Thanks for looking.  I have an RRA Varmint 16 with Eotech 552 on it right now.  This will work well for close-in work like in heavy timber.  However, for open country coyotes out to 250 yards I also want a nice scope (probably Leupold or similar). Also must not be REAL heavy as it will be a carry gun.  I would like to stay around $500 if possible.  It will have ARMS QD mounts for sure, but:

Illuminated reticle?
Mil-Dot?
2-7x, 3-9x, 4-12x,?
40mm, 50mm?
compact models?

What would/did you do?  Thanks!

When I'm using a caller, I like and use what you got, the EOTech on a RRA M4. Yotes are smart so I use a dead (fresh, sometimes w/ a string so I can move him) rabbit for them to see and like to get them close as possible.

As they're thicker flies up around the chicken-houses at the farm; sometimes they pour over the rise in a pack of 6 or 8. I wait till they get close and begin to get wary, then drop one with the best shot I can make, hopefully inside a 100 yards or closer, then the "red-dot" comes into its own as I like to go to town on the closest to the one I dropped as he's likely frozen for a split second. On occasion I hit him, but the rest are for sure gonna be "beating feet", so I have some fun with them.

Note: yotes invaribly circle around to come at ya from down-wind of the caller and bait, so keep that in mind, and be mindful of your back-ground, 'cus at times you can get carried away and ya don't want no rounds going off the reservation. There are other houses around the farm so this is a concern for me and I watch my set-up based on the wind and homes nearby (1/4 mi or so), but when set-ups right I have more fun shooting at the ones I miss than the one or, if I'm lucky, 2 that are downed. (and Dad complains about me starting wars [;)]

While a scope may get ya able to make the first shot at a further range, chances are it'll not be fast enough on target to have the further "fun".

Mike  

250 yards is a long shot.  I'd say skip the mil-dots; they are not necessary as you should always be within your point blank range.

I like the big 50mm objectives, as a lot of shooting is done at dusk or night.  The extra light is helpful.

I find 7x is most useful during the day and 11x at night.

Leupolds Vari-XIIIs are good.  They are discontinuing that scope line so you might be able to find a good deal right now.  Leupolds are not the easiest scope to mount on an AR due to their extremely long eye relief.  I also have a Bushnell Elite 4200; it is slightly heavier than my Leupold, but brighter, clearer and a little cheaper.  The 2.5-10x50 or 4-16x50 would both be excellent coyote scopes.  I have also heard very good things about the Nikon Monarchs and Weaver Grand Slams, and they are both reasonably priced.  [url]www.swfa.com[/url] has good prices on the Bushnells, Nikons and Weavers.

I've never used an illuminated recticle, so I can not really comment on that.  It sounds like a good idea though.  SWFA had the Bushnell Elite 4200 2.5-10x50 with illuminated recticle for $399.

Coyotes at 250 yds doesnt take much magnification.  If you are calling you will want something with low power and a wide field of view.  I used a 6.5-20 leupold on a custom 6-284, 22br, and 284 for coyotes.  The 6x is almost too much mag for calling. I usually call with a friend and one of us will  position downwind from the caller with both rifle and shotgun.  For a 200 to 300 yd. gun a variable would be nice if it were on the low end.  For a fixed p0wer I'd choose a 4x. If you are ever thinking about something small like a prarie dog , you'll have to bump up the magnification.