204 Coyote Gun This Year

[McLernon]

I plan to use my 204 Handi with 40 gr. Vmax bullets for coyote hunting this year. Shots are likely to stretch out to 300+yards. Anyone else use the 204 for coyotes------what bullet have you selected and why?

Thanks

Mc

[bigjeepman]

Though I have thought about getting a .204 for my yote hunting, I have decided to stay with my .243 time and time again. The .204 interests me a lot as the ballistics are pretty awesome. Good luck and please tell us all about your experiences.

bjm

[LaOtto222]

1st off let me say I do not have a 204. Do you plan on saving hides or do you just want to put them down? There was a long and heated thread not too long ago about the best cartridge for saving hides. If you just want to put them down I think the 40 grain bullet will do the job. If you want to save hides I would think that a faster bullet with a thicker jacket would be the ticket. You want penetration, but not perforation. In other words you do not want it to blow up on the surface, but you also do not want it to go all the way through. It makes for a much more difficult choice in bullets. It comes down to not only bullet weight, but also bullet construction. A bullet that works at 100 yards, may not work at 300 or the other way around.  just my 2 cents.

[DalesCarpentry]

I have had the 204 Ultra Varmint and killed many Groundhogs with it this past summer. I have shot them at as much as 300 and 400 yards. After 300 yards the 204 loses a lot of knock down power and is border line sufficient for Groundhogs past 350 yards. Coyotes are larger animals and I would think twice about shooting one at 300 yards. Yes a well placed shot will do it like a well placed shot on any game will. I am just giving you my opion. I kind of think if it was me I would keep the shots to 250 yards and less. Dale

[aulrich]

I have been using one for a number of years now,  I use 35 gr bergers, because  of the feed back seen on the web for both the 204's and 177's, the 35's don't have the best BC so about 300 yards is where they fall below 400 ft/lbs of striking energy. When I am shooting gophers I use 39 gr seirras but they are not considered fur friendly. The suppliey of bergers in Canada  has improved some since then (I picked up a couple of years worth on a family trip in the States).

The berger head is very good with fur some of the coyotes I have shot you would have to really look to find the bullet hole.

Mind you with your larger eastern coyotes you can't go too wrong with the 40 hornadys guys have been reporting exit wounds but that extra punch could be useful for you, shooting the larger animal..

[McLernon]

Thanks guys, for the input. Sounds like good advise. With some planning I can probably position myself to limit the range to 250 yards. I think too that the 40 gr Vmax at 250 yards should be just about right.

Thanks again!

Mc

[DalesCarpentry]

Like I said that was just my opion. I really do think if you keep it around 250 yards the 40 grain VMax will do the trick for sure. I say this from my experience of shooting Groundhogs this summer. Good luck to you and please report back on how they work on Yotes. Dale