Originally Posted By: viperBrad to answer your question a shorter barrel will not cause you to lose your patterning and the velocity lost would be minimal. In a earlier reply I made the statement why "I like" a short barreled shotgun. Not to say a 28" or 30" would not do a good job on a coyote. I hunt the same with a shotgun as I do with a rifle I use the wind and the cover. If I have a coyote running past my stands 50% of the time at 30 MPH like a quail then I have another issue, maybe it's a California thing. That being said it's a great sport and most people on here have preferences on calibers and gauges and length of barrels and camo patterns. Try different things and find out what you like best and don't let other people tell you your wrong. Because if that was the case they would only make one caliber and one barrel length. Good Luck!
viper, what you wrote in this reply is not what I wrote in the reply I made.
I wrote,"At least 50% of the coyotes I kill with a shotgun are running and at times they must be lead just like a bird or a clay target.
Are Turkeys shot when they are flying or running 30 mph?"
Some of the coyotes I shoot at are running very fast and it may be a California thing or it could be the way I set up and shoot coyotes in open country with a shotgun.
Coyotes that run up within shotgun range in open country where there is no cover are usually hard charging in to the e-caller.
In the above two pictures you can see the coyote is running in on the first picture and in the second picture it is the same coyote that is going to get shot with a shotgun in the second picture.
In the above two pictures there is a coyote hard charging in.
When more than one coyote comes into shotgun range at a time I have never seen the other coyotes stand around or leave slowly after I have shot at the first one.
Sometimes I take pictures of coyotes while they are running into my e-caller and then shoot them after I drop my camera. I have my 28" barreled Rem 11-87 laying across my lap until I drop my camera.
I took all of the above 5 pictures and then grabbed my shotgun and shot them. Even when I am not using my camera I never move my shotgun up to the ready position as the coyote is coming in. I just raise it up when I am going to shoot.
In the above picture you can see why the 28" barreled shotgun is the a good length for us the way we hold our shotguns when we are laying down. The way I end up sitting most of the time it works the same way my 28" barrel is pointing out past my foot.
I guess my point to all of this is, use the shotgun you are used to using. Setting up a dedicated shotgun for coyotes, with a pistol grip and sites that make lift your head off of the stock or force you to aim, may do more harm to your shotgun shooting than good.