Scopes for Coyote Hunting

Am Shooting Journal ^ | 3/6/2019 | M Collins

[w1n1]

What should you top that AR-15 with?
Scope selection varies by region, usual range to target, time of day you're afield. Hunting a natural predator can be an exhilarating and rewarding experience. There's nothing quite like hunting something that can be just as clever and canny as you are.
Coyotes fit this bill nicely. They're smart, fast, tough creatures that also happen to be destructive to livestock and other game animals like pheasant and quail. All of this combines to make coyote hunts a popular and enjoyable pastime.

That is, if you can actually hit the sneaky suckers. Coyotes are a challenging animal to hunt. They're smarter than a lot of common game animals like whitetail and even turkeys, and they’re stealthy and cautious at all times.
If you’re looking to go after this wily creature, you better make sure that you and your gear are up to the task, or you’re sure to go home empty handed.
Today, we’re going to be talking about one of, if not the most important piece of gear for coyote hunting: your optic. Coyotes are small, fast, and sometimes like to hunt in low light around dawn and dusk, so you’ll need all the help you can get if you want to down some song dogs this year. A good optic is a strong step in the right direction, while a poor one will definitely leave you hanging out to dry.

OVERVIEW
There are so many different high-end choices out there these days that choosing just one to mount on your rifle is somewhat of a daunting task. How do you pick one scope from the thousands that are out there? Well, first you need to define your needs.
A 40x target scope and a 3-9x hunting scope can both be perfectly good scopes, but for dramatically different types of shooting. You will likely be hunting varmints from a distance, so you won’t have a need for a red-dot sight or a high-priced optic like a holographic EOTech sight.
For coyote and other varmint hunting, here's what you need.

Magnification is the most contentious, and also most subjective, part about choosing any scope, and that almost goes double for choosing a predator scope for coyote hunting. The magnification you need is going to vary wildly based on your environment, your rifle, and even your personal skill level. Read the rest of scopes for coyote hunting.

[Uncle Miltie]

Cammo, stillness, downwind, and on their known freeway will give you a shot.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Nikon makes a great scope for the money. I have a M223 3x12 on a bolt gun and a 1x4 on my AR.

[Mathews]

Yep... my brother in-law has this optic mounted on his AR. I have an EOTech on mine, but I’m seriously thinking about this one too.

[ManHunter]

I’m actually more a Leupold guy (incredible customer service), but there’s nothing wrong with Nikon scopes.

[Mathews]

Here lately I’ve seen two or three carcasses on I-10 between Spanish Fort, AL and Pensacola FL. Never seen that many before.

[Mathews]

Drove up the driveway when I was a kid. We’re from Colorado and just decided to take a trip across the boarder during a pheasant hunt so my dad could see the canopy of trees over that drive. I had no idea what had happened there until we left and he told me the story. I was probably 11 at the time. Read the book later in life. Gruesome... Capote did a good job on that one IMHO.

[SgtHooper]

You have reading comprehension problems, even for the brief text you MIGHT have read.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Can we not just use a RPG? 6 inch trench motor?

Now, I admit an 8 inch howitzer is a little bit large, and is a might bit tricky to aim considering the wind speeds aloft are so uncertain, but an 88 mm high-speed bullet would definitely knock down your typical coyote.

[wardaddy]

If you trap em in those big cage traps TSC sells you likely won’t need a scope

[wardaddy]

All joking aside

Scope for coyotes has more to do with terrain than the quarry itself

Any 3x9 will do

Unless you’re a hot shot like those YouTube guys who like to show off with long shots

Course most coyote hunts recorded are about using gear to get the dog in close

[wardaddy]

My sons shoot coyotes on our property with a Remington 597 that came with some cheap Tasso glass in six power

Works well enough honestly

[Lurker]

I actually did read the entire thing. The author says a 4-14 power variable is a goood choice. Then the number 1 scope shown is a fixed 4 power ACOG.

It’s a great piece of gear but it contradicts everything he wrote.

L

[yarddog]

Yes that murder didn’t make sense. I guess they wanted to leave no witnesses but it got them hanged. I think the last hanging in Kansas.

Their entire haul was around $20, a radio, and a binocular.

Especially bothered me about Kenyon and Nancy. Two innocent teenagers. I lived only a few hundred yards from the cemetery where the Clutters were buried.

[gundog]

...Alvin Dewey who caught the criminals of the “In Cold Blood” book.

They were caught in Vegas.

[Magnum44]

I’m skipping most of the article. From experience, good glass and construction made to handle shock is most important. Figure out what you want the scope to do, then look for the best glass you can afford. Variable scopes are extremely expensive when built well (think US Optics, Swarovski, etc) and will run a few grand. For the money you can get much better optics on a fixed power scope, than the same priced variable. A lot of cheap scopes come out of china these days and chances are you will wind up having to replace a cheap scope when it breaks. Better to save and get quality. The general rule is your glass should cost as much as your rifle. (And don’t skimp on the mounts either)

[yarddog]

Yes they were caught by a sharp eyed cop who recognized them from a wanted poster. It was Dewey who led the investigation which identified them so their identity was known.

Actually the Farmer’s organization which offered a reward probably did more than anything. That is what caused an old cell mate to name them.

It was Dewey who got them to confess tho.

[VRWCarea51]

You ever hang a laser on the ARs along with the Burris for fun?

[Big Red Badger]

“In Cold Blood” ,
The movie is pretty good too.

But I also need a scope, #4.

[Travis McGee]

I have green lasers on both ARs.