Just had a .204 "failure"

[sum-rifle]

Well it had to happen sooner or later. I have been loading the Hornady V-Max 40 grain bullets on top of 25.6 grains of AA 2230. Shoots great and I am sure it is fast although I have not chrono'd it yet.

So today I spot a coyote and he takes off running uphill. I put the crosshairs on him and squeeze and hear the "Thwack!". He went down but was alive. I did not think he would get up so I put the laser rangefinder on him and it was 232 yards.

I start to walk towards him (first mistake I should have shot him again) and he gets up and starts walking slowly uphill. i look through the VXII 4-12X40 and see what looks like a soccer ball size spot of red on his left rear leg at the hip. I put another round in him and heard the hit. He went down again and I start walking toward him. He gets up and walks some more toward the top of the hill.

He makes the top which is almost 300 yards from where I am. 4 or 5 crows are buzzing him and 2 land within a few feet of him. Another crow lands where I shot him the first time and starts having dinner.

He went out of sight and I waited 10 minutes and started up the hill (more of a mountain) expecting to find him dead at the top. 15 minutes later I crest the top and he is nowhere to be found. The crows are not even in sight. He must have went down the other side or crested another nearby hill.

My fault for not making a better shot and for not following up right away but I really thought he was down and out both times. I never could see the other hit but I am 100% certain I got him both times. Just must have been poor hits although the first one looked nasty!

I walked to where he laid down the second time and there was a lot of blood as well as meat.
I walked to where the first shot was and it was soaked with blood. There was also a bunch of meat that seamed jello like. I did not look like fat but also did not look like muscle. There was also some sinewy looking meat stuff.

No doubt in my mind he is dead right now but I am amazed he took 2 rounds and still walked off. I think the first one was a good hit but just a little far back.

Next time if it is not an obvious bang flop I will put another round in right away.

edited to add... My rifle is a Kimber 84M with the Leupold VXII 4-12X40 AO.

[Rugerdogdog]

That does sound like a bad deal. Hard to judge not knowing where the second shot hit. I would, however, never want to hit a coyote in the hip with a Vmax. I promise I'm not trying to tear ya up here but......it does sound like shot placement was the problem.
I don't like to see any animal suffer but I would shoot a coyote anywhere I could get the crosshairs on him.

[sum-rifle]

Well seeing how he was running away from me I guess I should have held on his nose instead of between the shoulder blades. I hate to see them suffer also but I do like to whack em!
I will endeavor to do better next time.

[cracker]

I hope everyone here knows I am not bashing you. your post is titled 204 failure but the 40 grain v-max and the 204 did what they were intended to do. shot placement is key, someone told me there's a whisper in the woods that states coyote meets berger bullets and dies. but shot placement is still key here too.
Sportingly
Cracker

[Rugerdogdog]

Well Sum, when you describe it that way, I can't say that I would've done anything differently, at that range, with that load. I don't have any experience hitting a running yote. You can be sure that I will have this in mind when the time comes.
Cracker does have a point, I would call it another Vmax failure, but now I'm being nit-pickity.

[sum-rifle]

I was not blaming the V-Max bullet in my opinion they work great! You did notice I hope that I put failure in my threat title in quotations. I know it was a combination of shot placement and my fault for not following up with another round right away.

Coyotes tend to die quickly if you hit them in the right spots with the right bullet. They are very tenacious if you hit them poorly which I guess is what I did this time.

I believe in the 40 grain V-Max as well as the 39 grain BlitzKings. I have been happy with the performance so far and this was more of my failure than the bullet. I was just looking for a thread title and it sounded good.

[Rugerdogdog]

It was a fine title. I was mostly just givin ya crap. I have no real love for the Vmaxs as I'm a Sierra kinda guy. If it was titled Vmax "failure" then I probably would have jumped right on the bandwagon with you.

[Gmoney]

With all due respect I agree with Cracker....

The behavior of the coyote after your hits and the title of the post does suggest the .204 as a caliber failed rather than the bullet selection, shot placement, and the plethora of other variables.

If you want to hit a coyote in the hindquarters let alone with a very explosive bullet you'll need lots more gun.

No need for me to go on but i think you get the picture. Not just with a .204, no calibers "fail". The shooter fails to choose a proper caliber, bullet, or placement of his/her shot are the factors at play....

Congrats on the dog and take care....