Quote:
Originally Posted by HardDrive
.22 will kill a yote, but you need to knock them down with an accurate head shot, then polish them off. If one looks at crime statistics, a surprisingly large number of people killed with firearms are killed with .22s. It doesn't have the knock down power of a center fire rifle, but it still will put a hole in you. Given that we are basically a big bag of water, holes ain't good.
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I would respectfully disagree, having shot a number of coyotes with the .22 over the years. Every single one of them has just run off. Granted, maybe they died from the wound some time later - I have no way of knowing. A few, however, were subsequently finished by my partner with whatever he was shooting. Those that were, upon skinning out, showed no more than shallow flesh wounds where hit by the .22. Certainly not lethal wounds by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe at extremely close range, at just the right angle in just the right spot - missing any and all bone, be it the skull or ribs or shoulders or whatever... maybe. I certainly wouldn't count on it, though.
Yes, lots of folks are murdered with .22's. Way different circumstances, though. Lots closer, element of surprise, multiple shots, etc. can all play into it. You'll never get that close to a live coyote, and even if you did, he's not just going to stand there unsuspecting and let you shoot him. Guys do kill them with shotguns, but they are expert callers, well camouflaged, and typically use full choked guns with heavy turkey loads. Even then, they are really stretching the range of that combination.