I'm sure you'll hear both sides - in general, I prefer a bolt gun for both daytime hunting and thermal at night.
An AR is definitely nice for quick(er) follow up shots, but I feel I'm better with a bolt gun (probably from doing 98% of my shooting with one). I have an AR in 6 ARC I've been using for thermal lately and it's been a lot of fun.
Depends on if you are a one shot one kill guy or a mag dumper. Some folks call in two, kill one, then dump 20 rounds at the other as it high tails it outta there. They like AR's. If you like to wait till they stop then kill them, a bolt is fine.
Generally speaking I prefer bolts for most situations. But thermal coyote hunting goes to the AR. I prefer having quick follow ups in the event that I run into a sounder of hogs
I like bolt actions if hunting with others. It’s quieter to load on stand. I don’t like walking in the dark with loaded rifles and multiple people. If hunting solo I will load the rifle at the truck so it’s a non issue.
If you have lots of multiples and can shoot running coyotes an AR is better.
I use both as well but prefer AR for night time and bolt for daytime. You will definitely use more ammo with the AR but I can’t say it is more effective
Running a 243 bolt gun at night, have been thinking about switching to a 22 arc ar platform soon. Switched my day platform to a 6 arc ar due to follow up shots costing a few coyotes derby hunting that would have put us in the money.
I've almost exclusively used semi-auto for coyotes, it definitely helps for quick follow ups or getting that other yote. With that being said, generally that other one is running FAST after the first one goes down. I've hit them on the run before, and other times it's just a hail mary mag dump. I might have only a few extra yotes that I can conclusively say the semi-auto was key in getting the kill.