Best night hunting light IMO is Wicked hunting lights. I use red as it picks up eyes better than green. Scope choice is open to whatever brand you prefer just get low power as night hunting shots are closer range. Use a .17 WSM all the time. Lower noise for around houses/farms but still deadly on coyotes and fox.

I am very partial to my 204 ruger. 35-45 gr. in different bullets have all done very well for me. My gun has a 1:10 twist.

For the guys thinking about building an AR platform in 204, you might want to look at the 20 Practical instead. Yes, you have to reload, with a few extra steps to size 223 brass, but it is so much easier and cheaper to shoot in the long run. The difference in shooting a 20 practical and a 204 ruger is so slight I can't tell any difference really. Both out shoot my old favorite 22-250 after 400 yds to.

All you have to do to change an 223 AR to 20 practical is change the barrel and on some the gas tube. Everything else works just fine.

I now have a few hundred yotes killed with this 204 and I can count on one hand the number of times I have had to sew any of them. Most of those were moving shots where I didn't have time to settle in on the target. A cpl were just plain bad shooting on my part.

100% agree. never would have thought it'd out do the old standbys but at least in the 39/40 grain version i'll take it any day

40gr can be tougher on coyote

Il trapper. Sounds " cool" but...
If someone doesn't have reloading equipment, they would be WAY better off sticking to good factory fodder.
Few fur hunters will ever outspend factory over non factory .

Can't say I've ever seen a .204 hang with 250 at 400 yards

You'll probably hear how you should of called them closer but the longer range is why I choose the .22-250 as well. (that and the lack of good .204 factory coyote ammo)

lol....I have yet to see anyone call every yote to where they want it. I know I have lots of them hang up or just plain sit and bark at me far to off to shoot.

Here is a clip that offers the ballistics of the 2 calibers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br-spn2RILg I am not going to say this is 100% accurate. But from shooting both cals. I would say it's pretty dang close to what I have seen.

I almost went with another 22-250 myself because of the lack of factory ammo.

I have 2 rifles i use for predators.
I have a Ruger American in 22-250 that im shooting 55gr soft points out of. Not much of an exit hole at all.
My other rifle is a Savage B-mag in 17WSM. Here in WV you can only use a rimfire at night on public land.

22-250 with hornady 55 grain v max works for me.

What is your review overall on that B-mag overall? I would like to pick one up but the few I have handled off the wall they
were so darn cheap and tinny feeling I wouldn't buy them, and I like and have a bunch of other Savages. I looked at the Ruger and was much more impressed but the price is a bit crazy for that rimfire.

Osky

I have both the .22-250 (Ruger model 77) and a .17 WSM (Ruger Model 77) and also a Remington model 760 in .222. I got the .17 since being a rimfire it gives me more options for carrying during certain times and I hope it to be more fur friendly than the others. The .17 has some nice wood (pictured). Osky...you better get one.




Now I have to force myself to get outside and use them.

My dad had a bmag. And let me tell ya their junk, unless they have changed in the past few years. He got it right when they came out. I like the caliber, and the bmag shot ok, but the biggest thing that was wrong with it was the fact that the bolt handle can turn down before the bolt is completly forward. Most people, when they are chambering another round, put a little pressure down on the bolt. With the bmag, you cant. You can have the bolt all the way back and turn it down. The few times he took it coyote hunting, when he went to take a shot after the first, it wouldnt go and thats because of the bolt being down before it was completly forward. After finding this out about the bolt, we handled a few of them at scheels and all of them did the exact same thing. Now I havent handled a bmag since that one so I couldnt tell ya if they have changed it at all, but before you buy one check that out. Dad ended up getting one of the ruger 17wsm and their a littly pricey, but they are a great gun

22 centerfire and smaller is now legal.

What're ya wanting it to do ? Kill a furbearer deader ? Lol . Lord.

I'm less concerned with how it'll perform on a coyote almost a quarter mile away then I am with a pricey bobcat
that snuck in to just under 100 yards. Good fur care begins at the trigger squeeze.

Incidentally, once I get my loading area rebuilt , I'll probably go back to the .19's . Incredible fur rounds .

.204 is all I need all across my region , but "need" is a poor reason to have one rifle.

That's a beauty MNMan, that's the Ruger, rotary clip?

Osky

Yes it is, Osky...holds 6 rounds and another in the chamber.....fun to shoot but the weather is keeping me in more than I would like right now.

I hear 300 win mag is good for yotes....

That rifle doesn't look like its ever spent 4 months in a pickup. How did you manage that? My coyote gun looks like its been in a cement mixer. Still shoots good. Laid one over running at every bit of two hundred yards about 3 weeks ago. When I was a lot younger I killed a LOT of coyotes with my 270. The only other hi power I had was a 30-30. 270 shoots a bunch flatter. Loaded sierra 130 grain boat tails in the 270. good solid front 1/3 hit in the side I had to sew up about a 4 inch tear. 90% sold as no damage after I sewed and stretched them. that old 270 still hits where you aim it too