I will be going down to Georgia in late March, and some friends of mine thought we might be able to go hunting for coyotes. I will be taking my Beretta 96G .40 SW, I asume this would be enough fo a coyote, (I've never hunted them). I plan on using a 155gr. hollow piont that I have lots of. What might be a better weapons choice, when to hunt them day\night, and how to go about it? Thanks for any input on the subject you might have.

A .223 and a predator call. Even a 12 ga might be more useful.

If you can get one with a handgun, great - but it's stacking the odds in the coyotes' favor. I did get a fox once with a .45, but that was just a target of opportunity.

Last coyote I called in was 268 yards away, and my dad shot it with a Model 7 / .223. They do pop up closer in thick brush, sometimes.

The other way, besides calling, is spotlighting them and you'll definitely need something with optics for that. Don't know what rules you might have in GA, they are considered a pest here in TX and no significant restrictions on how you take them.

How about a .22 would seem to me to be small but I've heard of it being doen. Any thoughts on that? I was thinking of maybey using CCI stingers or mini mags.

The one my dad shot took several .223s, so think about that before you go after them with a rimfire.

Personally I wouldn't go less than a .22 mag.

Headshoot, if using a rimfire. Coyotes can be pretty tough. In the woods, use a shotgun. When calling here in the Idaho mountains, they often get too close for a rifle before you can see them, and a shotgun is best.

In open farm country or broken terrain, a 22 centerfire is a better choice.

Your pistol will have plenty of killing power, but I personally don't shoot a pistol well enough to want it to be my main hunting tool. You'll have to make that call for yourself.

We will be hunting in the woods and at night. Thats why I figures might be able to use a hand gun. However from reading up on hunting coyotes I gues we'll need to change taltics a little. As far as I know there are no rules for huntilg coyotes in Georgia. We will also be shooting armodilos but thats because they have overpopulted his property. Thanks for all the help and I cant wait to get my first coyote.

open season on coyotes in ga. Do what you like, but it is highly unlikely you will get close enough to one to shoot him with a handgun. I speak with alot of experience, if you are going to be in the confines of a wooded area go with the shotgun, it will improve your chances of a hit and you don't have to worry about down range trajectory. which wouldn't be a problem if you are 100 percent sure what's behind your target. Another thing is use a red lense on your spotlight or you will not ever get a shot because he will disappear qiuckly. As for armadillos they are tougher to kill than you would think and thay are actually pretty fast moving targets. Be carefull, the rabbit police in this state will burn you if you have a high powered rifle and a light in a truck at night. The game laws in my state are (so it seems) left a little open ended for interpretation depending on the circumstances.

Coyote hunting seems to be catching on here in the Southeast. I'm in NC and hunt mostly in Va. and we've seen coyotes while deer and trukey hunting. I've gone strictly for Coyotes once on a 17deg. day with a 15mph wind blowing, I chalked my lack of success up to the weather. Could it be the weather? Do they lay low in a wind? Is calling less effective due to the wind? how effective is an electronic call anyhow?

I'm curious about different methods, we can spotlight in Va. as long as the light is not attached to a vehicle. How is this done effectively? Do you call and keep spotlighting or wait until you hear something then flip on the light? The place I hunt is hundreds upon hundreds of acres of timbered land. I walked 2.5 miles on it and only went about 200 yds. in timber, so it's quite open and my shots can be long. Is this conducive to spotlighting or is spotlighting more for big woods?

There were lots of coyote and bobcat tracks as well a spore, so they're in there somewhere....


Tym

I have hunted in all types of wind and temperatures. Coyotes are just smarter than most give them credit for and the one thing you don't have control over is their hunger level. I f they are hungry and having to move for food they are more apt to react during daylight hours. Like turkey's you can call to much but who is to say exactly what to much is. As for the light at night, call for a couple of minutes quit and turn on the light and scan for eyes. You may get coons, cats etc but a red lense is must because it will not scare them off as quick, if at all. I am definetly not the authority, just alittle experienced. detroit

I've had the most success calling coyotes in at 9:00AM - 11:00AM. If they didn't catch something to eat for breakfast, they're hungry!

Spotlighting is effective if you can drive around at night and cover large areas, in my experience.

I actually caught some coyote hunting on the the Outdoor Channel yesterday, that was pretty cool. Basically all one could learn from it was a couple of calling techniques, but it was still worth watching.

I've also borrowed a night vision monocular from work so I'll probably try and spot them with that before turning the spotlight on 'em. Reckon they'll give a couple of seconds for a shot after the light hits 'em?

Geez, I'm dyin' to shoot something with the .223 and the groundhogs just ain't up yet....

Honestly, if all you take is a handgun, I think you'll regret it. It's been done, but you'll have to get them into range and well...they don't act like armadillos! For yotees I use a .243, 22-250 or 12 ga w turkey loads. Deadly out to 40 yds. with a turkey extra full choke. I've used a 22mag on one and it dropped in it's tracks at 80 yds, but I hit the spinal cord. I think they'd be fine for inside 100 yds, but if you miss the vitals, you'll never see it again. The very second they catch your scent, they are gone with a capitol G! You can get away with some minor hand movement, SOMETIMES, if they aren't hunted hard and been called/shot at alot. All I know about spotlighting is to call generously and sweep the area about every 30 sceonds looking for their eyes which of course look like little taillights in the light. Also don't hit them with the center of the beam until just before you pull the trigger if it's a very powerful light. Definitely use a red lense. Definitely check the game laws, you know the phrase...Came on vacation...left on probation...sent back on a violation. Regardless of what your buddy says, YOU check the law, it just aint worth it. As for calls, I bought a Johnny Stewart "Critter Gitter" pack which includes a long range call, short range call, and instructional video. I think it was like $35 but I remember it was **** well worth it. Electronic callers are a godsend if you just don't have the confidence in your calling ability. A good one is pretty expensive but again well worth it. I have the Johnny Stewart Prey Master. It's a digital unit, I like it a lot. There are better and more expensive units out there but it gets the job done for me. It's about $175 If you want more info than you could ever absorb, go to predatormasters.com go into the message forum and do a few searches. There is a whole forum devoted to night hunting.