Not one likes coyotes - they’re a serious nuisance because they represent a very real threat to the livestock on ranches.
More often than not, the best solution is to kill them.
When hunting for coyotes, you need a real good hunting scope to be in with a good advantage, because they’re a sneaky species who are smart and tend to blend in with their surroundings. This is especially true in low light.
Once you’ve bought your rifle, the hunting scope is your next most essential piece of kit. We’ve studied the best hunting scopes that are around and have come up with our Top 5.
We also have a handy buying guide for you, if you scroll further down, outlining what you need to think about before you buy.
We follow that up an FAQ section, where we give answers to your most frequently asked questions.
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Our Pick
Best Coyote Hunting Scope - Comparison Table
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Best Coyote Hunting Scope - Reviews
Pinty boasts that this scope offers 4 functions in one item. You get an illuminated optics sight, a green and red laser, a holographic dot sight and a long 14 slots riser mount. The latter enables you to fix your scope onto your gun as you see fit.
It gives you a fantastic zoomable magnification, which goes from 4 times magnification power up to 16 times, so it’s great for long range shooting, especially of fast moving targets like coyotes. The objective lens comes in at 50mm, so you get a wide field of view too.
There are 9 different levels of brightness altogether for both green & red illuminated dot sight, and a variety of reticle styles.
The green laser is completely detachable, so you can use it or not use it as you please. It can reach a distance of a good 110 yards.
There are separate elevation and windage adjustments, for real precision and accuracy.
It’s waterproof, shockproof and fog proof - so it’s plenty reliable whatever the weather.
The lens is fully multicoated to ensure a crystal clear image, and it has a built in sunshade too.
Pros
Cons
This is one of the most wished for rifle scopes on Amazon which we think is down to coming from a good, reliable brand, and also it’s low light performance.
It’s low light performance is due to it’s fully multi coated lens, which can deliver clear crisp images even at dusk when the coyotes come out.
And as you’d expect from a good brand, it’s designed to be durable. It’s waterproof, shockproof, and fogproof.
It has a zoomable magnification from 1 to 6 times magnification power against a 24mm lens. Whether you’re up close or at a distance, you can get your target.
The illumination is adjustable with 11 different settings for changing light conditions, and the reticle features a centered halo, to give fast target acquisition. The reticle provides bullet drop compensation too. There’s also dials for elevation and windage adjustments.
There’s also a Second focal plane (SFP) reticle, which doesn’t visually change in size when you change the magnification. A popular function amongst customers.
We also like the fast focus dial on the eyepiece, to help zero in quickly on your target.
Pros
Cons
The zoomable magnification on this beauty is 3 to 9 against a 32mm objective lens. The objective lens is adjustable too.
You can have red or green reticle illumination, which you control from a side wheel, rather than on a bulky rheostat on the eye piece. It uses a mil-dot style reticle, but what’s different in this scope is that while traditional scopes give you 9 different aiming points for either windage or elevation, this scope will give you 19 aiming points or 21 if you include the inner tips of the duplex crosshairs.
It’s super durable and reliable - shockproof, fog proof and rain proof. You get great performance in any weather condition.
The target turrets enable crisp, consistent and precise windage and elevation adjustments that you can lock in place.
We also like how it comes with a 2 inch sunshade.
Pros
Cons
Here’s a scope and laser in one that can produce a black, a red, or a green reticle, at level 5 intensity, in a duplex style pattern with dots as you approach the centre of the reticle.
It has a good, zoomable magnification coming in at 2.5 to 10 times against a 40mm objective lens diameter. This gives you a wide field of view, 100 yards of 34.86'@2.5x - 11.53'@10.
The objective lens is fully multi coated and green with almost 100% light transmittance, for a nice bright view. A much higher light transmittance than it’s blue counterparts.
It has a bullet drop compensator, which allows quick adjustments of the reticle for shooting targets at specific distances up to 500 yards, and offers precise elevation and windage adjustment, for that super accurate shot.
The eyepiece has a dioptric adjustment lens to eliminate maximum image aberration.
It’s easy to attach to your rifle and the mount is included in the price.
Pros
Cons
This scope is a big hit with customers - over 1000 ratings and over 4 stars!
This is likely down to it’s super affordable price which makes it a real bargain, but to get such an affordable scope, you inevitably have to do away with all the fancy extras, like a laser illuminated reticle.
It’s specifically designed for use on rifles, which is just what you need for regular coyote hunting.
It has a zoomable magnification going from 3 times up to 9 times magnification power against a 32mm objective lens.
It’s waterproof, fog proof, and more importantly, recoil proof.
It uses high quality fully multi coated lenses, so you can be assured of getting nice, crisp images.
It features Simmons' patented true zero adjustment system and qta quick target acquisition eyepiece, which provides a constant 3.5 inches of eye relief through the entire magnification range.
It has two mounting rings included in the price, to get a secure lock onto your rifle.
Pros
Cons
Best Coyote Hunting Scope - Buyers Guide
It’s worth noting here that it’s perfectly possible to buy a hunting scope that merely provides a scope sight and offers no magnification whatsoever. However when you’re hunting a coyote it will be by long range, and you will need a scope that has some magnification.
For that reason both our Top 5 hunting scopes, and our buying guide concentrates on hunting scopes with magnification.
Magnification
To get the best accuracy on your shot, you need a scope with good magnification to get as big an image of your target as possible from your shooting distance, even at 200 yards away.
At the same time however, you also need a decently wide field of view to track the coyote’s movement, something that’s often compromised as scopes go up the rank in magnification.
Objective lens diameter
A scope with a larger objective lens (that’s the lens furthest from your eye) gathers more light, so the larger the diameter of an objective lens, the brighter and clearer the image will be.
This is particularly important during low light conditions, which is when you tend to see coyotes come out.
Fully multi coated lenses
On the subject of sight during low light conditions, one aspect of a hunting scope that can play a significant role is the use of fully multi coated lenses. With fully multi coated optics, all of the glass surfaces have multiple coatings, resulting in a light transmission of 90-95% for bright, crisp, sharp and high contrast images.
Type of reticle
The reticle is the pattern of markings built into the eyepiece of the scope. Reticles vary considerably from scope to scope. A good reticle can make all the difference in aiming at your target to get the best possible shot.
Crosshair placements are perhaps the best recognised reticle, and are generally a good reticle to go for. A variation on crosshair placements, known as duplex, is very much like the traditional crosshair placement, but the cross hair is thicker at the edges and tapers down to a fine crosshair in the centre. This tends to help you place your target quicker.
But aiming points and dots have their purpose too. In some reticles, crosshairs feature dots along each axis. You can use these dots to make any adjustments when considering distance and windage while aiming.
So they can be used for very precise shooting whether at short or longer range. They are often favored by hunters with lower powered rifles that have a poor trajectory.
Other reticles feature a single dot at the centre of the reticle, and while these are popular with some hunters for fast moving targets, they’re not so well suited to longer range varmint shooting.
Some reticles, like the BDC, can improve your precision in your aiming by providing bullet drop compensation.
Illuminated reticles
It’s important that your reticle is clear and bright when you’re hunting coyotes due to the likely low light conditions. In fact, if possible you should invest in a scope that illuminates for the best possible view.
The drawback to illuminated reticles however is that they may have an additional adjustment turret for adjusting the brightness, which means they will need batteries.
Reticle color
Reticle colors are usually red or green. If you look at two dots of light at the same power level, the green dot will appear to be up to 30 times as bright as the red light. So green is definitely better in low light.
One issue with using a green colored reticle however, is that it doesn’t show up very well against foliage, and it’s a distraction that can slow you down.
Elevation and windage adjustments
The term windage refers to the sight adjustment needed to compensate for the horizontal deviation of the shot trajectory from the target due to wind drift. Elevation on the other hand refers to the vertical deviation.
It may sound trivial to the uninitiated, but it’s essential to have elevation and windage adjustments to avoid any mishits. Any hunting scope worth its salt will allow elevation and windage adjustments.
Answers to your most frequently asked questions
Is coyote hunting ethical?
Uncontrolled coyote populations are a proven threat to a number of species, including sheep, cattle, mule deer, antelope, and sage grouse. They are a nuisance to ranch owners and although there are some measures that can be put in place to ward off coyotes, such as motion sensor lights, these measures are not foolproof by any means.
In Western US, coyotes are classified as an unprotected species, and thus the coyote hunting regulations and restrictions are minimal. Few states require any type of license, and no western state has a set coyote hunting season.
Basically, coyotes are seen as lower class wildlife, inline with rodents and vermin. In fact some states will pay contract hunters good money to cull overblown coyote populations.
What calibre rifle is best for coyote hunting?
First of all, the .204 Ruger is no good for coyote hunting, the coyote can still run off after being hit by it.
The .223 is right up there for predator pursuits however, but it’s not as good as the .22-250 Remington. It’s real fast at 3600 feet per second, and it can shoot out to 300 or even 400 yards. You won’t have to go following any blood tracks after the hit either, because the mag will drop the coyote dead right on the spot.
The .243 Winchester is also a good calibre for coyotes, especially for the big northern dogs, but is a bit on the heavy side for fox and varmint targets. The .243 is also a good calibre for deer hunting too, real dual purpose.
What are the most common mistakes made by rookie coyote hunters?
The most common mistake made by rookie coyote hunters is by relying too much on chance. To really increase your chances of catching a coyote or two, you could try setting a trap. For more information on the best traps for coyotes, click on this link. For information on the best coyote trap bait, click on this link.
Another trick to getting coyotes on your radar is to use coyote calls. We have several articles on the best coyote calls, like the one on this link, and also the best coyote mouth calls on this link, and the best coyote electronic calls, available on this link.
