better than you would think for a 100 grainer.

This past fall I took a whitetail buck at about 150 yards. The bullet completely penetrated side-to-side.

I can't speak to distances greater than 300 yards, but it worked just fine in my rifle for a buck antelope at that distance.

The 25-06 is a fine caliber.

 
I will stick by what I said about it being under-rated, but will amend that to say "under-rated by those who haven't used one." Perhaps under-thought-of is a better way to say it, but it comes down to the same thing. That being, many folks who haven't used one, just don't realize how effective it is. So many shooters have been conditioned by press/magazines/TV shows/whatever to believe you need the biggest, latest, greatest, that they look right past some excellent, time proven cartridges. I feel the plain old 270 Winchester falls in the same category, it just doesn't get the respect it deserves in today's world of new whiz-bang cartridges. Both of them have plenty of speed and energy to get the job done way out across open spaces.

As far as I am concerned one of the best all around bullets for the 25 is the 115 NBT with a BC of .453. Great bullet that is solid enough for deer/antelope/hogs, opens fast enough to put a hurt on coyotes, very accurate, and slick enough to reach out there, even in the wind. In my experience the 25-06 is easy to load for too, not being very particular, and components easy to find.
 
Originally Posted By: JTPinTXI will stick by what I said about it being under-rated, but will amend that to say "under-rated by those who haven't used one." Perhaps under-thought-of is a better way to say it, but it comes down to the same thing. That being, many folks who haven't used one, just don't realize how effective it is. So many shooters have been conditioned by press/magazines/TV shows/whatever to believe you need the biggest, latest, greatest, that they look right past some excellent, time proven cartridges. I feel the plain old 270 Winchester falls in the same category, it just doesn't get the respect it deserves in today's world of new whiz-bang cartridges. Both of them have plenty of speed and energy to get the job done way out across open spaces.

Totally agree, there are plenty of great examples like the 270 Winchester, as you rightly point out.

I guess to sell what's new, you have to create the case for what's wrong with the old. But in the case of the .25-06, 270, .30-06, and many others, the answer to "what's wrong" was and still is, "not much".


Grouse
 


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