[Minnow]

I would like to hunt coyotes with my M-4, my primary optic being an Aimpoint M-68, so how will this work out? The dot is 4 moa of course, so would this be practical? I guess I would like to know what is the longest ethical range of the aimpoint for coyote? How big is the chest cavity and vital area of the animal? Thanks...

[DJ Niner]

If you have it zeroed to put the bullet in the center of the dot at 100 yards, then I'd say you're good out to about 200-250 yards. Bullet drop (depending on the exact load, of course) will still keep the bullet under the dot (bottom edge of it) out to about 200 yards; after that, you'll have to hold a bit higher, maybe completely off the animal.

Fold a sheet of standard paper (8.5"x11") in half, top to bottom, and use that as a "vitals" target for a broadside shot. Fold it again, side-to-side, for a front-facing chest vitals target. If you can keep the shots on those papers out to 200 yards, shooting from field-realistic positions, you're good to go.

Past 250, I'd start to worry more about the ballistics from your relatively short barrel, and how that would affect getting a clean kill, even with good hits. Coyotes can be tough, and we owe them the same effort to get a quick humane kill as any other game animal. That, and a 'yote is a pretty small, naturally-camouflaged target at 250+ yards; your eyesight in combination with the unmagnified sight may prove to be the final limiting factor. I prefer a low-powered scope for my AR carbine when chasing these critters.

[tjpet]

Put a 3x9x40 scope on top, stoke the gun with 55grn. SP's, sight in 1.5" high @ 100 yards, and you're covered for most field conditions out to 250 yards.

Nothing wrong with the optics you've got now but longer shots will be tougher with no magnification.

I've never found coyotes hard to kill with a .223 and any barrel length from 16-24" as long as an expanding bullet was used at standard velocity. Even not-so-perfect hits will anchor them long enough for you to get close and finish the job.