Hunting and Shooting Running Coyotes and Running Deer with a Rifle 

Time of bullet flight will be just near 100 m/secs or, 1/10th of a sec. || .10 times 44 fps = 4.4 foot lead for a chest hit.

First, don't try shots on running game unless the terrain is open with fairly level ground so you don't have to be concerned with the vertical hold adjustments. If you are good at vertical angle swing through leads, such as with a shotgun, you may be deadly with those shots.

It is far better to over lead and miss than under lead. Use a swing through lead so your bullet has an opportunity to strike the animal in the head, neck or chest. Most will of us will not believe we have to lead as much as these realities demonstrate.

The brain, spine and shoulder areas will anchor the animal. The latest testing indicates that the Sierra 85 grain HPBT in the 243 Winchester and 6mm Remington is one of the best bullet's for 'one shot' quick drop dead kills on deer. They produce more explosive shock than the 100 grain bullets. Read my other page concerning the exhaustive tests that produced that conclusion.

Average bullet flight time is going to be around one fifth of second or .20 of a sec., [15 mph times 1.4666 = rounded off 22 fps] times .20/sec= 4.4 foot lead ahead of the heart  and lung area on that trophy whitetail buck, that is about to go out of sight and escape if you don't drop him in his tracks, and around a 3.5 foot lead to score a vital hit on a coyote.

Range in yards, speed, and angle of the running game will all become instinctive as it does in shot gunning. What we need are variable speed running coyote and deer targets to practice on at different ranges, on all shooting ranges. Someone needs to manufacture and market this technology -- shooting clubs and/or several shooters would pool their money to buy it. Understanding the required leads in your head combined with practice will produce results beyond what you thought you were capable of; but again keep within your skill range under field conditions.

How far will a coyote move, that is 100 yards away running broadside at 35 mph or 51.3 fps, before your bullet gets there? Use your own cartridge's time of flight @ 100 yards in fractions of a sec. The top speed of a coyote is said to be 40 mph or 58.6 fps.; average running speed is said to be 25 mph or 36.6 fps. Try figuring them at both speeds and different ranges and angles.

You figure the lead on a coyote running at different speeds in fps -- at different ranges.

A coyote running @ only (20 mph/ 29.333 fps) 100 yards away; lead is 2.9 feet/nearly 3 feet ahead of the heart area. The speed of the coyote or deer makes a huge difference in the required lead as does the distance. Angle is the other key consideration.

Coyote @ 200 yards moving @ 20 mph/ 29.3 fps times bullet flight time of .166/sec. = 4.8 foot lead ahead of the vital target area. This is using the 243 Win., 55 gr. Nosler bullet with Ballistic Coefficient. .276; bullet flight time is .166 of sec. //coyote running only 20 mph = 29.33 fps X .166 of sec., = lead 4.8 feet or less than one coyote length in front of the vital rib cage target area.

Here is an easy way to calculate the lead when you know your bullets time of flight in Milliseconds at various ranges. Game running 30 mph or, 44 ft/sec: At 250 yards the time of flight of many varmint cartridges is around one fourth or.25 of a sec. or, (.25/sec X's coyote's 44 fps speed (or 44 divided by 4)  = 11 foot lead ahead of rib cage). A 10:30 or 1:30 O'Clock angle, divide by 2 = 5.5 foot lead. The Norma Ballistics page link below will give you the millisecond time of bullet flight data you need on your cartridge.

"We need ranges with all of these situations and conditions -- so that everyone could have fun practicing in a friendly environment." Few things equal the recreational enjoyment of this sporting skill exercise!

Come on Gun and Ammo manufacturer's (or anyone) get on this and help us get what we need!
You'll bag a lot more deer if you are real consistent on 'reasonable' running shots. It is much better to over lead than under lead; I don't have to tell you why! Drop them in the open before they get in the brush, because you'll wound and lose game trying to shoot through brush.

Put a good scope on your 22 rim fire autoloader and practice on running jackrabbits and even or even squirrels between 25 and 100 yards. The 22 long rifle's bullet flight time is around 133 m/secs. @ 50 yards; .280/sec. @  100 yards; .439/sec @ 150 yards. Zero it at 50 or 75 yards as you will have a lot of bullet drop. You may be able to see where the bullets hit through your wide field of view scope and make the proper adjustments. Your lead with the 22 rim fire at 50 yards will be almost as much as at 150 yards, and at 100 yards a comparable time of flight lead as at 250 yards with a fast center fire rifle cartridge. I feel this gives a person an idea of how to compute these leads in your head as you draw down on your moving targets. The live action practice will develop the brain visual reflex action motor skills.

My 6mm/06 or 243/06 Wildcat @ 3600 fps MV has the same flight time @ 150 yds as the 22 rim fire @ 1255 fps MV has at 50 yds. You must remember that the your "scope view perception and swing speed" will be much different on a coyote running at 30 mph/44 fps at 50 yds verses at 150 yds with the same bullet flight time of .133 or 133 m/secs and the same lead of 5.85 feet ahead of the vital zone at those two distances.

Consider that the coyote will appear much smaller at 150 yards and appear to be running slower than when at 50 yds. Therefore, practicing with the rifle you will be shooting coyotes with speeds etc., similar to real shooting situations and conditions will always be the best practice. This is why you always need to use the know length of the animal when gauging leads.

What we need is to form shooting clubs everywhere and to set up fast moving variable speed coyote silhouette targets which would be run at various ranges from 50 to 200 yards. The clubs could call them running coyote turkey shoots, and charge each two dollars to shoot two or three shots against five other shooters with the winner getting a frozen turkey. We used a running deer target back in the 1960's and everyone loved this skill developing mild competitive shooting sport.

I figured these leads back in the 1960's. One winter day my father went fox hunting with me and we spotted a fox laying in a snow covered field at around 200 yards from the road side fence. I had been telling him the amount of lead needed to take a fox running at various distances and ranges, but I was going to show him what a good shot I was and he was to back me up just in case I missed. Well, somehow I missed him. The fox took off running directly to our left, I told dad to swing through 21/2 lengths and squeeze it off, he did and the fox flipped end over end from a perfect lung shot. I said, dad you're sure good at following directions. Dad was left handed and had to swing to his left, plus he had not shot my 243 Winchester with my hand loads and I figured he would flinch and miss the fox by a country mile. I would have given anything to have had a video of that scenario. We didn't have enough coyotes in SW Wisconsin back then to bother hunting them.

If coyotes and foxes are scarce don't shoot them -- photograph them! What can be done about the "mange," decades ago it killed off the red fox here in Wisconsin and now it is infesting the coyotes. It may get the Timber Wolves soon as there are reports of it infesting them, too.

Coyotes are the greatest sporting animals in Wisconsin, so let's preserve our sport! Remember, there is a hunting season in Wisconsin on Red and Gray Fox: North of Hwy 64 - Oct. 15 to Feb. 15; South Hwy 64 - Oct. 30 to Feb. 15th. It is illegal to hunt or shoot coyotes during the gun and muzzleloader deer seasons North of Hwy 29. This is to protect the Timber Wolf from being shot due to mistaken identity.