Airguns for Coyote Hunting

When selecting an airgun to shoot coyotes make sure you get one that can deliver the power levels you need to make an instant kill. I recommend taking a look at Air Guns, Silencers, Calibers, Ammunition and Power Levels for a primer on this subject. Many manufacturers will publish power levels that you should be able to achieve in the specifications on each model at their website. I'd say these estimates are usually exaggerated. Do your research and leverage online forums to get an opinion from others if you can't get your hands on and shoot a particular model. I like to use Airgun Nation forum. After power levels make sure you get one with the features and characteristics that are important for you. This is a personal choice. There isn't "the best" necessarily.

FX Impact M3 air rifle

Many people will consider choosing between single shot, automatic or semi-automatic airgun. Typically all you will get is one opportunity at a particular coyote in a day. If you happen to be in an incredibly target rich environment of coyotes then you might well want more than a single shot repeater. I can just imagine someone has three coyotes at their back fence and a Western Airguns Rattler loaded up and ready to smoke them all. 

Another hot topic for some people is choosing between bullpups and your classic style of rifle. You might even ask what is a bullpup? Wikipedia has a good article on this topic and the first paragraph here has a good description of what a bullpup is. I have one bullpup rifle and it seems more suited to shoot from the shoulder as you walk around because the weight is toward the rear of the rifle. My FX Impact M3 airgun is a bullpup and is just fine shooting off the bipod and bench as well as the shoulder. What I have noticed from the bench is that I have to lift my head up a littler higher than normal to see through the scope. I don't get the best cheek-weld to the stock. It has not had a negative impact to my shooting but is a little bit odd for me when I switch between rifles. The bullpup models compact a lot of barrel length into a shorter package. To me, this is another personal choice rather than one being absolutely better than another.

After market parts, modularization and customization may be important to you. Most big airgun dealers will offer a vast array of after market parts and accessories for different brands and models of airguns. If this is an important area to you then I'd recommend browsing some local or online shops to see what is currently available for what you have in mind. There will undoubtedly be parts and accessories on eBay as well because people are 3d printing magazine holders, scope gadgets/knobs, barrel clamps, etc. I have even found parts and accessories that can be 3d printed from files at Thingiverse.com

Since most people don't normally take more than a couple shots a day with their airgun at coyotes I don't feel it's important to make emphasis on shot count when recommending air rifles. Just know that the bigger tank on a pre-charged pneumatic airgun will often equate to more shot count before you need to refill. This isn't always the case and will depend on how much air is utilized in each shot. You can tune most modern pcp airguns for either high shot count or more power. Therefore I recommend you get an airgun which allows you to tune up or down with hammer spring tension and/or regulator pressure changes. Some high end models offer electronic tuning and that is a treat. If tuning an airgun seems like a daunting task then I recommend starting with this video below to learn more about what I am describing. This topic can be intimidating for beginners and done differently between airgun models. The owner of this YouTube channel has produced many guides to tuning different rifles. He knows what he is doing so check out his channel and see if you can learn from the material he has put out there for the community.


I am going to make some recommendations on airguns below broken into three price categories. This is not an exhaustive list on what I would consider you look at but I hope it points you in the right direction. Since I am not going to include calibers, let's just say I'd recommend beginning at 25 caliber and moving up from there on any particular model.

High priced airguns- above $1200

  • FX Impact
  • BRK Ghost
  • Airgun Technology Uragan
  • Daystate Redwolf
  • Daystate Alphawolf
  • American Air Arms Evol
  • KalibrGun Kricket 2
  • Western Airguns Rattler
  • RTI Arms Prophet

Mid priced - between $650-$1199

  • Airforce Condor SS
  • Benjamin Bulldog
  • Hatsan Blitz
  • Airforce Texan

Low priced - less than $650

  • Benjamin Marauder
  • Umarex Gauntlet 2
  • Umarex Origin
  • Air Venturi Avenger, Avenge-X , etc

Here is a compilation video demonstrating several coyotes taken with an airgun.


No comments:

Post a Comment