17 replies to this topic

[timmy]

I have a question about the effective range of Hevi-Shot "Dead Coyote" shotshells. Last week my son and I called a coyote to within 80yrds. It stopped short, and stayed for about 3-5 minutes but would not commit. Since it was a shotgun only area, I had a Remington 870 12ga with 3" shells, and my son had a Benneli 12ga with 3 1/2" shells. We both thought we could probably hit the coyote, but not cleanly kill it. We never took the shot. (We are new to predator hunting, and this would have been our first success.) I have never patterend this shell at this range, and have no idea what effect it would have. It advertises that it is effective "beyond what you ever thought possible".Does anyone have any experience with this shell? Could we have killed it?

[Braz]

My first suggestion is to take the gun out and pattern it and then let us know what it did.

[tawnoper]

I have a question about the effective range of Hevi-Shot "Dead Coyote" shotshells. Last week my son and I called a coyote to within 80yrds. It stopped short, and stayed for about 3-5 minutes but would not commit. Since it was a shotgun only area, I had a Remington 870 12ga with 3" shells, and my son had a Benneli 12ga with 3 1/2" shells. We both thought we could probably hit the coyote, but not cleanly kill it. We never took the shot. (We are new to predator hunting, and this would have been our first success.) I have never patterend this shell at this range, and have no idea what effect it would have. It advertises that it is effective "beyond what you ever thought possible".Does anyone have any experience with this shell? Could we have killed it?

80yrd is a long stretch for a shotgun...perfect for a rifle though.Shotguns are lethal at close range like 40 yards and in...once you get past 40yd you'll start to get varying results. Could you of killed it?...maybe, but it probably would of ran off.

[Moe]

"and this would have been our first success."Highly doubtful. I congratulate your good and humane decision. You did the right thing. Taking a shot that you know will probably maim an animal isn't exactly good sportsmanship. The year before last I took a bunch of Dead Coyote 3 1/2" shells to eastern Oregon. All of my shots were within 40 yards so I expected them to be falling like bowling pins. It didn't happen. I shot one coyote at about 35 yards who was lifted off his feet and spun around 180 degrees then got up and ran off into the heavy sage. I found no blood nor the coyote. I lost a total of 6 coyotes with the stuff in like 3 days. I went back to #4 buck and I keep it under 40 yards and I haven't lost a single coyote this way. I can't give you an exact number but it's at least 12. 80 yards is a rifle shot.Furthermore I think it's irresponsible of the makers of Dead Coyote to advertise a 70 yard range. It will not do it consistently no matter what they say. I'm sure you can kill geese at that range but you will cripple many more and a coyote is a whole lot bigger and tougher to kill than a goose.

[timmy]

Moe,Thanks for your answer. Yes, we have done well with geese using this shell, very expensive though. I patterned out to about 40yrds, and it looked good, but this was over one year ago. I feel better about this whole affair after reading your post. No worse critic than the little voice in your head afterwards. Thanks again

[dabob]

The Dead Coyote loads are good loads but I wouldn't shoot at any coyotes at over 40 to 45 yards with them. With a shotgun the coyotes are either in good shotgun range or they are not in good shotgun range. Some people want to kill coyotes at 60 to 70 yards with a shotgun. If there was a shotgun and load that would kill coyotes consistently at 70 yards it wouldn't be a very good combination for shooting coyotes at less than 35 yards. After doing a bunch of pattern testing with the Hevi-Shot Dead Coyote and the Remington Wingmaster HD heavier than lead loads I think they may be a disadvantage on coyotes that are less than 35 yards away. They pattern so tight that it makes it real easy to not hit them solid and when you do hit them it is just with the edge of the pattern.

[Moe]

The 3 1/2" Dead Coyote stuff patterns extremely well and I have killed coyotes with it. My first attempt was at about 25 yards and I put the shot right into the chest cavity. The coyote didn't twitch. Back in my waterfowl hunting guide days when it was legal I'd often take guys to do some pass shooting at honkers and I'd set them up with #4 buck shells. It was highly effective and I'd be afraid to say how far some of the shots were. I also know that Alaska Fish and Game uses 3" #4 buck loads for the aerial wolf hunting both from airplanes and helicopters. So does Oregon. They often make kills at 50+ yards. I like to keep it closer. I have a lot of confidence in the #4 buck shot.I think dabob has a lot more coyote shotgun experience than I but I also think we hunt different kinds of country. I use the shotgun in very dense and flat sage country where the opportunity for a follow up shot is rare and wounded coyotes are almost impossible to find. The #4 buck doesn't pattern near as well as the Dead Coyote but it kills better. My observation. If I were forced to use the Dead Coyote stuff like in the California Condor zone I wouldn't hesitate to use it.

[PredatorMaster]

3" #4 buck Hit this yote at 30 yards.  1.jpg   22.27K   23 downloads

[mac]

is there a watermelon slice in his mouth?

[PredatorMaster]

shotgun shell.

[BC9696]

In a thread on the Shotgun board dabob wrote:I prefer the Remington HD BB load over the Rem HD and the Hevi-Shot Dead Coyote load because the HD BB load has 23 more pellets in it than the T shot loads do.I purchased some based on this logic along with a Dead Coyote Choke. Any opinions on the use of BB over #4 buck?I am awaiting arrival of the new shotgun and my 10 day wait before patterning it.

[tawnoper]

This just my opinion but...I think people get a bit too focused on getting the tightest pattern they can achieve as opposed to a nice useable pattern.I copied these stats from a post made by a guy who shoots A LOT of coyotes in a year with a scattergun:<10 yards - 410-19 yds - 1720-29 yds - 3530-39 yds - 2140-49 yds - 1150-59 yds - 260-69 yds - 070 yards - 1 (I had to laser that one myself)these are the yardages he took them at. Obviously the majority of action is at 40 yards and under. The advantage of having a real tight shooting shotgun is not really utilized the majority of the time...actually on most shots it's a hindrence...that tight cluster causes lots of misses on a fast moving coyote. I love 50yard shots...with my rifle.

[PredatorMaster]

Don't have a choke on my scatter gun killed my fair share of yotes in the 30-40 yard range with it. It is just a cheap old mossberg 500 12g shoot 3" #4 buck. Five dollars for a box of 5.

[ehd]

I have found that the shotgun is best used in the 25-40 yard range . I also have found that the remington HD in T shot consistantly patterns very true, and plenty of .20 cal pellets to do the job. I also had plenty run off with Dead coyote and found that its irregular pellets will not allow a consistant pattern. Shoot the stuff at the paper 3 or 4 times and compare targets. I love the shotgun for adc den work ,but it has left me "wishing "a few times. All very well stated by everyone above.

[jawbreaker]

I would try running that stuf fthrough your gun before hunting with it. I shoot a benelli nova and it doesn't like dead coyote and I know of others who have had the same problem. I wouldn't get hung up on this ammo because it's called dead coyote either, there are many other good loads out there as mentioned above. Ron

[Iron Worker]

$6 bucks for 5 3 1/2 #4 buck and (At Sportsmens Wearhouse) $32 bucks for 10 Hevi Shot dead Coyote. After reading this great thread that's a no brainer. Next time out I'm leaving shot gun at home. AR-15 can take for 1yd to maybe 250 yds.

[Baja_Traveler]

I totally agree that #4 buck is the way to go - at .240" it's the perfect combination of size and kinetic energy. Big enough pellet size to be effective on a coyote, and small enough that you get a good number of pellets in the shell. My next reloading effort I'm going to try #F steel shot - it's .220". I am pretty much forced to reload all my varmint shotgun ammo since I use a 16ga side by side and an old Remington 1100. If you already have the press for your shotgun, reloading is the way to go for less expensive shooting! I highly recommend the Coyote Loads book from Ballistic Products to get started, and it's cheap too. I buy all my buckshot and non-toxic shot from them also.

[dabob]

I think the perfect lead load for coyotes would be lead "T" shot if a ammo manufacturer made it in factory loads. When lead was legal for me to use I reloaded lead "T" shot that I bought from Ballistic Products and it worked great. The lead "T" pellets break bones and even penetrate deep into coyotes when the shot angle is not perfect. A 1-7/8 oz 3" 12 ga lead "T" shot load would have approximately 60 pellets in it.