I'm a target shooter, not a hunter. But I find that fox are out of control and coyote have established a population. I need your help to pick a rifle & cartridge to cull them in woods, at say 75 to 120 yards, with minimal noise.

A subsonic, large caliber might have no noise but a lot of drop, so range estimation becomes critical given the small target size and branches can get in the way as the bullet rises high. Probably be shooting from the crest down into or across a valley. So the slant range is a factor as well. And a non-standard twist rate might be needed to stabilize a big slow bullet.

Is there a supersonic smaller caliber that can be reduced to no more than 100 dB and still get the job done? How much noise would I have to accept in a smaller, fast caliber?

I would prefer an integral suppressor design rather than a can hanging off the end.

Thanks...

EDIT: A bolt rifle is fine; something that's built into an AR upper would be convenient too.

I hunt the hell out of yotes my fav hobby. Not allowed to use suppressors to hunt here in Maine. I use a custom AR in .204 I built. I have taken many a yote with it.

Having hunted coyotes and fox for 20 years now I will share that with anything subsonic (regardless of caliber) you will lose some animals the size of fox and coyite without a hit central nervous system. Subsonic rounds (as you may already know) lack the hydrostatic shock associated with traditional "varmint" rounds that most varmint hunters have come to rely on to anchor tough and tenacious animals like bobcat, coyote and to a lesser extent fox.

Hits on animals that donot in lude cns damage may need to tracked as they quite possibly run till they bleed out.

I will also share that 100 DB's suppressed with transonic ammo is unheard of.

All that identified, you need to know that the sound of a supersonic suppressed rifle shot sounds a whole lot different in the field as opposed to the square range where you have berms, overhangs and buildings to redirect the sound of the sonic crack.

You would be quite surprised at how quiet the sound of a suppressed bolt action 223/556 can be in the field. The noise associated with the shot is akin to an Airhose being disconnected from a pneumatic tool.

What I have found is that the closer the target (less time in the air to make noise) the quieter the sonic crack is. The faster the bullet fly's down range the quieter it sounds as well.

I have killed many hundreds (if not thousands) of jackrabbits with a suppressed 17 HMR and I will say that it is the most quiet supersonic suppressed round I have fired in a rifle. It is Quite capable of taking fox at the ranges you speak of but light in the ass for coyotes.

I do have a ruger 17 hornet but as of get do not have it threaded.

If it were me and silence was paramount and range was kept to 100 yards I would recommend a suppressed 17 HMR.

My suppressed 204 ruger is extremely quiet to the shooters ear as well and I hunt very close to inhabited areas with no complaints from landowners.

223 is certainly quiet in a bolt gun but its slower speed (compared to the 204) and larger projectile size (as compared to both theb17 and 204) seem to amplify the sonic crack just a little but I still use it in the areas I spoke of earlier with no complaints from residents.

If it were me and I already had one of the three calibers mentioned above in a suppressable platform I'd have it threaded and use it (keeping in mind the range limitations of the 17 HMR.

A suppressed bolt .223 at ranges up to 125 is pretty damned quiet. The thump of the bullet hitting a coyote is almost as loud as the report. I haven't heard any sonic crack.........unless I missed.

I've been hunting with guys running suppressed ARs in 223 and it shocked me how quiet they were, even using full power loads for pigs. Air hose being unhooked description nails it. Although, an integral 77/44 throwing 300 grain pistol bullets is quieter, and hits like a brick.

Since you're shooting vermin as opposed to meat/ worthy game, a 22 stinger in the belly would get the job done, later.

"Since you're shooting vermin as opposed to meat/ worthy game, a 22 stinger in the belly would get the job done, later."

Yea but... still prefer a clean kill.

Is that .204 the best compromise between flat shooting and knock down energy?

Is that .204 the best compromise between flat shooting and knock down energy?

I would say with great confidence that the .204 Ruger is the best compromise reference flat shooting, energy and sound reduction.

You get 22-250 trajectory,velocity and accuracy utilizing near 223/5.56 powder charges (if you handload) and it suppresses exceptionally well. Very quiet in a bolt gun.

Gratuitous suppressed 204 pics:

Savage Model 11 in 204 with Gemtech Titanium Trek.

Are you using a .223 suppressor or do they make caliber specific cans?

The Trek is designed for 223/5.56 and is extremely effective on the 204.

I also use an AAC 762SDN6 on my 243's and it works very very good on that caliber as well.

Sounds like a 22 hornet would be the ticket for you. Ive got a ruger 77/22hornet with a liberty const and with hand loaded 40gr vmax over 13 gr lil gun its screaming around 3k fps. Sounds like a 22lr and drops fox out to 200 yds no problem.

The shot sonic signature on any supersonic round is not going to even approach the 100db range.

Use a suppressed FN2000 (.223) with a 3x IOR scope for most varmit hunting. Compact and balanced well. We do a lot of coyote hunting in low/no light. Have a red flashlight in the body of the forgrip, and have attached a Laser Genetics light. The red light paned "slowly" back and forth is very difficult for the coyotes to see, and when the eyeflash is caught, the green laser identifier lights them up quite well. Looking through the scope, it almost gives the sense of a scope with high definition night vision.

For pure day time, I use a suppressed .223 Rem700 with a 1st gen Springfield Armory 4-14x scope. It's hard to beat on daytime varmit hunting of any nature. Thinking the likelyhood of catching a coyote inside the 100yd mark in the daytime is going to be a rare thing though.

A suppressed .223 round at 3100 fps (use 55 gr. soft point) has a surprisingly low shot sound. There's still a noticible sonic signature, but at a 50yd side distance from the shooter, it almost comes off as a muffled hand clap.

Put together a 300blk AR with an EOTech on it to try on coyotes at some time. Still have to switch the lights. Suppressed 220gr softpoints at 1000fps are flat out quiet, and hit like Thors hammer. They also have a rainbow trajectory that is only a tad better than a thrown rock. Zeroed at 100 yds, the EOTech outer ring is about on for 150yds.

Unless you're gonna roll your own, suggest staying with a std. round. (I do reload, it's the only way I can afford 300 blk ammo. )

Just my 2 cents.

Lots of things to consider. Keep the ideas coming!