I’m thinking that 38 Spl +P 158 gr SWC traveling at least 900 fps from four inch revolver would be adequate “medicine” for coyote hunting.

Comments and experiences?

You must have them a lot closer in Nevada than we have in the SE. They are hard enough to shoot with scoped rifles in say .223, .22-250, .243 much less a .38 special. Difficult to get a shot at them in less than 100 yards. Really good callers/shotgunners rarely shoot them at less than 35-50 yards.

They are not hard to kill--just a scrawny dog--but what they lack in size they make up for in brains. Hardest critters I have ever hunted. I think your load is fine if you have them in normal pistol range.

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Possum—The other white meat!

If your 4" likes the lighter 125gr JHP bullets you might try a
full load 125gr bullet doing around 1099fps.

My 6" can get a 125gr up to 1210fps with Unique powder and
is close to a "Super-Vel" loading.
A 110gr Sierra or XTP at 1305fps does not buck the wind as well
and drops more at 75 yards, so I do not use this light bullet for "Yotes".

I never tried my 158gr lead bullets on "Targets" past 25 yards
since they were loaded at standard target speeds or less.

Good shooting.

Adequate but not very humane. You will punch a full caliber hole & reasonably slow bleed to death. A 125gr jhp @ 1100fps is a better tool, more tissue damage, faster blood loss, quicker kill.

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NRA Cert. Inst. IDPA CSO

Must be a different breed of coyotes where you are if you can get them into handgun range. They're pretty skittish of people around here. Even trying to call them in close can be tricky.

As a note, I use a 357 Magnum for this type of hunting if possible.
If I miss with the first shot the 2nd shot calls for a ten foot lead
with the high vel loads............

Shooting 38 ammo is a looser, due to the amount of lead and bullet drop at most "Yote" distances.
A hit with a second shot with 38 ammo means it is time for you to...
go buy some Lotto tickets !!

Where are you hunting them in northern NV that you can hit them with a handgun? I lived in Carson and Reno - a .223, 6mm BR, .243 would be better for those 2-300+ yard shots.

Hunting these things is a rifle proposition.

Very occasionally you may come across one at pretty close (pistol) range, but those are unexpected encounters, in my experience.

Several years ago I dropped a pheasant which landed on a coyote hidden in the brush about 20 yards from me.

Coyote took off like he'd been shot out of a gun, right past the dog, up a draw and out of sight.

I MIGHT have been able to hit it with the shotgun, but didn't take a shot.

No way I could have hit it with a pistol, even if I'd had the pistol in hand when the coyote flushed.

OP's ammo choice is irrelevant if he's hunting since he'll never have a hunting opportunity to shoot a coyote with a 38.

If OP is worried about defending himself against a coyote, anything will do in a 38 for two reasons.

First: coyotes are fragile and are readily stopped with even a 22.

Second: OP will never have occasion to defend against a coyote. They aren't aggressive and will get out of your way whether you're armed or not. A domestic dog is a different story.

I lived in the OP area for over 20 years. If he's hunting in areas where I think he is, a mountain lion would be cause for alarm as far as protection goes. They have been known to attack X-country skiers now and again; as mentioned, coyotes will avoid man like the plague. Besides, a well-placed rifle shot will make the pelt more desirable to the furrier......years ago, one could get upwards of $60/each.........

I live just South of Carson City, and I have a pack that lives among the sage brush on my property. I have only seen one during the day. At night, they have come within 50 feet of my back door. Last week one of them got a rabbit real close to the house. They are not afraid to come close to the house at night, but just the sound of my back door opening, and they run. I don't mind the coyotes. They don't bother me, and they don't bother my horse.

That's because a domestic dog knows its owner will take care of it if it gets injured. In essence, it knows it has health insurance. Wild coyotes have no such assurance.

I have killed one coyote with a .38 - the dog was slightly wounded by a rifle shot (came to a call, spooked before we could get a good shot, and was hit on the run as he fled the scene). He had holed up in a brush pile and I spied him in there as I followed the blood trail. I was carrying my 3" model 60-4 .38, and a handloaded 158 gr SWC (home cast) dispatched him pretty readily. But he wasn't in the best of shape to start with. The only other coyote I've killed with a sixgun was shot from a treestand with a Ruger Redhawk loaded with 300 gr. Hornady XTPs. It was rather decisive, to say the least, but I missed getting a double as the dead coyote's running mate came to see what had happened to his buddy.

I would agree that if coyote were my primary target for my .38 I'd load a +P 125 or 140 grain hollowpoint.

First note I have is: anyone who says getting a coyote in handgun range is impossible hasn't really hunted them much, or maybe hasn't hunted them very well lol. I hunt coyotes all winter every chance I get both competitively and casually. Most of the coyotes I take are well within pistol range, and I have taken a few with various handguns including 38 specials, however a revolver or pistol is not the ideal choice for a few reasons. The biggest reason is stopping power. Which leads me to my next note: anyone who says coyotes are fragile or easy to put down has also not had the same experiences I've had with them. They are one of the toughest animals to anchor. I've seen them run a long ways with a very very fatal shot. Either way they are fun to hunt and I understand the added bonus of getting one with a handgun it's a great challenge. I think your best bet is to load a bullet that you can shoot accurately while still maintaining a velocity acceptable enough to expand reliably at normal pistol ranges, say out to 50-75yds. They are fairly thin skinned animals so a lighter jacketed soft point always works well just try to avoid shoulder shots as the heavy bone in that area can prevent the bullet from getting somewhere vital. I always seem to have to track them a little farther with handgun shots which is why it is not an ideal tool but in a pinch or to hone your handgun skills it can be challenging and rewarding. Just try to avoid wounding and losing them because even though they are varmints I hate to have them out there suffering to death and I hate to lose the pelts. Practice practice practice and it can work great

I killed a coyote once with a cheap Jennings .380 loaded with Winchester White Box flat points. Must have been something wrong with it because it came within 10 ft, stood there and growled. I popped him in the head, and down he went

Typical coyote (here in southern Colorado anyway) might top the scales at 30-40 lbs, hardly enough mass to cause handgun bullets at normal velocities to upset or expand. I would expect just about any high velocity load, jacketed or not, hollow-point or not, to simply punch right through the critter. I believe that shot placement will be far more important than any expectations of terminal ballistic performance of the projectile used.

Feel free to do it your way. I don't know everything, although I have put down about a hundred yodel pups over the years using everything from .22LR to 12-gauge, and .223 to .30-06. There was also one close range encounter in which I launched a 9X19mm Winchester Silver Tip 115-grain JHP from a Browning Hi Power, right up the dog's dirt chute, and that did the job quite well.

Best regards.

I was watching one through my scope while trying to call it in. It was hung up out there about 700 yards and wasn't a good shot. Had another one come running up my backside that nobody knew was there. He stopped and looked at the jitter critter trying to figure out what the heck was going on just long enough for me to pop him with my 629 at 10 feet.

Every other yote I shot was more than 200 yards out.

I run stands out here and get them in as close as 25 yards. The average is about 50 yards all day long.

I use the skeeter load and it works great: 5 grains of unique under a 158gr lswc

Never had an issue with good shot placement.

Hunt them with rifles and handguns. Lots of fun. But my weapon of choice is a 45gr hornaday out of my 223.

It preserves the pelt by making a small hole then expanding and tumbling inside. The 38 causes more damage and makes it harder to sell.

Summer time pelts are worthless anyway. I have shot a few with my 45s Wife shot one with her BH 45 Colt Ruger. When we ride around the ranch on the 4 wheelers they just troop right on by you...if you don't seem to have a stick over your shoulder. I missed one that walked by the house 3 days ago. Shot at him from my front door with my 3 inch Kimber. Not the most accurate of the 45s..but hey it's what I had at the time. Maybe a 35 yd chip shot...and I shot over top. Had a wolf walk past the house the same day..but no chance to shoot it. Time to keep a rifle near the door. My favorite yote gun is one of 2..either the old 722 in 222 Rem or a later 700 in 222 Mag..the best bullet in the 222 is a 40 gr V max. Never had one exit. Mag shoots well with 50 gr Rem HPs..22-250 makes too much of a mess...so does the 357. There were a couple packs yowling out there last night. Cat came in..guess he figured it was safer

Very few powders will get you there with 158gr.

140gr XTP using H-6 gets mine at a published 992 FPS...

Per Hodgdon

170 gr Sierra Jacketed Hollow Cavity over 10.6 gr 4227 @950 fps ought to do it.

Or 140 gr XTP over 12.4 gr 4227@1121 fps.

I believe 5.4 grs of Unique will get you the 900fps , or a little more with a 158gr swc . I have read that Ken Waters pet load for the 38spl was 11.0 grs of 2400 with 158gr swc . That will definitely get you the fps you are looking for . I have shot the unique load and always found it to be a very good load . Even 5.0 grs of Unique is just short of what you are looking for , a very good " working mans " everyday carry load. I have shot a boat load of the 5.0gr load , always did what I wanted . If using Hodgdon load data , better check the length of the test barrel they have listed . If memory serves me right they are using a 10" barrel . 4" will be about 200 fps slower . Hope I have helped ya .