Opinion on shot placement

hunt0168

hunt0168

Well-known member
I was conversing with a friend that on a hunt the other night had a hunting partner take a frontal shot that was a hit, but unrecoverable. It took the shot but ran off. I sent him a video of a shot I took last year with a similar scenario. He watched my video and questioned my hold on this particular shot. I’m looking for opinions on the placement. This was 100 yards, 243 Win 58gr Vmax. Unrecovered. Would you have taken this shot or held / aimed differently?
IMG_7705.jpeg
 
Looks good to me provided you didn't pull the shot. I'm looking at new box of 6 MM 58 VMAX on my coffee table right now. Have not started load work with them yet. I am shooting 87's now but not using the 243 for hunting yotes yet. Kinda disappointed to hear the results of the 58's. I look forward to hearing what other 58 user have to say.
 
Kwarw1 said:
Looks good to me provided you didn't pull the shot.
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No, That is literally the frame right before the trigger broke. The 58's killed but I wasn't ecstatic about their performance from my 8 twist Tikka. A lot of damage on the entry side. I'm liking what I'm seeing with Nosler Ballistic Tip 55 gr over the 58 Vmax.
 
hunt0168 said:
No, That is literally the frame right before the trigger broke. The 58's killed but I wasn't ecstatic about their performance from my 8 twist Tikka. A lot of damage on the entry side. I'm liking what I'm seeing with Nosler Ballistic Tip 55 gr over the 58 Vmax.
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Mine is a 9.25 Savage 26" Varmint contour, pretty heavy rig. It shoots the 87's well. I'm wanting to try pushing these 58's pretty hard to see how they group. Again looking forward to hearing results from others.
 
Bob, I just noticed you said that coyote was not recovered. Man, that's hard to understand, that bullet had to hit a lot of important stuff before it broke up and stopped. Did he drop before he ran off?
 
I think the hold is perfect, however, something to think about:

www.predatormasters.com

WARNING: important thermal scope issues

Ok I was watching YouTube and a guy was having issues with an Iray scope. The scope would delay the display image. He was missing animals and found out the delay would cause the missed shot on a moving animal. Well I bought a bolt last year and was having some issues my self. I had the...
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Don_P said:
Bob, I just noticed you said that coyote was not recovered. Man, that's hard to understand, that bullet had to hit a lot of important stuff before it broke up and stopped. Did he drop before he ran off?
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Don, Funny you say that, as that is how I feel as well. My buddy that started this whole thing thinks otherwise. He thinks it would have a chance of missing the vitals? It is exactly where I have held numerous times before with crumpled coyotes lying right where they stood. I think it was simply the Vmax didn't hold up well enough to drop it.

It definitely reacted to the shot. It didn't crumple like I expected it to, but it bucked, spun and ran into the woods. There is a fast rushing creek just inside the wood where it went that was too treacherous to try and cross at night. I went back the next day and searched but never found it.
 
Hold looks great. I'd take it without hesitation. That said, I've seen that shot placement fail - with Vmax, daytime. Watched the bullets hit right where I wanted, saw a big puff of hair fly off, and the coyote run away.

- DAA
 
alf said:
I think the hold is perfect, however, something to think about:

www.predatormasters.com

WARNING: important thermal scope issues

Ok I was watching YouTube and a guy was having issues with an Iray scope. The scope would delay the display image. He was missing animals and found out the delay would cause the missed shot on a moving animal. Well I bought a bolt last year and was having some issues my self. I had the...
www.predatormasters.com www.predatormasters.com
Click to expand...
thanks alf. I have the video of the shot and it looks perfect so I don't think it was anything to do with a nuc delay or anything like that. I had been shooting 75gr Vmax loads with great success but got the urge to play with lighter and faster bullets. Broadside shots were devastating with a lot of damage on the entry side which makes me think the 8 twist was just too much for the bullet's construction. On the frontal shot I just don't think it drove deep enough for an immediate dispatch. Seems odd, but I lived it! Lol...
 
I myself shoot a 85gr sierra HP in my 243 T/C encore, I shot one frontal at about 80-85yds dropped there never even twitch, I personally think that 80 to 90gr for 243 are better for coyote, everybody has there personal choice.
 
I've always reloaded a 75 gr. Hornady V-Max at 3300 fps, for coyotes and never had a single runner. 💯 The 75 grain bullet weight still has enough speed for flat trajectory and offers plenty of knock down power. (y)

I've killed almost as many coyotes with my 22-250, but they almost always run a little distance before dying. I'm shooting a 55 gr. Hornady V-Max at 3850 fps, which will kill them, but doesn't have the knock down power of the 75 gr. that's coming out of the .243.
 
I'd pull the trigger on that 100% without hesitation. As already said , If the bullet hit the mark it was a bullet problem not a placement problem. That bullet probably broke up and deviated off the path by the time it got through the chest and didn’t hit anything important , or at least didn’t hit anything well enough to stop it within reasonable distances. I like light V-Max’s for prairie dogs but not coyotes. The heavier V-Max’s like 87 6mm’s and 120’s in my 7mm-08 seem to have some authority!

I actually had a double the other night where one was a frontal shot at 170 yards , coyote sitting on its butt facing me , and my 87 grain hot core in the 25-45 went through the chest and blew a hole through the shoulders on the way out the back. Clean through and drug a bunch of meat and bone out with it. Only a 223 case but it brings enough bullet to the party.
 
Thanks for the replies and opinions, guys. As my opening post says, what started this was a conversation me and my buddy were having about a frontal shot on a coyote that he didn't recover from the night before. He was saying his buddy took a frontal shot with a 6arc (75gr Vmax I think?) and the coyote got up and ran off. So I sent him the video of the coyote in my post. He said he thought there was a chance that it never touched vitals judging from the hold. I can't say anything about the one that got away on him, but I am very confident on the shot I took. Anything is possible, and with no recovery I cannot say that the bullet hit exactly where the crosshairs are, but I was surprised that it didn't just drop.

I have taken quite a few coyotes with frontal shots, holding exactly where the picture shows. My question wasn't anything to do with what happened or why the coyote ran off. I was looking for opinions of my point of aim. I think it is exactly correct, but wanted to know if there were varying opinions on the hold. That is where I would, and will aim 100% of the time. Had That coyote dropped on the spot, that set would have been a triple dog night as I dropped 2 more from the same position minutes later.
 
Okay here is my twist on it. I think your hold is perfect. However if I kept getting the same results I would lower it a tad to avoid the shoulder bone structure dealing only with the ribs. I have several 22-250's pushing 55-50 vmax as well as a 243 that I intend to use the 58"s as I stated earlier. Like I mentioned earlier I am very interested in the comments as well.
Plus I have a 223 Wylde pushing 40 grain Vmax @ 3600 FPS shooting bug holes @100 yards. Every aspect of this applies to my application.
 
@hunt0168
Light weight bullets tend to "splash" on bones, therefore is my recommendation of a heavier bullet, like the 75 gr. V-Max, for the .243.
Upon bone contact with a heavier bullet, there's better ballistic killing effects like hydrostatic shock and also why I get no exit, no runners and a lot of "bang flop".

I shot this one at 190 yards and it dropped in its' tracks.
243 Coyote 2.jpg

This one was behind my house, chasing my dog....bad idea. :sneaky:
2022 Coyote 4.jpg
 
@bowhunter57 Appreciate your input. Yes sir… as I mentioned, I had great results with 75gr vmax. I just decided to try the 58’s to see how they performed. They killed fine and caused a ton of damage with the exception of this one frontal shot. As I mentioned, broadside shots were showing huge damage on entry so they were coming apart on impact.

I’m not a reloader and use factory ammo. The 58gr loads are Hornady Superformance and were very accurate in my Tikka. I think the combination of blistering speed, and the fast 8 twist barrel was more than the light bullet could handle. I’m currently running Winchester Silvertips with 55gr NBT’s and they have performed well on the handful I’ve shot with them. They are extremely accurate as well. NBT’s have outperformed vmax’s in other calibers for me as well when dealing with lighter weight bullets.
 
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