I am looking into branching out to the world of Coyote/Fox hunting. I currently have a Remington 597 rifle, but I am curious... Would this gun be good to use? I am not sure what caliber works best on coyotes. I would appreciate anyone's . Thanks.
what one caliber works best will defintally start a debate.
what works good would be
204
22-250
220 swift
223
243
and a ton more. those are my top 5 if your plans are coyote and fox id go with a 204 ruger. the reason i say that is the fox is a little smaller than a coyote and a 204 will save pelts better. that being said it depends on your hunting purpose. if you have no intention on saving pelts i would change my answer to any centerfire you can hit well with up to 400ish yards
I'd recommend .223 just because it's readily available and you can find alot of semi auto rifles chambered in it. Semi-auto does come in handy while coyote hunting as they often come in pairs, or you may miss, or they may be running.
I think most people believe you need a long range rifle to consistently kill yotes in Indiana. I have been calling for about 5-6 years (which by no means is a long time and nor am I an expert) and I can count on one hand the times I have taken a shot much longer than 50 yards. Get yourself a good 12 guage loaded with #2's and a pattern master choke tube. When hunting stands where a long range shot might be taken, I am toting a 22-250. I have killed yotes with 222 and 223 though. I also like the 204 cartridge.
I like my Savage .223, I get 1.25"-1.5" groups out of it at 200yds. I recomend getting a somewhat light weight gun if you are doing a lot of moving around.
I always used to hunt in tandem, one of us would take a shotgun 12ga 3 inch and one would take a 222rem
we hunted woods and cow pastures so long shots were 120yds and most of the time coyotes would come in to about 80yds and start a circle but grey fox would run in to fight with the tape player