Coyote Scopes....Need advice!

[shooters]

May be the wrong thread here, but I have a newly purchased Savage Model 10 .223 in the Precision Carbine. Its now my go to Coyote gun. I'm looking to put the very best scope under $1000 on it. Will be shooting close and far, day and night. I've always been a big target DOT reticle fan for easy on target running shots, but a lot of manufacturer's don't have that option available. Not sure if theirs better. Illumination? 56mm objective, 4-16, 4-24 power? Zeiss, Meopta, Leupold, Burris, Minox, Nikon, Bushnell, etc.....? I'm so lost. Been at this for days. I have a chance at buying a Zeiss 3-12x56 MC is the first focal plane and regular crosshairs, but not sure if this is a good choice for Coyotes. Its new and willing to sell for $625. Believe there around $1000 elsewhere. Not sure. Just need some real advice from coyote hunters on what they like, or wish they had, scope, reticle, etc... Thanks for the advice.

Jason

 

[Cold Trigger Finger]

Sounds good to me.

 

[dogbuster0006]

1 Where are you hunting? around thick woods on the east coast or out west where long long shots are possible
2 Are you packing this gun long distances or sitting around just watching?
3 Is this a dedicated coyote rig? Are you planning on shooting gopher or pd at stupid long distances

I've ran 3-9x40 on a 243 for yrs, dad bought me this gun when i was 12-13 and it's what i had. I built a ar-15 and run a 4.5-14x40 on it and for 95% of my shooting it's been plenty. I recently moved to alaska and will be buying a new coyote and wolf rig in 243win something in the neighbor hood of 4-12 or 6-18 is all I plan on using. I know several buddies that bought 1k rifles and 1k scopes and aren't any more successful than I am, most of the time we hunted together. One has a custom build 220 swift don't want to guess how much he has in it and a 8-32 leupold the gun isn't fun to pack around watch him struggle with it constantly. He has yet to need 32x on the scope and I've watched him struggle with anything inside 100yd. Takes him forever to get on target and if one comes in close I'm the one who ends up shooting.
Most of my hunting has been in KY and TN I've hunted yots since i was 13 or so and to date my longest shot has been right around 400yd. What I'm trying to say is you don't need stupid big magnification to hunt yotes, you are using a 223 so I'm guessing majority of your shots will be 400yd or less. My 308 wears a horus hawk 3-12 with the h58 reticle I've target shot to just shy of 900yd with it and 12x was plenty there.
My advice is to spend around $4-600 on a decent scope and spend the other $600+ on ammo and calls or trips to go hunt.
Leupold for me is the standard by which other are judged. I'm happy with the nikon and my new rifle will end up with a redfield revolution 4-12x40 for about $260 it's going on a ruger american rifle which I can get for about $350, and it's not going to hurt my feeling a bit to go out and bust brush and scratch and dent it all up.
What I'm getting at is you don't need to spend a ton of money to have a rifle capable of taking yotes at any distance you have business shooting them with a 223. One of my army buddies spend a good 5k on custom precision 308, add to that about 2k for a nightforce scope that I can see the machining marks in the staples we hold our targets with. It may shoot a lil better than my rem700 which i have around $1700, but the groups aren't 4k worth of difference for me. Save the extra money and use it to buy ammo and learn to shoot your gun, know exactly where it hits at any given range and you can't go wrong. You will have more close shots than far ones in my experience and if you pick up a couple dvds Randy Anderson is my fav most of the shots they take are inside 100yd. Maybe buy a good shotgun with the left overs...lol
Good luck and happy hunting.

 

[Cold Trigger Finger]

I think Dog buster has it pegged pretty well.
There is a big difference between putting fur on the ground. And having a bragging rifle. If you have lots of $$$$$$$$$ great. A friend of mine builds 15'000$ big bore rifles. They sure are nice. But they won't kill anything any quicker than my old and trusted 458 will. I think the scope your discussing sounds like a good scope at that prices. But today, laying in the snow at 18 below zero I printed a, half inch 3 shot group at 200 yards with my Savage Edge 223 with a 4-12x40 Nikon ProStaffusinsg range pickup brass and 55 gr Hornady Spire points pushed by Varget.
To me tho that isn't good by high dollar standards. Its definatly great to me. I have about $510. Into the whole rig.
If it were me I would get a Leupold VX II 4-12 with the LR duplex. And spend the extra $$ on a good dependable elect. caller , mouth calls DVDs by R.A. ect.brass bullets primers and powder
I would much rather put an extra 200$ into powder primers and bullets than into a higher dollar scope.

But nice glass IS nice. But in and of itself it won't put more fur on the ground ..

 

[shooters]

I guess I should have been slightly clearer on my post. Im not looking for the best scope for bragging rights.....???Not sure where that came from: Im looking to other coyote hunters for heir opinion on what they think is the best coyote scope? Reasons someone may think this or that scope is the "best" coyote scope may include: light gathering capabilities at low light.....when a lot of coyotes come out; or a particular scope because its the only one that may come with a certain reticle and it makes it easier for fast running coyotes.....things like that. Has nothing to do with money. I stated in my original post that my newly acquired Savage. 223 is my coyote gun, and its job will be shooting day and night, close and far. This indicates that i will need a scope that is able to have a reitcle that can be seen at night, yet works in the day, and can go to a low enough power to shoot a coyote at 20 ft, yet have a high enough power range to shoot 600 yards. Hope this clears up the confusion of "having the best scope for bragging rights", and the confusion of "what Im looking to use this gun/scope for. Thanks for all the advice. So, whats the best (in your opinion) coyote scope, size, brand, reticle, etc....


Jason

 

[Cold Trigger Finger]

I find the circles in my Nikon BDC to be easy to deal with.
I had a Burris 1.5-6x E Dot scope that was very easy and fast. Even in bright daylight on the snow .. shooting running animals it really helped keep my focus where it needed to be
.
I'm hopeing to put a Burris FF E1 3-9x50 lighted reticule on my 6.5 Creed when I get it.

For durability the Leupolds have always been the most long term consistant . .

I think no more than 4x at the bottom end of a Scopes power range is a good Max. For me anyway.

I think there is quite a difference between a sniper scope and a hunting scope. As far as ease of use with limited time looking thru the scope.
I think the Nikon Coyote Special reticule could use a dot in the center of the center circle.
Sorry if I went off.
A guy I know out west has had S+B . Zeiss, and Swarvorski Scopes and they all broke. He's not overly hard on his guns but litterly lives by them. He's a P.H. and homesteader/ trapper. He likes Leupold because they don't break down.

 

[Cold Trigger Finger]

P.s I like hold over reticules for a fur scope. Duplex reticule s are OK for Max point blank range but on a 223 that's only around 250 yards. Or so.

 

[dogbuster0006]

I run a nikon coyote special 4.5-14x40 with the bdc, and for the money I believe was around $300 I love it. Great light gathering and clear glass nearly as good as the older leupolds dad and I have. After shooting at diff ranges and figuring out exactly where to hold it's hard to beat. Have you check any of the horus vision scopes or any scope using the horus reticles it's almost like cheating when i shoot my 308 at long distance repeatable and accurate first and second shot hits out to around 900yd with mine and in boring regularity...

I'm not a huge fan of illuminated reticle scopes never had much use for one myself but, in KY cant shoot after dark. Leupold has that new vxr series played with on in the store and they're pretty slick. The hog reticle looked pretty neat too, I'm not sure all the diff options with them but might want to take a look. Trijicon also has illumination in the accupoint and the mill dot with the illuminated center dot maybe about perfect. Mil holds for long distance and a bright dot to put on targets up close for fast shooting, they're got a 3-9x40 and a 5-20x50 in two or three diff color and a couple reticle options. We weren't trying to give you a hard time or anything like that earlier. We've all got that buddy with more money than sense and we didn't want you to fall into that trap...
If you are using a spot light for incoming yotes then i think any scope will do as long as you keep the power down. Maybe bushnell new hdmr scope 3-21x50, all the options out there can be mind boggling.
Google the light gathering properties of a rifle scope should explain this in detail. But from what I've gathered and have actually seen in the field, higher your magnification the darker you image will be. I can see better in low light with 4x than with 8x and that better than say 12-14x. Something to do with the exit pupil size or some such I can't say but look on google for more clarification.

 

[window licker]

I use a nightforce 3.5-15x56 mil/mil adjustments on my coyote rifle. I am running a bat machine VR 90 with a McMillan A3 sporter and a lilja 3 groove 1-8 twist barrel in 22x47 lapua. bragging rifle? I refer to as refined and effective. I do like the nightforce scopes in regards to clarity, options, lit reticle and price. 15 power will give you the magnification to get out past the 600 yard mark quite easily and the 3.5 will get you on the running shots in close if things go bad. Snoop around on snipershide, you can usually find a good used nightforce in the 15x range for around 12-1350.

 

[Cold Trigger Finger]

Window ; that sounds like a nice rifle but the $$$$ would equal at least half a new 570 BearCat Long track. Which would carry me into real good wolf pack country.
Even going on a general fur expedition calling can put 1k miles on a pickup.
I have heard that NightForce Scopes function well in the deep cold. 40-60 below. . That would be my reason to get one.

 

[HARPERC]

Look at the Leupold V6 2-12. There is a good review in this months LRH articles.

 

[Whitetailaddict]

I use a Burris 3x9 40 mm on my tika t3 lite 22-250 and it has served me very well, it is a ballistic plex that has the holdover marks on it. I paid 200 bucks for it and if I were to lose it I would get another one in a heart beat, I personally do not think you need anything over 12 power, because at 12x a coyote is a big enough target out to 3 or 4 hundred yards if you were shooting gophers thats a different story I would go to a higher magnification thats just my 2 cents worth.

 

[steelshooter]

I like my Ziess 4.5-14x50 above all my other scopes. I think that power range is the most useful and versatile for hunting applications. The clarity of the Zeiss is better than most under $1000.

 

[westcliffe01]

I too have a model 10PC in 223 as my go to coyote rig. Mine is wearing a Nikon 4-16x50 SF scope. I have a custom turret on mine, specifically for Hornady superformance match ammo 75gr. The reduced wind drift and retained energy with those bullets makes it a practical gun, provided the wind is not blowing too strong. I hated working with the 55gr Vmaxes, they have a huge wind deflection post 250 yards and lack killing power too. Out of a 22-250 the 55's do better, but thats not what we are talking about.

For the times when the wind is expected to blow harder or with a bigger critter (including hogs) I have a model 12 in 243. The ballistics of the 243 are pretty good. I can shoot 95gr high BC bullets with the standard barrel. Going up to 115 vld's will require getting a replacement match barrel. That gun has a Vortex Viper PST 4-16x50 FFP. I love the scope, but it sure does add bulk. The reticles on the FFP scopes are actually useful but I have not had much opportunity to use mine in the field yet. If we ever get winter again in lower Michigan, then some coyotes may actually show up again....