Absolutely Addicting - Yotes
Small Game
Contributors to this thread:
Well back in Feb I bought a Primos Alpha Dog and took it out a couple of times in feb, with no success.
I checked the weather forecast yesterday here in Northern IL and saw the full moon coming up early, snow on the ground and a light wind. I decided to go out last night...Wow
First two sets - had dogs come in. I'm sure I could have played it better but still had called in coyotes. What a rush!!!
Now for the question, for you veterans, what scope do you use? Looking for something that will gather a bunch of light. Last night the shots were about 150 yards with a 223, should have been a slam dunk. Could not see much through the scope, basically shooting at a "blob". Considering the Barska "AR" scope.
While I can only hunt nights through March 15 here, I still want to upgrade/change glass to help remedy the issue.
Thanks in advance
James
Most any scope with a large objective lens. Now, depending on what your budget will handle the more expensive scopes like Swarovski will gather more light due to better quality glass. Dusk,and dark is where these higher end scopes stand out and you'll understand why you spent so much. When buying a gun you should always spend more on the scope than on the gun. Look for a 50 mm objective and you should be good.
Thanks Guys.
Pat - after reading reviews I am moving away from Barska. I've looked at that Nikon and may go that way. I'm also looking at another "SWAT" version manufactured by an offbrand with a 42mm objective. May buy both and play with them.
I hear you on the 1K, already getting some grief from my bride about the "next" obsession (deer, turkey and now coyotes) and the gear associated with it. Snow camo, call, scopes, and such.
What bipod or mono pod do you guys use?
James
Look at the M223 with the 42 mm lens by Nikon, hard to beat for the price. Its what I shoot and it does well in low light.
" already getting some grief from my bride about the "next" obsession. jrhurn"
Just ask her if she'd rather you chase whores and drink hard liquor instead? Everytime my wife complains that's what I ask her...Mike
IMO you can't go wrong with Nikon scopes for the money I think they are the best deal.
Can you not use digital night vision, it's very good in what i call half light where you would struggle with a regular scope . Failing that a good European scope like Swarovski or zeiss,
Pat, I can assure you its not a financial issue that makes my wife want me to spend my time and money on huntin instead of whores. But maybe not all women are like my wife? Mike
http://www.chuckhawks.com/straight_scope.htm
Note section II.
Great and some not so great info..HA
How about shooting sticks? Which do you guys prefer?
James
X2 on the M-223 scope and the Primos bipod trigger sticks.
I'm now really curious how Pat knows the average hooker costs $300 a week?. . .
I know this may be more than what you're looking at, but check out Trijicon scopes
I have a Trijicon 4x ACOG on my AR, with a tritium illuminated crosshair that only lights up in low light and the dark. . . it's the balls
(and YES, I know it's not legal to hunt with a 30 rd clip, which is why I don't. I just keep an empty one in the truck for pics, because it looks cooler :) :) )
Bake
Here's a better pic of rifle and scope, with my wife on the trigger. . .
An AR and a wide field of view ACOG make 40 yard doubles in the brush a possibility. . .
I use a Trijicon accupoint scope on my AR for coyotes,great scope but in the $1000 range now. I just put a Cabelas Euro Instinct on my wife's 30.06 and it actually was brighter in low light than my Trijicon. I don't think you can find a better quality scope for the money and Cabelas lifetime warranty. I was very impressed.
Bake, that's a question I'm sure we were all pondering !
jr, I have two identical ARs ( except for color ) set up for yotes. One wears a Nikon Prostaff 2.5x10 and the other wears an ATN Night Arrow for night work. The night vision gets more work on hogs than it does youtes though !
IR flashlight and suppressor makes being a hog a dangerous existence. Coyotes too !
Yeah, Pat, it is, but we mostly call yotes in the early daylight hours. Most of my coyote hunting is done on land that has cattle, and I think the landowners would frown on night time shooting, and I don't want to take any chances. But our hog hunting is done on my place or my lease and no cows means no accidents.
Nikon P-223 on my AR and Leupold's on my other varmint rifles all are great in low light especially the Leupolds.
Nikon P-223 has served me well.
Obviously lots of opinions on this. :0) All I hunt is full moons with snow on the ground. 50mm lens helps a ton and I highly recommend it. Light up recticals stink at night. Tough to aim in my opinion as yotes get lost in the light. Both my friends and I have switched back to standard. I have a Nikon Prostaff 3-9 power. Works great and doesn't break the bank. Nikon has good eye relief also which helps with lots of winter clothes on. My $.02. TODDY
Nice setups. I've actually been pondering a longer barreled upper with possibly a Leupold Mark AR scope.
That and a new trigger. I don't know how the newer ARs are, but my old bushmaster bought in '99 has a horrible trigger
Wow Pat, you need to change neighborhoods that you price whores. The good ones go for about $500 per night, and they are worth every penny ;)
As far as Barska, I really do not like to directly bash any product in particularly, but from my research, Barska is pretty much junk. On the other hand, their are a few other optics companies that are known for junk but actually when you raise the price points they also offer high quality stuff, so you guys could know something that I don't.
Concerning the statement that it wasn't legal to use a 30 round clip, I didn't think there was a law in any state that restricted magazine capacity for coyotes, lot's of states do not even have a season or a limit, kind of a free for all.
Plus the fact that someone could only hunt after dark up til March 15. I guess I need to read the regs a bit more closely.
Bake, for $200/$250 you can drop a CMC or Timney trigger in an AR in about 15 min. It makes a world of difference.
ToddT, in Texas we can use any size mag and shoot them 24/7/365. Gotta love that !
You can use the 30-round mag. in the right states.
Got the joke, Pat. Pretty funny. :-)
I shot this one and another a few weeks ago in KS. Turns out a .17 HMR does not kill them very quick. Hit this one in the back of the neck and he was still trying to run off and had to shoot him again in the head.
! I like yotes but will never pass a shot on one ! AZ is a awesome place to call, in a few setups we killed two with the bow , few others came withing gun range but no bow shot !
They are just as addicting with a camera and just as hard to get a good shot at too. I took this one a little over two weeks ago. i saw one yesterday but never could get a shot at it.
Have a great bow hunt. BB
I use at home a high powered pellet gun, in the woods just my recurve and a woodsman 160g broadhead.
a budget would be helpful for advice.
for the last few minutes of light a 30 or 34mm tube will help a lot....more so in some cases than a bigger objective lens.
cheap optics aren't worth what you pay.
lower power will gather more light, meaning that if you have a 6.5-20 power scope and it's getting to dark to see at 20 you'll seen fine at 6.5.
you can hit coyotes just fine at 150 with a 2x scope.....so if your most of your shots are close.....a light weight low power scope will serve you better than a high power scope.
I run some leupold mk 4's, a mark ar (good scope for the money) some schmidt & bender, and some US optics on everything from 223's and 22-250's to 338 lapua......just killed one at 100 with iron sights with a sig 556xi.....I love iron for close quick shots.
Optics are every bit as important as your rifle.....if not more
Take a look at the hiperfire ar triggers....they aren't a drop in, but they are better than any drop in I've tried and they aren't too bad to install (as long as you don't slip when you compress the springs.....they will be on the other side of the shop)
don't be scared of used scopes.....you can get really good deals and most of the top manufactures will still take good care of you if something goes wrong.
How old do you think coyotes get ? I got this trail cam pic Jan. 2008
How old do you think coyotes get ? I got this trail cam pic Jan. 2008 Then I got this one Jan 2015 50 yds away from the first set.Do you think it could be the same one? I take thousands of pics each month and only have ever got two pics with one ear
My farthest shot was 455 yards with a cheap Redfield. Which by the way was bounced off the ground and it still kept its zero. I'm still using it on a different rifle, the suppressed .17 HMR pictured above, 10 years later.
I would bet money it's the same coyote in the pictures. I honestly don't know how long coyotes live, but I would suspect 8-10 years is probably not uncommon for healthy coyotes with good habitat and food. Interesting you don't have any other pics of him though...
--Jim