Anytime you’re preparing for a hunt, your choice of weapon is vital. Many factors come into play when choosing what is best – personal preference, geographical location and environment landscape, type of game you’re hunting, laws and regulations that may limit what you can and can’t use, and much more. Regardless of the reason for it, if you’re looking to put together a good shotgun setup for coyote hunting, you’ve come to the right place to get started. This guide to building a shotgun setup for coyote hunting will give you some of the most important things to consider when building your shotgun.
Things to Consider Before Building Your Shotgun Setup for Coyotes
Below are a few things to think about before getting started on your build. Each category will be discussed in detail in this article, but it’s a good idea to think about what you ultimately want from your shotgun setup. This will save you frustration and possibly money in the long run.
(1) Day or Night?
This site is primarily centered on night hunting, but much of the information can be applied to hunting during the day, too. If you plan to hunt exclusively during the day, you may not need a tactical-style shotgun at all or at least some of the shotgun attachments I’ll recommend for night hunting. But again, most of this article will apply regardless of whether you are planning to use your shotgun for night hunting coyotes.
(2) How far away will the coyote likely be?
Shotguns are very limited when it comes to range – not so much compared to a bow, but relative to a rifle, shotguns are short-range weapons. However, depending on where you are planning to hunt, a shotgun may be more than sufficient to reach your target. This article largely has night hunters in mind, so the overall range in which you’ll likely plan to shoot at night will be reduced anyway. But, regardless, knowing the range at which you anticipate shooting is important. Even if you’re planning to hunt primarily under the day-time sunlight, depending on the terrain, it may not be necessary to try to build your shotgun as to maximize the effective range, allowing you to possibly build your shotgun to be stronger in other ways. For example, a longer barrel will provide better range, but if you do not need that extra range, you may wish to keep the barrel a bit shorter for maneuverability and weight purposes. But if you do need to shoot as far as possible, there are a number of things, such as that longer barrel, that can significantly increase the effective range of a shotgun. So you need to know what you need before you start building your setup.
(3) Do you plan to skin the coyotes for their hide?
Some hunters may plan to skin the coyotes they harvest to use their pelt or even sell it. If you plan to preserve the coyote’s hide, you obviously want the least amount of damage to the pelt as possible. This will largely dictate what type of ammo, choke, and caliber you may want to use.
Tactical Shotgun vs Standard Shotguns for Predator Hunting
So, do you need a tactical shotgun for predator hunting? Tactical shotguns are useful for predator hunting, especially at night, because they allow you to utilize multiple attachments more easily. But you can certainly get by with a non-tactical shotgun. If you plan to hunt exclusively during the day, you may not need any attachments, and even standard shotguns can be equipped with light attachments for night hunting.
However, if you want to build the ultimate coyote hunting shotgun for both day and night use, I recommend building a tactical-style shotgun. This type of shotgun usually has more options for mounting accessories such as light and laser attachments. They also usually have larger ammo capacity allowing you to load them up with more shells in case you need to shoot several times. But you can certainly modify a standard shotgun with a magazine extension, so again, tactical is not necessary.
Shotgun Attachments and Sights for Coyote Hunting
Lights and Other Attachments
We’ll talk about sights in a moment, but that will largely depend on personal preference. However, there are a few attachments for shotguns that can be very important for a solid shotgun build – especially if you plan to hunt at night.
There are several simple, inexpensive attachments such as a buttstock shotgun shell holder that can be useful, but there are a few other attachments that can be almost essential depending on the environment in which you’re hunting. Obviously, if you’re hunting at night, you’ll need lights – this holds true even if you use thermal or night vision optics, in my opinion. I recommend having a good handheld light and a light attachment for your shotgun.
I recommend having a colored light attached to your shotgun and then both a good colored and a good bright white hand-held light. For a good colored light to use as a handheld or attachment to your gun, I recommend something like the Orion M30C 700 Lumen light; you can check it and others similar to it out, here, on Amazon.com. You can get this light in either red or green. If you want to know more about proper color choice, check out this night hunter’s guide to light color article.
If you’re looking for bright white light that is compact, powerful and inexpensive, I recommend an LED tactical flashlight similar to this one made by Solaray. Check it out on Amazon.com, here. Check out this article on my top recommended types of lights every night hunter should have for more guidance on lights for hunting at night, not only for coyotes but other game as well.
Largely akin to lights are laser attachments. I know, you may think of home defense weapons when you hear “laser,” but they can be very useful for night hunting setups, too. I personally prefer green lasers over red; they are easier to see and work better with lights than red lasers, in my experience. There are many options, but I think an inexpensive laser is plenty for these purposes. Here is an inexpensive laser sight on Amazon.com you might want to check out that is available in green and red. And if you need to mount it or another attachment in a place that is out of the way, check out this rail mount for the barrel of a tactical-style shotgun. You can even get combo-style optics with lasers built-in. For example, here’s a red dot sight on Amazon.com with a laser built in that would be a good option for a shotgun.
Sights
Sight choice is largely going to be based on personal preference and the type of shotgun you’re building, but here are a few things to think about when choosing sights, especially if you are going to be hunting at night.
- Open Sights
If you want to maintain an open sight set up but want a bit of extra assurance that you’ll be able to see the sights in low light situations, you might consider replacing the front bead sight of your shotgun with an illuminated sight. You can get these types of sites that replace the OEM sight for various brands of shotguns; for example, click here for one on Amazon.com that fits Remington and Mossberg shotguns. There are also options that simply snap onto the barrel of your shotgun, like this one on Amazon.com.
- Red Dot Sights
If you want something more technical than open sights, I recommend considering a red dot sight of some sort. Now, these can range from very simple and inexpensive to highly complex and pricey products. Also, I won’t get into the terminology too much, but the term red dot sight is usually used as a catchall phrase to identify a optical site that features some sort of red or green “dot” inside the lens. However, how that “dot’ is created dictates what type of sight you’re truly talking about. Prism sights, holographic sights, and reflex sights are all commonly referred to as “red dot sights.” However, these are all different and have their own pros and cons.
We will get into the technical differences between these types of sights in this article because that’s a topic all on its own which can get pretty technical. For example, a reflex sight can also be a holographic sight, so you can see it can get complicated.
I personally don’t think it’s necessary to have a fancy, high dollar red dot for a simple coyote hunting shotgun build. You will need to decide which style is right for you, but I like something that is very simple that allows me to throw my gun up and find the dot instantaneously. I prefer a reflex sight because they tend to be easier to use in low light and their single-lens structure makes it easy to find the target when looking through them. I recommend something like this reflex sight on Amazon.com. It’s good for low light situations and it can be used with a handgun or a rifle.
Best Shotgun Caliber for Hunting Coyotes
The answer to this will largely depend on your answer to the how far you plan to shoot question above. The most popular shotgun calibers are 10 gauge, 12 gauge, and 20 gauge, not necessarily in that order.
In case you’re completely new to shotguns, the size of the shotgun bore relative to the numerical figure associated with the gauge is counter-intuitive. Where you might think a 20 gauge is larger than a 10 gauge, the opposite is actually true. Thus, the smaller the gauge number means the gun has a larger bore and thus can accept larger loads that contain more powder and shot (BBs), allowing for more knockdown and/or range.
Like most things, there are tradeoffs to consider when picking which gauge size is best for your needs. An 8 or 10 gauge can be loaded with extremely powerful shells providing massive shot patterns and long-range capabilities. However, these larger gauge sizes, in heavier loads, will have significantly more recoil and may be overkill for what you need for coyote hunting. Another thing to consider is whether you are concerned with preserving the coyote’s pelt. Therefore, while a larger caliber shotgun gives you more options for heavier loads that can provide substantial range options, they may tear up the hide depending on ammo and choke. These larger gauges will also have significant recoil, especially in the heavier loads.
On the other end of the spectrum is the smaller gauge sizes, like the popular 20 gauge. The 20 gauge is popular among young hunters, largely because of the youth models many shotgun manufacturers offer in this size. But what about the 20 gauge shotgun for coyotes? The 20 gauge is certainly capable of being an affective coyote hunting gun. However, proper load and choke combinations will be much more critical in these smaller caliber shotguns to ensure you have enough range and knockdown power to make an ethical shot. Another thing to consider is barrel length. Remember, the longer the barrel, the more range you’ll generally see out of the gun. Thus, if you’re trying to build an affective shotgun in a smaller caliber, try to keep the barrel as long as possible to help offset some of the lack of powder in those smaller shells.
The most popular shotgun caliber is the 12 gauge. This is to be expected, however, because the 12 gauge shotgun is the all-around most popular shotgun caliber in general. The 12 gauge is arguably the best compromise between the larger calibers like the 8 and 10 gauges and the smaller ones like the 16 and 20 gauge. Also, if you want to build a tactical shotgun, you’ll have more options in a 12 gauge. You’ll also be able to find a wider variety of loads for the 12 gauge than other sizes, which can make the 12 gauge more of a universal shotgun.
So, the bottom line is that you can make virtually any size shotgun work with the proper load, barrel size, and choke. There are many factors that come into play when deciding which is best for you, including what legal restrictions under which you may be bound. So do your homework and make an informed decision based on your specific situation and needs.
Coyote Shotgun Loads: which to choose
The answer to this question is, unfortunately, not a cut and dry one. Likely, this will be largely dictated by the laws and regulations of the jurisdiction in which you’re hunting. Many jurisdictions place restrictions on the type of ammunition you can use in shotguns. Therefore, make sure to check the governing laws and regulations to be sure any of the ammunition discussed in this article is legal to use.
In addition to complying with the law, you want a load that will best accomplish your overall goals. This is where the first questions I had you ask yourself comes in. If you plan to preserve the coyote’s pelt, you want to do as little damage as possible to the hide while still having enough power to make an ethical kill. Range is also a factor to consider.
Buckshot is a popular load that will provide good range flexibility, but it may inflict significant damage on the pelt if the coyote is relatively close when the load hits it. Also, many jurisdictions don’t allow buckshot. That said, there are plenty of hunters that successfully take down coyotes with much lighter loads – even birdshot with a proper choke (discussed below).
So, unfortunately, there are too many variables to give a simple answer to this question. You’ll have to tally up all the factors mentioned and ultimately decide which load best fits your goals.
Pump or Semi Auto shotgun for Coyote Hunting
This one, like most of the other components, talked about above, will depend on a few factors. When coyote hunting, you may often have an opportunity to shoot more than one time. So a semiautomatic may be appealing. However, there are reasons that you might not want to choose a pump-action shotgun over a semiautomatic.
One of the most common reasons for choosing a pump over a semiautomatic is the price. A semiautomatic is a bit more sophisticated and can be prone to jam or have other mechanical deficiencies if they are not built with high-quality parts. This holds true for pump actions too, but you can generally get a higher quality pump action for a lower price than a high-quality semi-auto. So, if you’re interested in saving a few bucks, I suggest going with the pump. This way you can spend less money but still have a high-quality base gun on which to start your build.