Night hunting with 22lr Ar15

twhitey

twhitey

New member
My state does not allow any bigger than 22lr so I currently use a scatter gun and a pvs14 which works great. There are times we needed a little more distance like 60-70 yd shots will a 22lr work if shot placement is where it should be. I just don't want to be crippling animals and spending a night trailing wounded animals. We don't always have snow covered fields so it gets tricky finding blood at night. Most of our kills are 20-50 yds and they are drt with 3" heavy shot. I am thinking of purchasing a Helmet/Gun mounted IR Patrol thermal and either helmet mounting on my crye night cap or gun mounting on a Ar15 22lr. I will be hunting Coyote,fox. Thanks for any and all advice
 
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Originally Posted By: twhiteyMy state does not allow any bigger than 22lr so I currently use a scatter gun and a pvs14 which works great. There are times we needed a little more distance like 60-70 yd shots will a 22lr work if shot placement is where it should be. I just don't want to be crippling animals and spending a night trailing wounded animals. We don't always have snow covered fields so it gets tricky finding blood at night. Most of our kills are 20-50 yds and they are drt with 3" heavy shot. I am thinking of purchasing a Helmet/Gun mounted IR Patrol thermal and either helmet mounting on my crye night cap or gun mounting on a Ar15 22lr. I will be hunting Coyote,fox. Thanks for any and all advice

What kind of critters are you shooting? Does your AR 22LR have rail space for a IR laser? This is the best way to engage using your PVS-14.

As for the IR Patrol, I would definitely use a lightweight helmet of some sort, as the Patrol is a bit heavy to use on the Nightcap. Be sure to PM me when your ready with the Patrol, we have some great PM discounts on the IRD products.

Thank you Sir.

Vic
 


Vic
We are pursuing Coyote,Fox. I really like the Ir Patrol could that take the recoil of a scatter gun. I do have a Dball as well when I have the pvs going. I haven't purchased the Ar22lr yet and yes I will make sure there is enough room on the rail to support my tools.What kind of discount do you offer for PM members?
Thanks
 
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I shoot lots of rabbits and armadillos with a suppressed 22 + a thermal scope here in Texas. I have some large commercial properties and they tend to tear up my landscaping. For foxes or coyotes I would think you'd be better off to stick to the shotgun to keep from having to trail wounded critters. 22 is pretty weak for the most part. A patrol or a reap-ir on the shotgun would pretty a pretty awesome rig.
 
Man i've beat this horse senseless with some of my buddies.

No real way to circumvent the 22LR restriction, and IMO it's an unethical round for the size coyotes up here. Last report I've heard locally was six shots in the boiler room to put one down, at 40 yards.

Only way to legally get the range you're looking for is with a muzzleloader, otherwise you're better off with a shotgun because it has the same effective range as a 22LR. I agree you can definitely pick one off further with the .22LR however it's going to be a headshot if you don't want to be looking for it. We've concluded really it's only good use is on a known distance baitpile with a good rest, then you could pull a head/neck shot maybe up to 100 yards.

I emailed the state about calibers, bottomline the biggest you can use is 22LR. Some guys are under the impression they cause use 17WSM.

Back on topic, I don't see why you couldn't run the IR laser on the 22LR upper and just machinegun. You'll kill em eventually. Heck, I may even end up doing that.
 
Larue
We can't even use a Ir Dbal that's artificial light. I don't want to drive myself nuts we hammer them with the shotty. I was just looking for the extra 10-20 yds out of a 22lr like you said just empty the clip on them. We both know the first shot is your best everything after that is chucking lead.
 
Originally Posted By: twhiteyLarue
I don't want to drive myself nuts

Spare yourself because I did this all last winter.

If you want "rifle" you're stuck with the 22LR and stingers or whatever you can find is the hottest with whatever barrel length you choose. From what i've read they say 16" is optimal but i've heard guys at the range shooting 300 yard steel with a 24" and it sounded like it hit twice as hard as a 16" does. Do you have access to a 10/22, maybe try shooting one with that and see what you think? Chances are you'll never see it again.

Scratch the IR laser, didn't even think of that. Don't have one and I guess I won't be getting one anytime soon. In summary all the night hunting regulations suck except for the fact you can hunt at night.
 
Originally Posted By: twhiteyI did say not gonna drive myself nuts. What about a high powered air rifle? Not a BB gun lol

My interpretation is they are good to go. I took a quick look at them last winter & some are impressive. Might be worth a shot, might even be the best option. Wonder if the cold weather effects the compressed air/gas at all?
 
I need to invest time researching a high powered air rifle there are no regs on them so if it will kill a coyote cleanly why not. The only down side is a single shot.
 
That's what I was going to suggest. I have a .25 cal multi shot air rifle, but I'd probably get a .30 if going afte coyotes. I'm sure there are air rifles that would be better than a .22LR.
 
The PCP air rifles (the ones I have seen) offer a bolt action and clip fed magazine. Reloading would be essentially like a bolt action 22. My buddy had one that was deadly accurate at 40 yards. I was impressed with it. Of course, there is a trajectory curve that could pose a problem at various distances.
 
You'd be surprised how powerful they are. There are even airguns that go up to .50 cal. Even with a repeater you are not going to get 10 or 15 full power shots, but 3-5 full power shots easily, more than enough for most night hunting situations. Lot's of good info if you Google airgun coyote hunting.
 
Absolutely not the method of first choice, but for those in states that so severly limit them, an option. My .25 cal FX Verminator Extreme shoots arrows too. I would be comfortable shooting a yote at 30 yds with a nice sharp broadhead.
 
Originally Posted By: twhiteyMy state does not allow any bigger than 22lr so I currently use a scatter gun and a pvs14 which works great. Thanks for any and all advice

Move.
 


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