Coyote and Varmint Rifles

Ignoring the whole “should be allowed” nonsense, here's a very specific scenario I found 89.

I live in the country. Pisgah National Forest, edge of the Shining Rock Wilderness Area. Lots of wildlife. We have five acres, partially wooded, game trail comes across the back, circles down the hill, animals cross the front yard to reach the stream — very lovely place.

Bear, turkey, deer, ‘possum, raccoon, skunk, you name it…and coyote.

We had an ancient Pug. He was 16 and could hardly walk but was relatively healthy (considering how old and crippled he was) and very happy.

Coyote knew he was there and knew he would be easy picking, and became increasingly bold. They started lurking around the house at dusk, waiting for him to come out for a final walk after dinner — and they were getting closer and closer.

My wife became frightened to go out with him at dark, and they started appearing inside the back fence as well as around the house. If I turned on the spotlights and went out with a shotgun, they would disappear into the darkness for a bit, but it was only a matter of time before they worked up their collective nerve.

So I built a varmint rifle. .223 Wylde, 20″ barrel, suppressor, digital day/night scope with IR light, bipod.

Positioned a table on the side porch, overlooking the glen where the game trail came out of the woods, put on my winter coat and waited.

Nothing the first night, saw them the second but spooked them. Third night, about an hour after dark, six of them came up close to the house, sniffing. The bravest one jolted back just as I squeezed the trigger, and I knew it wasn't clean — he went down and immediately popped back up and the second shot got him right behind the shoulder. Because it was a semiautomatic rifle, time between first and second shots was maybe 3/4 of a second and he never left the reticle. 

The rest had retreated into the woods, but I could see them with the scope. Waited about 15 minutes and two of them crept up to the wood line. The first one dropped and the second crouched in the weeds. Took them both in maybe 2 seconds without losing sight picture.

Nothing fancy about the shooting, of course — first one was only about 20 yards away and the next two were at maybe 75 — but it was in the dark.

Could I have taken them with a bolt-action or a lever-action or a pump? Maybe. Probably? But…why should I be restricted? An autoloading rifle is ideal for this use, and I challenge you to explain to me why I shouldn't be allowed to use it.