.22 Mag for Coyote Protection

3

3 Meter Para Bellum

Handloader
Apr 17, 2020
349
490
I had someone ask how well a .22 Mag rimfire could be expected to perform as an animal defense cartridge for up to coyote, fired from a 5.5 in. revolver. My instinct was that that might be stretching the cartridges effective use, but it might be better than nothing. However, this isn't my expertise, so I thought it was a good question to pose here, as I am sure many of you have a much better idea of how this cartridge would perform.
 
I think a 22 Mag fired from a revolver would work but shot placement is king. Personally I would opt for something bigger. A 12 ga with #4 Buck is very effective. They don't go anywhere when you hit them, even at 50 yards.

JD338
 
A .22mag will drop a steer for slaughter like a box of rocks out of a 18" rifle barrel but out of a pistol I don't know.
My old Ruger .22 single six convertible would shoot .22 Special ammo into tiny groups all day long and spray .22 magnums that the cylinder was designed for.
If I had to carry a .22 magnum it would be in a short, barreled carbine style rifle, .22Hornet would be better and more economic to shoot and practice with.
 
In my desert ratting days I usually carried a .44 mag. of some kind. On rare occasions, it might be a .357 Mag. Usually first sht up was a rat load for snake problems and the rest for bigger stuff with potential nasty dispositions. More than once I saw a Black Bear or Mountain Lion crossing over from one mountain range to another for whatever reason that did it. Never had a problem with either one and coyotes would scat as fast as their four legs would churn dirt.

Personally, I would consider the .22 WMR marginal at best. Shot placement would be the critical issue. for a clean kill.
Paul B.
 
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Well if you are worried about protection from coyotes I would assume it is close range and a 22 mag would be fine. But my guess is they will turn and run the other direction before its out of the holster, like Paul said.
 
I have personally been attacked by coyotes twice. They will attack humans. Most run but some wont. The first time I had an incident I was turkey hunting. I ended up shooting him with a 12 gauge turkey load. It worked well. Dropped on the spot. The second time I was pulling cards on game cameras. They cam out of nowhere and fortunately my truck door was open . I jumped in and slammed the door. They wouldn't leave. One stayed right by the door and the other one went around to the front of the vehicle. They were waiting for me to exit. I finally decided to try to run over the one in from of me. I had a pistol but it happened so fast there was no time to draw the gun. I wouldn't trust a 22 magnum in that situation. I carry a 40 auto when in the woods.
 
reflex264 said:
I have personally been attacked by coyotes twice. They will attack humans. Most run but some wont. The first time I had an incident I was turkey hunting. I ended up shooting him with a 12 gauge turkey load. It worked well. Dropped on the spot. The second time I was pulling cards on game cameras. They cam out of nowhere and fortunately my truck door was open . I jumped in and slammed the door. They wouldn't leave. One stayed right by the door and the other one went around to the front of the vehicle. They were waiting for me to exit. I finally decided to try to run over the one in from of me. I had a pistol but it happened so fast there was no time to draw the gun. I wouldn't trust a 22 magnum in that situation. I carry a 40 auto when in the woods.
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Almost as if the animals you are describing were coydogs (or dogotes) or coywolves (or wolfotes). The crossbreeds are being reported rather extensively throughout the eastern and southeastern USA. I had a coydog that was my pet when I was a boy. I got him as he was weened from a neighbours dog; he was the only one of his litter to survive as all the others were killed. He was loyal to me, and leery of anyone else.
 
DrMike said:
I remember that story quite well, Guy.
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Mike - there's not a man on this forum who wouldn't have protected her, saved her. Gun or no gun.

I've told the story of her death while addressing groups re the threat that predators like coyotes, wolves, mountain lions and bears present. I don't over-do it, I just present stories of actual attacks. The audience is normally shocked to silence as they have no idea that the cute-cuddlies can and do kill us...

All the best to you and yours my friend, Guy
 
Have also been attacked by coyotes when I was just a cub, and had a friend treed by a pack of them when he was a young teen. I expect that as with most predators, they will be more likely to target humans if they perceive a good chance of success - smaller individuals or youths, or if they have numbers on their side. It has been my experience, though, that dogs which have gone wild are a much more likely threat in areas bordering civilization. More to the point of the question, though, is that this seems like another question of killing versus stopping. To that end, I don't know how easy coyote are to deter my wounding - will they run if you get good hit on them, or do you need to anchor them on the spot? I just don't have the experience.
 
hunter24605 said:
I would guess that hit in the right spot it would work. I prefer my Taurus Judge. .410 for cottonmouths, or if I'm hunting down a pizzed off hog with a bullet hole in it, I have 45 LC ready
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Interesting. I used a totally different kind of weapon for a cottonmouth that was in a bad mood and coming at our canoe like it meant serious business. Canoeing in Florida is interesting as you have to respect Gators, snakes and other types of animals. I saw this cottonmouth approaching and kind of pushed it away with the canoe paddle. Well that annoyed it and it came in faster the 2nd time. I pushed it away again and it tried to climb up on the paddle. I pushed the snake off the paddle, turned the paddle sideways and took a Babe Ruth chop at the snake. As near as I could tell I broke the spine of the snake and that was the end of that. I won't get into the story of the 13FT. gator that swam under the canoe on a different occasion.
 
diverdown said:
Interesting. I used a totally different kind of weapon for a cottonmouth that was in a bad mood and coming at our canoe like it meant serious business. Canoeing in Florida is interesting as you have to respect Gators, snakes and other types of animals. I saw this cottonmouth approaching and kind of pushed it away with the canoe paddle. Well that annoyed it and it came in faster the 2nd time. I pushed it away again and it tried to climb up on the paddle. I pushed the snake off the paddle, turned the paddle sideways and took a Babe Ruth chop at the snake. As near as I could tell I broke the spine of the snake and that was the end of that. I won't get into the story of the 13FT. gator that swam under the canoe on a different occasion.
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I got to go kayaking for the first time last year and loved it, but I don't know if I could do it if I lived in Florida!
 
I started being a true desert rat about 1970. I've seen coyotes as a single animal or as many as seven or eight in a pack and they always took off running. Even when calling them if it was more than one coming in after I shot the first the rest turned tail in a hurry. I never felt threatened by them at any time. Good luck or maybe it just wasn't my turn.
When I lived in Nevada, I usually had a Ruger Super Blackhawk on my hip and a rifle in .243 Win. After the move to Arizona it was either the Ruger .44 or a Colt .45 SAA. The rifle was whatever took my fancy at the time but mostly a .223 once I found one I liked. Again, no problem from the coyotes which were heavily hunted long before I ever moved here. When it came to coytes down here I was more concerned about on possibly being rabid. Most even in winter were pretty darn mangy.
Paul B.
 
I have killed a lot of coyotes with every rifle and handgun that I own including both .22 pistols and rifles (.22 Long Rifle) and while it is certainly adequate, it is not ideal.

If you are anticipating close range engagements with coyotes, a shotgun or carbine would be of much better service than any handgun but especially a .22 WMR handgun. Coyotes are not known for standing around giving picturesque shot opportunities at close range unless they are rabid or sick. A high-powered rifle of basically any ilk (.22 Hornet or larger) would be better yet.
 
Here's a link to a thread on the 22 Mag from a while back. Acouple posts down is a chart w/ velocity break downs from a revolver. You could do some math to get energy figures at the listed velocities. I recall reading some where once that in the opinion of some author, the advantage of a magnum in a revolver was that you got to 22LR velocities.
My Cousin is pretty sure he hit one in th front yard a while back with a 22Mag rifle. Probably under 100 yards and that one got away.... They can be tough. but a pistol is better than nothing.

Cloverleaf! W/ 22MAG

Finally punched out a cloverleaf, (couple actually) with my 22MAG. Photo shows target from 50 and 100 yards. Hold dead on the point of the diamond at fifty and 100 yards. Interesting and just the most fun rifle to shoot! CL CL
forum.nosler.com

CL
 
3 Meter Para Bellum said:
I got to go kayaking for the first time last year and loved it, but I don't know if I could do it if I lived in Florida!
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Kayaking is a death wish down here. They sit so low to the water that anything can climb onto it. Two weeks ago we had a lady kayaking in one of our Fresh water springs with a group of people and they spotted a number of gators on the bank. They continued on passing the gators and one of the gators went out submerged and came up behind the lady and nailed her upper right arm and elbow as she was paddling. Luckily the gator didn't spin and let her go after a short time and the lady was rushed to the ER with one totally screwed up arm. There was a piece in our newspaper about the incident.
 
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