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Best alternative shotgun shells for cyotes

19K views 16 replies 14 participants last post by  papershell 
#1 ·
Hey i was woundering whta would be the best shotgun shell for cyotes/foxes, turkey 3" or 00 buck 3".

Thx
 
#2 ·
For coyotes I prefer to use #4 buck, hits hard and doesn't blow them apart
 
#3 ·
A Hevi-shot load with BB would be the very best like a "Dead coyote" brand but at around $5 a shot I can't do that. Hornady coyote with plated BB are very good factory loads.
I reload and I load a federal 3 1/2 hull with 38 gr of steel powder and an 1 1/2 oz. of nickel plated lead "F" shot out of a extra full .689 choke with EXCELLENT results.
 
#7 ·
sekgorilla said:
For coyotes I prefer to use #4 buck, hits hard and doesn't blow them apart
This is my opinion as well. I do have 3 different loads for coyotes though and often take all 3 when hunting rabbits/squirrel.

4 buck for all around, always 2-3 in my pocket in case I see one..

hornady heavy mag BB for when I'm around the cows

and always a 5 pack of 00B in the truck for when I see one on a hillside or sleeping in a pasture.

But again, if you are just wanting to toss something in your pocket incase you see one.. buy a box of 4Buck.
 
#8 ·
Parson said:
Winchester has a new 12 ga varmint round called Varmint X, 3in. BB, have not been able to lay my hands on any but hope too. Prices very a lot but see them for about $1.50 ea. Plus shipping, hope my dealer can get them for that including shipping
Ive played with these (Winchester Varmint-X) loads a little bit. So far they have been pretty impressive with patterning. ON PAPER I had an acceptable pattern at 60yds with a .665" Coyote choke by Carlson. This was shot from a 870 with a. 28" Carlson barrel.
I bought one box of the Hevi-shot Dead coyote T shells and yes they are expensive. They shoot and pattern great but for the price I cant justify buying another box.
Ill stick with the Winchester Varmint-X for now.
 
#9 ·
Lefty2barrels said:
Parson said:
Winchester has a new 12 ga varmint round called Varmint X, 3in. BB, have not been able to lay my hands on any but hope too. Prices very a lot but see them for about $1.50 ea. Plus shipping, hope my dealer can get them for that including shipping
Ive played with these (Winchester Varmint-X) loads a little bit. So far they have been pretty impressive with patterning. ON PAPER I had an acceptable pattern at 60yds with a .665" Coyote choke by Carlson. This was shot from a 870 with a. 28" Carlson barrel.
I bought one box of the Hevi-shot Dead coyote T shells and yes they are expensive. They shoot and pattern great but for the price I cant justify buying another box.
Ill stick with the Winchester Varmint-X for now.
Well I bought a whole case of them ($135) and finally got to pattern them, but first let me bore you with my buckshot story. A couple years ago I set out to find a solid 50 yard coyote load. I had a 10 ga. BPS and a Beretta Xtrema II 12 ga. I went through two bags of nickel plated #4 buck in the 10 ga and never found a load and choke combination (3 after market chokes plus factory) that gave me confidence. Read and followed everything Ballistic Products said and sold, nothing to brag about. I only used factory ammo in the twelve. Tried everything I could find on the shelf in both #4 and OO, 5 after market chokes plus factory, again, nothing that gave me confidence at 50 yards. When I test for a coyote load I use a full size coyote silhouette cutout, spray paint the outline on brown construction paper. I want at least 5 pellets in the kill zone but consider 4 tolerable. I know 50 yards is stretching it but in almost 50 years I have never had a 30 yard coyote. So how did the new Winchester Coyote BB stuff work, not fantastic but better than any factory I have used with the possible exception of Heavey Shot Dead Coyote. Using 2 targets each, My Pattern master .714 put 3&4 in kill zone, Dead Coyote .671 put 4&5 in kill zone, Drake Killer .690 put in 5&6, Optima 4&5 but my BlackCloud .713 put 7&8 in. I know only 2 test shots is not difinitive but that's it for now. Just for grins and chuckles I tried the Carlsons Black Cloud at 30 yards. I quit counting at 30 in the whole target with 15 in the kill zone. The only question I have is how much difference in penetration between #4 buck and BB?
 
#10 ·
That is my concern with the Varmint X loads. The technology has proven itself in the patterning of the Winchester longbeard shells as far as density. But does anyone have any numbers comparing penetration of BB vs. #4 buck at 50 yards (or farther)?
 
#13 ·
I can't speak from the knowledge of having killed a lot of coyotes. I only killed one while hunting pheasant. He tried to run past me in a corn field & didn't make it. 1 1/8 oz. of #6'S up side his head stopped him cold. From what I have been told, they are not at all hard to kill when they are close. I have patterened a lot of buckshot. I would put my money on #4 buckshot if you can get it to pattern, I never could but haven't given up. I have 5 lbs. of hard #4 buck I am going to try with different 10 ga. loads. Buffer usually helps a lot. If that doesn't work, I would go with the biggest size shot I could get to produce good long range patterns. Good quality lead 2's might do the trick. They will definitely kill yodel dogs but the question is how far? That is a question to be tested in the field. Do you know anybody that shoots a lot of then with a shotgun? The higher density stuff like Hevi Shot is great but I think a good patterning lead load is all you need.
 
#15 ·
Pretty much all of my load testing with buckshot has been for deer hunting in 10 & 12 ga. guns. What I have found is up to about 35 yds., a good patterning load of 9, "OO" will kill a deer as dead & as quick as anything. I don't like to shoot at deer over 50 yds. with buckshot even when patterns seem to indicate they are up to it for lots of reasons. However, I think I can apply what I learned about buckshot for deer & waterfowl to coyotes. First, a coyote is not a real big critter. People that have killed a lot more than me say #4 lead will kill them at the shorter ranges. I think good patterns are more important than what size shot you shoot. I think I would lean heavily to the best patterning, buffered load of 4 bk., BB's or 2's, (whatever large shot works) I could find. How many of us do you think can consistently estimate distances in the field to +/- 5 yds.? I have had people get very hostile over this! I can't always tell you how far game is but I can tell when it is within my "kill zone" pretty consistently. Good patterning loads at long range are good insurance against underestimating range! I like the idea of #4 BK, if you can get it to pattern. A 3.5" 10 ga. hull will hold a lot of #4 buckshot!
 
#16 ·
"Best alternative shotgun shell for cyotes" has been discontinued. Federal Premium HeavyWeight Coyote is a Federal Flite Control wad pushing HW-15 BB stock #PHC120 BB. It will knock a coyote off his feet at 60 yards without special chokes. Truthfully it'll kill a lot further than that. Add in some poor range estimation on an already long poke and I likely have the longest shotgunned coyote seen on a board.
https://www.gobblernation.com/phpBB3/vi ... 29#p208829

I bought all of the stock that I could find. Here is the wrapper that it came in.
https://www.sportsmansoutdoorsuperstore ... eight-5box

Until Federal comes back around with a newer version of this stuff, loading TSS is the best alternative. TSS will reliably put up coyote killing patterns past 60 yards with sufficient penetration to get the job done.

204_ruger said:
I use a shotgun a bunch. I carry a Remington SP 10ga. Cant use buckshot on them. Only time we can is in deer season. If we could I have a bunch of 10ga #1 and #4 buckshot. Only 10ga I ever loaded was steel shot. I fount several boxes of BBB copper plated yrs ago.
204- If you're already loading steel, you likely have what's needed to load TSS or HW. A 10 gauge packed with TSS-3 or HW-BB would be potent medicine way out there.
 
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