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Suppressors...Advantage or Not?
March 15th, 2022
Ten years ago I was thoroughly convinced that somehow a guy hunting coyotes with a suppressor was cheating. I figured that this was the ultimate way to get more coyotes faster and I was out of the loop. With my more traditional points of view on coyote hunting I decided right then and there I hated them and anyone that hunted with one was a cheater. I feel this way about other technological advancements in the forefront of today’s hunting such as thermal imaging and night vision optics. At some point in the past I decided that suppressors were a legitimate tool for hunting and recreational shooting and I now own a couple of them. Don’t expect me to buy a thermal scope though. The question I had to answer for myself at this point was…..Do suppressors offer any advantage in the field when hunting coyotes or is it just another thing that we “need” to have to go hunting. Over the last 10 years I’ve hunted coyotes with one almost exclusively and hopefully I can offer my insight on this question as objectively as possible.
Let’s get started.
An early season coyote taken with a suppressed 204 Ruger and 39 Grain Sierra Blitzkings. This rifle sounds like a 22 lr when fired.
This coyote was called out of a cattail slough and shot with the author's suppressed 204 Ruger.
First off a suppressor or silencer, as they are commonly referred to, are a device that threads onto the end of a rifle barrel and makes the gun much quieter. I don’t like the word silencer. These things don’t make a gun inaudible. I like the term suppressor since that’s exactly what it does. It suppresses or makes a centerfire rifle quieter as well as recoil less. To give a perspective on this a typical rifle chambered in 223 Remington and fitted with a suppressor on the end of the muzzle will sound about like a 22lr or a 22 WMR depending on a few factors with the load one is shooting. The term “hearing safe” is often used to let people know how quiet a gun will be when suppressed. I don’t think any of them are completely hearing safe, however they are much easier on a person’s ears when used. Recoil is mitigated quite well by a suppressor. Even a gun as mild recoiling as a 223 Remington will still see a benefit from a suppressor in terms of reducing recoil. Hits on your target or your game will easily be seen through a scope even when cranked to higher magnification.
Suppressors range in size from about 4” or so long all the way up to 12” or longer and are usually right around 1” to just under 2” in diameter. Usually they are set up for .224 caliber projectiles and smaller or .308 caliber projectiles or smaller. Rifles chambered in cartridges larger than .308 have quite a few options as well. If a person is shooting a 6.5 Creedmoor a .308 diameter suppressor would be used. A .223 or 22-250 could use either a .223 or .308 caliber suppressor. Overall size will dictate how many decibels the suppressor will trim off the report of the rifle. Typically the larger the can (suppressor) is, the more it will reduce the audible “boom” from the rifle. Internally the suppressor is a series of baffles that redirect muzzle blast and “suppress” all the chaos that comes out of the end of the barrel. It works much like a muffler on a car.
Typically a rifle will see a POI shift when using a suppressor. I’ve found with the cans I have, there is no rhyme or reason to where they will move the POI. However each suppressor will consistently move the POI the same way. For example my Witt Machine suppressor will always move my POI on my 22-250AI down and left one inch at 100 yards. This makes it nice if I’m going to shoot with or without the can. Accuracy has never been negatively affected for me when the threads of the barrel have been true to center. I had one instance of a muzzle that was threaded slightly out of round causing the bullet to strike the internal baffle of the suppressor and greatly reduce accuracy. This was the exception in my experience. Normally accuracy does not suffer whatsoever and in many cases the rifle will shoot a bit better with the suppressor on the rifle.
So….to get back to the original question. Does a suppressor give a hunter an advantage when hunting coyotes? The answer is quite simple. Yes it does and no it doesn’t. There are a number of factors to consider.
Factor 1 - What rifle are you shooting? My experience in hunting coyotes dictates that a flat shooting rifle is advantageous to the walking varminter. A flat trajectory means less guessing distance and a greater margin of error when a coyote is moving into a call or away from the hunter. Normally this means the rifle is shooting a load that is supersonic. That means the bullet is traveling at or above 1100 fps, is breaking the sound barrier and will have a “sonic boom”. These bullets will give an audible “crack” when they pass by or overhead an animal. I’ve pulled enough targets while standing in the pits of a rifle range while bullets snap over your head to know that this is not a quiet or subtle noise. How does this apply to coyotes? Well if you shoot at and miss a coyote there is still going to be a very loud sonic crack that the bullet will create. In my experience when this happens, the coyote reacts very similarly to the way they do when they are shot at with a non suppressed rifle. Sometimes a missed coyote may be confused as to where the noise came from and run closer to you thus creating an advantage. However for the most part this gives us a situation that a suppressor is not advantageous for the hunter.
An advantage not discussed in the article has to do with range. This coyote was taken along with 2 others at 620 yards with a suppressed rifle. The 2 other coyotes were confused as to what was going on and offered shots before checking out. The 2 coyotes not pictured were both infected with biting lice and not photo worthy.
Factor 2 - What direction are you shooting? Calling in multiple coyotes is always like living in a dream for a few minutes. You start to plan out the glory photo and stories of how you called in 3 coyotes and got them all. I used to think a suppressor would make this task easy. It doesn’t. But…..it can help. If a guy calls in one coyote and shoots and kills it and the other coyote or coyotes has not come into view yet or is far enough away from the shooter that the suppressor has eliminated the muzzle blast enough, the second and third coyotes may not react and keep coming to the call thus giving the hunter an advantage over the non suppressed rifle. Having said that, I have had multiple coyotes come in at different times when shooting a non-suppressed rifle as well. Direction of the shot fired can be a game changer with a suppressor in my opinion. I’ve had a number of situations where I’ve called in multiple coyotes and the coyotes have split up as they were coming in. Usually a coyote or two will circle down wind leaving the other or more in a different direction from the shooter. Shooting to the far right of the shooter with a suppressor and having a coyote standing to the far left of the shooter will more often than not confuse the coyote enough that he will stand there just long enough in what I believe is an attempt to see what happened to his buddy, thus giving the shooter just enough time to make a good shot on the second or third coyote as well. This most certainly gives an advantage to the hunter.
Factor 3 - Good hunting spots, especially with coyotes, can and do sometimes end up pretty close to populated areas or residential areas. Hunting legally in these spots can prove to be very effective. However, gunshots will make soccer moms and stay home dads pretty uneasy if they don’t know where they are coming from or why they are hearing them. I have access to a few areas like this and hunting them with a suppressor is much more relaxing than hunting them without. Obviously an area like this safety becomes a huge factor and in my particular spots it's a perfectly safe setup. However, the shot can still be heard, without a suppressed rifle, by houses nearby. I like the idea of being able to hunt discreetly. I personally don’t like anyone knowing I’m out in the field doing what I’m doing and a suppressor certainly helps with that. Advantage to the hunter on this one.
Factor 4 - What?.........Huh?...........WHAT??.......I haven’t quite lost enough of my hearing yet to invest in hearing aids but I’m not too many years from that I believe. My day job as a band director is quite taxing on my ears. Years of watching local dirt track racing, running open cab tractors and of course shooting rifles without hearing protection have taken their toll. I can hear you now…..why are you shooting without hearing protection???? Well…..I would guess most of us don’t carry ear plugs while hunting. Each winter for many winters I fired anywhere between 100-150 shots at coyotes without hearing protection while hunting. I know that has a negative effect on my ears. A suppressor has most certainly slowed that down. A suppressor is also quite a bit cheaper than a set of hearing aids so we’re going to call this an advantage towards the hunter.
This triple was shot with a suppressed 204 Ruger and 50 grain Berger bullets . 5 coyotes were called in on this stand and I believe the suppressor allowed me to get good shots on more of the coyotes .
Lastly……hunting at night. I’m not much for hunting at night by moonlight. I’ve done it and I’d rather hunt during the day. I despise thermal imaging and night vision. However many people pursue coyotes at night using one of those methods. My night “shooting” experience with a suppressor has all taken place literally out my back door. Every year I keep a bait pile loaded with deer carcasses, pheasant carcasses and whatever else I think a coyote might eat, staked down about 200 yards from my back door. When I get up at night to feed a kid or relieve myself if there’s a full moon and good snow cover I’ll always check the pile. The most I’ve ever had there at one time is 6. I was licking my chops. A suppressed rifle in the dark??? I’m going to have at least 4 dead coyotes. WRONG. I got outside and into my position to fire. When the shot went off and I killed the first coyote the others took off in 5 different directions like a bomb had gone off. This has been the norm every time I’ve attempted this at night. Maybe if a guy was using a subsonic round it’d give an advantage but with a fast and flat shooting supersonic varmint round it gives zero advantage to the hunter.
So…..should you go out and buy a suppressor and start hunting with it? I think so. I believe the positives outweigh the negatives when it comes right down to it. Obtaining a suppressor is not all that difficult if you use the right dealer. A good dealer will do the paperwork for you, submit it and all you have to do is sit back and wait….quite a few months……and you will have your can in your hands ready to start hunting.
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