A coyote was stalking wife and the puppy last night. The neighboring game warden thinks from the behavior that she was seeking food for her pups. My guess is that .380 ACP would probably be sufficient for coyote at 15 yards. (If it farther away, it isn't a threat to either. I am aware of pack hunting, but I suspect the first gunshot will tell the rest of the pack to call Domino's.)
FMJs should easily penetrate such a light and thin creature. Should we load with JHPs?
There's such a thing as a merciful kill, and .380 doesn't strike me as up to the task, you might well mortally wound it but not put it down for a mercy shot. If I was expecting an coyote encounter, I'd be carrying nothing less than an Evil Black Rifle in .223/5.56 NATO, but as I recall you're found of Browning Hi-Powers, which also have nice large magazines. 9mm with JHP that strikes me as a bare minimum, especially if you can shoot it more accurately, you really want the first round to hit the vitals.
ReplyDeleteTexas Governor used hollow points
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/27/AR2010042705323.html
Rick Perry shot a coyote while out jogging with his dog in 2010. He had a Ruger ACP loaded with .380 hollow points.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/27/AR2010042705323.html
I carry solid-nose 100gr in my .380. Granted, my concern is under penetration with clothing with the light bullet weight, but the 102gr Remington Golden Sabers have piqued my interest lately. With coyotes, I think one shot would be sufficient to do the job, unless it's starving or rabid.
ReplyDeleteI have found that .380 doesn't penetrate that well, nor does it put animals down quickly.....JHP or ball. It will act as a deterrant, but you will find that Pepper Spray does as well, in the short term. Plus no starving pups.
ReplyDeleteYMMV.
Use self defense rounds designed for 2 legged predators.
ReplyDeleteFMJ was superseded for a reason.
Either load may be sufficient for a small female 'yote. At least the ones around here. However, the patriarch and his companion is a whole 'nother story. Picture the biggest, baddest G. Sheppard, add a few more inches, give it the nastiest looking visage, and you have a fair approximation of what I occasionally see about 3:am trotting down the road to investigate the road side of the ranch's fenceline.
ReplyDeleteWe don't see much in the way of night time wildlife since the pack started hunting the ranch. Housecats seem in short supply, also.
I'm thinking 12ga for him and his buddy. But, city limits. So, like LA policing, all I can do is wave at them.
Gov. Perry indicated JHPs put the coyote right down without a whimper. Fortunately they seem to feed fine in my wife's gun.
ReplyDeleteAlso keep in mind that your local coyote may or may not represent what other people think of when you use the term. There are the darn near fox-sized ones seen in the desert southwest, and then there are the almost-wolves of the Northeast. Friend of mine sent me a picture of one of the ones he had running around in PA, and I thought he was trying to show me that they'd gotten grey wolves up there, now. Most assuredly, they are not the ones I was used to seeing down in the Mojave...
ReplyDeletetakirks: Very good point, see for example Wikipedi's coywolf article, the first part of which through the Eastern coyotes section matches my memories of other reports. My advice is based on the pretty big ones I see in SW Missouri, they're much larger than our local red foxes but not grey wolf size, I think.
ReplyDeleteYou might try some non-lethal discouragement. But if you must shoot the critter, the difference between the .380 and other handguns will not be that significant. Shot placement is the key. But, do use JHP's. Coyotes are small creatures - equivalent to a medium sized dog.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe some of these posts. Shot placement is a given, but 3 or four gut rounds from a 380 will send coyote to spirit land and the same holds true for human home invader.
ReplyDelete