A pellet rifle can take out a large male coyote. I actually killed one when I was kid.
Ten years old....out at the edge of the woods near a pond. I'd sat down to rest when I caught movement to the left. I guess the huge coyote didn't sense me....I sat and watched. He was cutting a bee-line for the pond. He must have been really thirsty because he stuck his head down and started drinking.
His rear was facing me, so I drew a bead on his gonads. "Papp"....I nailed him.
He flinched, then stumbled a bit and then went down. I discovered that the pellet never even penetrated the target.
Cause of death was drowning.