Depends how you hunt them. I also have land in illinois and if hand calling than a shotgun is my weapon. If using electronic than 22-250. I also use the accient 220 swift and my new 204 but the 22-250 blows the others out of the water on ballistic charts. I shoot a 40 grain vmax hornady for dogs. My 250 will shoot better and flatter than any 223. Honestly the 223 is the worst ballistic cartridge for the lighter rifles. The swift is the only other gun that can compete with the 250 (hence why I own them both). The only advantage to the 223 is the cheap ammo if you feel like target shooting. 243 is a great round but way to big for yotes. Killed a couple with mine and the hide was ruined using the 58 grain vmax. The 40 grain is as big as I shoot and it still leaves a goos size exit but it is manageable. Best of luck. ps better go quick cuz the dogs are really easy to cll at the moment.

If you plan on calling do not worry about snow because there are less hunters without snow so your success will increase dramatically

Have not heard alot about the model but savage makes a very good shooting and reliable rifle. I honestly prefer remington 700 classic, browning a bolts and my favorate is ruger in the mark 2 which is now the hawkeye. Regardless and rifle these days will shoot good the extra money goes into recoil pads, triggers, stocks, and smooth bolt action. A good scope on any rifle will make a good gun. The 250 is my favoate varmit round so thats good and a great round for 400 yard shots which are common dog hunting when you call in 3 or 4 at a time. I like leupold for scopes but do not go cheap. My rule is spend doulble the amount of scope of what gun cost. So if gun is 400 than I spend 800 on scope. I would recomend a vx3 in a 4-12. 12 is plenty of power for the longer shots. I also recommend the hornady vmax 40 or 45 grain bullets. With my ruger and a lead sled I can shoot touching bullet holes at 400 yards.