22 Mag?

[Chum_Bucket]

I live in Michigan and want to hunt yotes at night. I have been told that only rimfire guns are allowed after dark here. So I am planning on buying a rimfire rifle. Gander mountain was advertising a savage 22 mag with a scope for $189. Which sounds pretty reasonable. I dont want to spend alot of money and I would imagine that they are all about the same as far as accuracy. Does anybody have any suggestions on what I should buy. By the way I think a 200 yard gun would be plenty. And does anyone know if a muzzle loader is legal after dark?

[coycaller]

I've seen this question on other boards. Ask yourself this would you hunt coyotes in the daytime with a 22mag. Not many responsible hunters would. So why would you want to at night when your sight picture is not near as good? No use wounding a coyote just because you can maybe have a better chance seeing one at night. Either use a good load in 12ga or hunt during the day with the right size gun. I'm all for getting coyotes but also for doing them justice in a clean kill.

[erick r schaefer]

I would agree with coycaller a 22 mag is not made for shooting coyotes. Yes it will kill them but they will run and there wont be much of a blood trail. I reccomend you try a 12 gauge with some of the new Hevi Shot, it should handle coyotes with ease. If you insist on using the 22 mag take only close range shots where you can place the bullet in the brain. Good luck and shoot straight.

[Rabbithead1]

Hello, Forget the "newbie hunter title" on the left, Iv'e been hunting over 30 years now. To answer your question, I don't hunt "yote's" with anything less than .223 Rem. I do carry a .22 mag, in the truck on the farm. It has dispatched dogs and yotes, but shot placement is tricky, and only close shots should be taken. Night hunting is not an option with this caliber. REM loads 40gr psp bullits that perform better than the hollow points. They are the better load for larger than groundhog animals. Find a good centerfire rifle in your price range, even if you have to wait a while.

[outlaw from Idaho]

Chum_Bucket, The 22mag well kill coyotes with well placed shots,but most people lean towards something a little larger. The likes of a 222rem 223rem and so on up the line.

I live in the wide open spaces of Idaho and use the 243win and 25-06rem for the most part for a calling gun. But also had good luck with a 222rem among others in years past.

If thats the only caliber you have you can use it, but if and when you make a bad shot you may see a few coyotes run off from time to time,not a good thing but then again that can happen even with larger calibers with bad shots also.

Good luck and good hunting, ;) Outlaw

[faber22]

I use a 22 mag because i dont use it much and i can use if for a wider range of game in more seasons. WIth a 223 or higher you can only hunt bigger game and the seasons are shorter on them. I can hunt for september 15 until the end of january with my 22 mag. I also dont hunt that much and i wasnt going to use the gun for deer so i didnt think it was worth spending a lot of money for a bigger gun that i wouldnt use. you defenitly will need to be a little bit more responsible and shoot the gun a lot to get the nac of it but that is what hunting is for. I think using a 22mag is better than using a shotgun. I have missed with a shotgun acouple of times were the animals would of been toast with my 22 mag. Its all up to you though and you make the choice.

['da law]

Hello All,

As for the .22 WMR, I carry a Ruger Single-Six in the truck around the house. In close (less than 50 yards) I have killed 'yotes w/it, but it ain't my choice of caliber for anything other than a companion. If money is a concern, and believe me, I have been there, try lookin' at the NEF/H&R handi-rifles. For about the same money as a decent .22 WMR bolt gun, you can have a good 'yote rifle ($250 bucks or so). The little rigs are accurate and come in a wide variety of cartridges to boot. Hope I didn't stir the nest too bad, just my .02 cents worth accompanied by a little in-sight!

'da law

[outlaw from Idaho]

I think the 22 mag is just fine if you are shooting ground squirrels,rabbits and house cats and such. I shot a badger this past summer with a 22 mag,one shot between the eyes and it was down for the count. I wouldn't use it for an everyday coyote calling gun. ;) Outlaw