SmallCaliberCentral

It's been pretty cold here lately so I thought I'd better heckle the predators. I went out yesterday morning and did a set. I only called for 20 sec and 2 coyotes were coming in on the run! They were super close so I struggled to get into position quickly. I held on one of the coyotes at 70 yards or so, but I had to lean to the side to try to avoid shooting a branch. I held dead center chest and let her fly. The coyote took off like a rocket........couldn't believe it...no way that I missed it. Come to find out I do believe I hit that branch. I fired 2 more shots at her and no go, so I focused on the other coyote making his getaway. I shot and he started spinning and jumped into the woods. My hunting partner had a shotgun with buckshot so I sent him in after it. I circled around the woodlot and waited, sure enough my buddy jumped him from his bed and here he came. I shot him the second time at 12 yards. LOL

I was hunting with CRTs 37 grain bullets for the first time. I've only shot 2 critters with these so far, but here is how they performed on these two. My first shot at the running coyote hit far back on the coyote, broke his far side leg/hip area and still exited. My second shot was head on in the neck area and exited along the spine. This bullet is definately tougher than the Vmax or SBK. Hide damage was minimal to the coyote.


My next set I called in this nice male fox. Fox was at 150 yards and I drilled him. DRT CRTs bullet left an exit hole about 1.5 in. Not too bad considering how fragile foxes are. I do believe my SBK load would have opened him way up. I really like CRTs bullets and want to shoot more coyotes to get a more definitive opinion on their terminal performance, but they look really good so far. +they shoot really well in my gun.

WTG!!! I thought about shooting the CRT 40s out of the soon to be 20tac but have really been thinking about the 37s

Congratulations on the two kills. Glad to hear that the bullets are performing well for you. I look forward to more reports and pictures from future hunts.

Brad

Thanks for the great pics and intel! 'Made my day as a bust my butt in this stupid factory!!

Is that the Dmps panther in .204?

well done and what is that for an ar you have there.

My AR is a Superior Arms Action with a 1:12 twist 24" bull barrel. Jewel two stage trigger and has a few other extras like the handgrip etc. She shoots really well and I seem to have found my best loads with CRTs bullets. I'm still wanting to do more target shooting with these bullets, but I'm waiting for the weather to break.

Maybe I shouldn't be, but I'm surprised you're getting exits with the 37's. We've had so much rain lately that I can't even get out to hunt Coyotes. Maybe next week it will let up. I do like the accuracy of those 37's and it performed real well on the Bobcat I shot, which is the only thing I have shot other than paper.

Yeah I was surprised also that I had two exits on the coyote. I discovered that I badly damaged the fox when it was skinned. I hadn't looked that close before (the long hair covered it up) but it is still salvageable. I'll be hunting here in about 7 hrs, so we shall see if I get another opportunity to shoot another yote

I don't like exits.

Keep us posted. If the rain will quit I'm going to get back out, but soon I'll have my 17 Rem. finished and that'll be what I'll use.

I am working up loads for my KIMBER 84M 204 Ruger I recently purchased. I just had 2 Coyotes pass withing 30 yards of my dining room window. Hope to get a chance to dispatch them soon. I have had great success with my 17 Remington with 25gr Burger bullets - I dropped am American Bison with one shot & it dropped like it had it's legs cut off. That is the only big game I have shot with the 17 Rem, all else has been Sage Rats, Rock Chucks & Prairie Dogs. I also shoot the small varmints with a 17 MachII & a 17 HMR. Looking forward to trying some of the loads listed here on 204 Ruger sight to enjoy. Great shooting & hunting. I like those dogs you shot.

Sharps----Why exactly did you take a .17 Rem on a buffalo hunt? Seems to be a tad on the weak side for a beast. Was this a fair game hunt? I'm assuming it was a close shot.

That's a pretty good looking yote, and fox. But a dang fine looking shooting stick.

Yeah I've taken a liking to the bipod version of the Trigger Stix. Self leveling and fast. I also have the monopod version, but the bi-pod wins out.