I've heard the 110 gr v-max does wonders at preserving the hide. No exit wound. Rifle is going to have a 17 inch 1:10 twist barrel. Going to set it up as a do-all swiss army knife type of rifle. Can't really afford to be buying gun after gun. Anyone have any experience using .308 and still being able to walk away with the hide?


ETA was about .308 but I think we're talking hides now

I doubt that a .308 v-max is very fur friendly. A .223 v-max can leave a good sized exit hole sometimes.

.308's what I got to work with. As for the qq0, I've heard it doesnt fly far hence being gentle. I also heard 125gr TNT. I'm quoting shit I've read. Been researching this stuff.

You might be better served with FMJ bullets out of your .308 if legal and if they are safe to use in your area.

Or at least a big game bullet that wont blow up.

Not sure 308 is going to work very well for your intended purpose. No matter what bullet style is used. Too much energy.
realy only two ways to look at it.
Bullet style that comes unglued at impact to reduce the chance of poking another hole in the off side.
Bullet style that stays together and leaves a clean exit hole on the off side.
So yeah. Vmax or FMJ. Maybe cheep hollow point.

Fur buyers don't like holes. Holes will be used to maximum advantage by the buyer to not pay top dollar. Small holes are worth more.
And...depending on where the hole is ? The hide could loose half its value or more.

Are fur prices coming back?  I tried to give some really nice raccoons in the round to a local fur shed last year and they wanted none.

Fur prices have been good on coyotes for the last several years. I sold a few dozen for $100+ average..... 'Coons haven't sold well in years. NAFA has a million of them they can't get sold. The price of Coon will probably never get better.

Cats are down a little over the last 5 years or so. Everything else is up and down as usual. Mink are waaay down due to the ranchers flooding the market, but it will come back.

What do they want in coyote hides? Do they care about the head part because I was planning on popping coyotes in the head. Want to get into tanning and breaking hides.


Also thanks for all the input guys but I've decided to say fuck the .308 and .22-250. I'll work on the .308 rifle next year. Was wanting to get it built before the elections, but with the DNC in nuclear meltdown I feel comfortable holding it off.

I put my own up and shipped them directly to auction.  Fifty put up hides earned me less that $200.  I don't have the checks handy, but $200 is a generous estimation of what the hides cleared during the two auctions.

I did get .50 for a squirrel that stuck his head into a bucket set though.  Since I was already sending in pelts, I just turned him inside out and dried him on a mink board.

What part of Pa OP? I know a few trappers that may be able to show you how to put up fur. All you need for the fur market is to skin, flesh and stretch fur. No tanning.

Poconos.

Don't expect to get ID prices for PA fur.

PA has a strong trappers assn.
Hit your local district meeting someone will adopt you

ah. well maybe I'll learn to make my own coyote fur quilt.

If you're shooting fur for skinning, small caliber and slow velocity are what you seek.  Second choice is really really small caliber and stupid fast.

Sorry, the guys I know are down in south-central PA.

Join your local guys like Dave said, they'll teach you everything you need to know....

Do you reload?  Could try some excellerators

Trying to get into reloading. I bought reloading supplies and equipment YEARS ago and never did get started with it.

.22

Aim small....miss small.

No.

Woodchuck/ground hog/whistle pig sinew is getting a decent price from fly fisherman....

I shot a coyote broadside at maybe 125yds with a 12" 5.56, using a 55gr gameking bullet and it had a pretty nasty exit wound. You might need to go with a bullet like a barnes just to make sure it doesn't blow up.

I shot a coyote that had a really severe mange a few years ago.


Used a 220 Swift pushing a 50gr V-max around 4030 fps.  Bang, flop.


Walked over and there was just a few tiny dots of blood on the snow.  Bullet went in through the front shoulder.  Combination of speed and a v-max hitting bone and I guess that bullet just exploded.  Tiniest sliver of an exit wound.  Part of the jacket or the core, most of the bullet remained inside.

Shame it didn't have good fur it would have been a perfect candidate for skinning.  As it was I only got a shot at him because the mange was so bad it was trying to get near a barn, I assume to try to keep from freezing.  It was really cold that weekend.  Probably only had 30% of it's fur left.  I'm sure it was incredibly miserable.


I can't imagine a 30 cal reliably giving good pelts unless you are using 300blk with subs.

I suspect a 220 Swift with 40gr vmax or 35gr berger going as fast as possible would be a reliable fur round.  I never went with bullets lighter than 50s because they shed velocity too fast, and are usually moving slower once you get out to 200 yards.



ETA:

Found a picture of it!

The hollow point?  That is my go to coyote round, I rarely get exit wounds.  I use it in 22-250 and 223.  How big was the coyote?