Shotgun vs. AR15...what's your success?

bowhunter57

bowhunter57

Well-known member
Not that one weapon is better than the other, rather which one do you have the most success with and why?

I've always used my AR, but recently with all the foilage I attempted using a shotgun. I called my first coyote, he was on me before I knew what was going on and was on his way out by the time I seen him. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif

Everything worked...the motion decoy drew him in, he came from upwind of my location, he never seen me, but when he got to within 15 feet of the motion decoy he must have heard its' mechanics making it move and did a slow retreat the way he came. That's when I noticed him and took a shot. After the shot he turned on the jets and was out of sight in seconds. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif 12 gauge, .670" extended choke, 3" Dead Coyote Ts.

I'm not certain, but I believe he circled slightly behind me and started barking. The barks sounded like a dog that was terrified, but barking very loud and non stop for about 3 minutes. I attempted to call a little more, but that made the barking worse. Can you say busted? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif He never seen me, but knew something was up.

I loved it!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif I'm putting my red dot scope on my AR, sighting it in and going back out. I'm hooked!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Good hunting, Bowhunter57
 
i carry both, my rifle sits at the ready on shooting sticks or bi-pod & my shotgun across my lap when the coyote comes close i bust him with the scatter gun a(Browning 3-1/2" gold 12) with a deadcoyote choketube & 00-buck my farthest coyote killed with it was aprox 53yrds, when you call in multiple coyotes you can often take the others with a rifle as they run away or hold up outside of shotgun range, its better to kill the coyotes the 1st time they come in because educated coyotes are tougher to call the next time i dont mind the extra weight because i feel i got the tools i need to cover every situation the coyotes can throw at me & youve got to agree theres something to be said for having the confidence & the tools to get the job done right the 1st time.
 
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AR. Because I carry it more.



Same here. I usually kill them before they are in shotgun range.



Exactly /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Slayer, I admire your constitution. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

I just can't get into carrying two guns to sets. Makes me feel like I should get a paycheck.

In the old days I was spending a lot of nights on the Frenchman River, The Muddy or the Stinking Water (T2?) with my Dad, Uncles and an occasional guest. Everyone had a suggestion as to what additional item(s) we needed to have along. I remember my Dad saying, "HllS BELLS fellers if we packed everything we might need we wouldn't be able to walk."

I am working on an M1100 conversion to the "perfect" /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif home defense/predator scatter weapon. Can't get to fired up as it is hard for me to think about the times when I would leave the truck without the R-15. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif

TrickedR-152.jpg


However, the projects and the gadgets will never end! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
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I usually kill them before they are in shotgun range.



In fact I have never seen a coyote alive that was in shotgun range.
Here they get spotted at 300 plus yards.
 
I had more luck with the shotgun just because I just started carrying the AR this past year! I did miss a solid black yote in Feb
 
If actual percentage of success is what you are asking about, then I have a better success rate with a shotgun than with a rifle. In other words I miss less with a shotgun than a rifle. If I have a shotgun, then I have to wait until they are close and once a coyote is that close in the fall/winter woods (I don't hunt now) they have a hard time out running that Benelli. Hitting one running through the timber with a rifle is much tougher.
 
Just depends on what type of stuff Im huntin in.If Im in close cover the shotgun is hard to beat.When its wide open country I like my rifle.I dont have an AR-15 but I have a .223 so thats close enough I guess.I dont know why but I always seem to have easy shots at critters when I have a rifle in my hands and I see easy broadside shots on critters that are a ways out there when Im carryin a shotgun. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
 
I would say that over the last 20 years we get more coyotes with shotguns per year than with rifles. Some of the areas we hunt if we only used rifles we would have to pass up 50% of the area because of cover or because it is very hard to find a rifle calling spot without a bunch of low spots or blind spots. Even in open country coyotes will use a little low spot in the terrain and sometimes you won't see them until they are on top of you. When I am hunting by myself I use the shotgun about 60% of the time. When I hunt coyotes with another person over half the stands we will have one guy with a shotgun and one guy with a rifle. I would say only about 10% of our stands do we both use rifles.
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Even in open country like in this picture we kill more coyotes by using a shotgun and a rifle. The shotgun shooter is laying down on the left with the Foxpro FX5 about 10 yards in front of him.
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In this picture the shotgun shooter just sat up to shoot the coyote at about 25 yards in wide open country.
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The coyote in this picture just came up over a big round ridge top, when we first saw the coyote it was about 80 yards away. My son Wes and I were sitting in the shade of a Juniper, I had a rifle and Wes had a shotgun.
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Here is the same coyote right in front of the caller and decoy. Look at he hair on his back, he is ready to fight.
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The coyote went through the fence and looked right at us. I think he heard my camera.
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Here is the coyote receiving 1-7/8 oz of copper coated BB's from Wes's shotgun.
 
Just a note to y'all that may not know. Members derbyacresbob and Gene-O have both had their photos published. They are as big a hit in the UK as they are here.
 
in west texas
(which is generally big open high desert with lots of arroyos
we get em with both
they can sneak up in an arroyo and pop up mere feet away
or you can watch em comin for (seemingly) miles
i will attempt to get a coyote as close as possible
(shotgun range is generally a 100% thing)
if they hang up past 50-60 yds they get the 223
(average about 80%)..including long shots and running stuff
so
i carry both
i find it very little trouble as i don't carry a seat nor electronics nor scent and generally no decoy etc
so
call(s) on lanyard, light shooting sticks, black gun and shotgun
not much trouble

guero
ps...great photos
 
I have been leaving my rifle home for the last year, using my shotgun exclusively. Haven't called one in yet that didn't drop where it stood with 3" BB's.
 
I have tried to carry a shot gun along on daylight stands also but, I just can't get into it. I usually just end up with my AR and the shotgun usually stays in the truck. Now night hunting is a different story the shotgun gets carried 100% of the time. Being in Kansas you can't use any artificial light and I find it much easier to use the shotgun then trying to see anything through my scope using moon light only.
 
I use my AR15 almost exclusively in the desert. The coyote can show up 5 feet away. Or, I can see him coming hundreds of yards away.

I use an Aimpoint CompML3 with an Aimpoint 3X magnifier on a LaRue mount.

I start my stand with the magnifier pivoted out of the way in case something shows up close. If I can see the coyote coming from a distance, it takes a fraction of a second to pivot the magnifier in place.

It is the perfect setup for me. It works close and far.
 
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