Coyote/Fox Load: .22-250

[FALx2]

What is your favorite handload for coyotes and foxes? I don't want to destroy the pelts. I have gotten good accurach +/- 3/8" groups with Nosler 40gr. ballistic tips with 38grs. of Varget pushing them about 3850fps.

[Survey Punk]

Zowie!
I would think that load would scatter a coyote all to Hell-O-Pete. I use that bullet in .223 on the local feral cats and it's explosive at much slower speeds. Nosler has a partition that might fit the bill if you can stand the exit wound.
http://www.nosler.com/data22-250Rem60g.html

JB

[FALx2]

Yeah, That's my ground squirrel load, and it does just a dandy job...
anyone have real experience with good bullet/load combos for furbearers?
The 60gr. Partition looks like a great whitetail bullet.

[Andy the Aussie]

As a young’n I hunted foxes to keep me in $$$......back in the 80's they were averaging $25-30 for a winter pelt....now when you are 15 and can happily shoot 10 or more a night 2 nights a week those $$ add up fast and you are the envy of the rest of the school.....although some chicks were not “turned on” by my new found scent... ;) .

As I was not flush with dollars altogether I used my one and only pest rife....a Sako .22/250. Skins were worthless all shot to hell so I loaded it up with Sierra 40 or 45 gn (can’t recall now 20 years on) Hornet projectiles. Little almost round nose jobbies. They shot like steam and did minimal damage to the skins. We also shot lots of FMJ rounds with foxes as they were always head shots and the FMJ did the least possible damage. If you were a “professional shooter”, it was common that you would take upward of 5-6 THOUSAND skins in a winter season, the weapon of choice was pretty much either a Sako or Remington (most common) heavy barrel .17 fitted with an 8x56 Kahles.

Sorry for the ramble and short visit to my youth....hope I helped more then hindered.

All the best.

Andy :cool:

[hagar]

38.5 grains of Accurate 4350 with the Winchester 64 gr PP bullet. It will stabilize in a 1 in 14 twist, give around 3450 feet/sec, and you might be surprised at the long range accuracy. It will also penetrate a leg bone on a full frontal shot, pelt damage is normally pretty minimal, and it kills them like the hammer of Thor. I lost too many coyotes with broken front legs after shooting them with explosive 55 grain bullets, and this was the cats meoww for me. You might also try the Hornady 60gr VMax, but I never had reason to switch after I stumbled on this load. As for foxes, never liked shooting them but since the bullet expands instead of explodes, might work pretty good.