IFish Fishing Forum banner

.17 HMR for Coyotes??

24K views 29 replies 24 participants last post by  The Kodiak Kid 
#1 ·
I'm interested in knowing who has cleanly killed coyotes with the .17HMR round or even the .22 MAG. I want your feedback. I understand bullet placement is key for a clean kill, but I also know all shots are not optimal for a quick kill.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know 204, 22 swift, 22-250's, 223's, 243's are optimal (one guy here said he even shoots his .300 win mag to kill 'm and gut 'em in one shot...). I'm just curious who has had success with the screamin' fast little .17HMR.

Good ballistics comparison between the 22mag and 17hmr here, by the way: http://www.chuckhawks.com/compared_17HMR_22WMR.htm

Ron
 
#3 ·
I have killed coyotes with the 17 and a 22 long rifel the 17 did a much better job at the longer distance all shots were in the back of the head or the side from 25 yrds out to 150,I have upgraded to a 243 now that I plan on hunting them on a regular basis I shot them while bunny hunting.But I did love my 17 if the shot is well placed it does put em down fast.
 
#4 ·
Here is the key to killing a coyote with a 17HMR; you need to stay away from a V-max or BT (Ballistic Tip). The reson for this is both the V-Max and BT are desinged for quick and raiped expantion. In the case of shooting yotes they do little intrenal damge and more damage to the impact spot. The way to get past this is to shot a roubd that is loaded with something that is a soft point bullet. that is what will take care of the coyote.:wink:
 
#5 ·
I recently put together a .17hmr. The first coyote that I shot, I actually thought that I missed. The yote was about 50 yards away when I shot it broad side with a V-max round. I didn't even see the dog nudge and as I chambered another round, it walked away. I tried looking for a blood trail and found nothing. DAAAAAYS later I found the yote about 30 yards just inside some blackberry bushes. I think the bullet entered, expanded/fragmented and never made an exit.:shrug:
 
#7 ·
While you will get widely varying opinions on the .17 HMR for coyotes, the guys who are really the experts, guys who hunt for a living, videos, TV, ADC, NEVER use an .17 HMR and consider it unethical. I know some of these people from many different states and I follow their advice. A .17 HMR is NOT a coyote rifle. IMHO you will do a disservice to the sport once you realize how many you injure and not kill cleanly.

That's my take!

Rusty
 
#8 ·
Step up to a little bigger round IMO the 17 hmr is just to small for Yotes. if you are dead set on a 17 cal rifle go with the 17 Remington or 17 fireball rp
 
#9 ·
I have shot a few large nutria with my .17 with mixed results. I drilled a 20lb nute in the shoulder with a V-max at 163yrds and it was still alive 10minutes later. It had a broken shoulder but the vitals were not hit. The V-Max bullets should not be used for larger critters like nutes yotes and foxes. Yes they sometimes work well but other times they work bad, I.E. no penetration. The 20gr TNT hollowpoints penetrate much better and will cleanly take a large varmit out to 150yrds with good bullet placement. They are not quite as accurate as the V-Max in my gun, or as impressive on ground squirrels but they will put down 20lb nutria with a vengence. I keep them in my gun by the door for yotes.

This is a good acticle about testing the .17HMR and its capabilities.
http://www.varmintal.com/17hmr.htm
 
#10 ·
.22 MAG should not be under estimated, the .17HMR wouldn't be a good "go-to" gun for yote's.

If you have a rifle that can shoot the .22 mags, use it.:twocents:
 
#11 ·
While the .17 HMR is a bit light with certain type of bullets, the .22 mag is, like MM had to say, not be underestimated. My uncle fed his family on elk with one and my old hounds-man buddy dispatched more than a few coastal black bears that "treed" in culverts with one to keep the hearing damage down when shooting in a culvert.
 
#12 ·
It sounds like a mixed bag of replies from "doing a disservice to our sport" from Rusty ( a veteran Verminator) to " 20 grain game points will put them down clear out to 150 yards no problem!!! :dance: " from Hawgchaser.

I, too, think the .17 is a little light. I'm tempted though because it is such a kick to shoot and shoots < 1" groups at 100 yards.

I'll stick with my trusty .243 and save the .17 for the rats in a few months.

Looking forward to the Vermin Extermination Safari in a few months!!
Ron
 
G
#13 ·
With the right bullet and right shot ..no problem. heck on TV the other day they were hog hunting with pellet guns. Their shots were no longer than 10 yards and were shooting pellets at 1600 fps. Both pigs dropped in thei tracks. Some people would call that un-ethical, but dead id dead no matter what and the proved it twice. Of couse any shot beyond the limit of the bullet and rifle in a ANY CALIBER will deliver poor results. In my opinion the TV people that call it un-ethical do so beacuse the make TV shows blowing away coyotes with their sponsers products...
 
#14 ·
The problem I have with the 17HMR is not the round itself; it's a hot, effective little cartridge. The problem is the coyotes.

They seldom come in like you planned. They pop up out of nowhere, ducking through the brush, moving, moving, moving, and seldom give you that "I can poke him in the ear" shot. Or they hang up 110 yards out and all you can see is a part of him, and it's probably not the best part for a little 17-20 grain bullet to get to the vitals.

I have two HMR's and they're just as accurate and fun to shoot as yours are (I never want to be without one), but I leave 'em behind when I'm coyote hunting. I owe that much to the dogs.

Skein
 
#15 ·
The only reason I could see for using an HMR on coyotes is if you're limited to rimfire-only for some reason. That's not much of an issue out here in Oregon like it is some places back east, so I just wouldn't do it. Like skein said, the coyote usually don't give you the shot you need to make a clean kill with an HMR.

That said, I know of a pretty experienced coyote killer who extols the virtues of the HMR. In the right hands it can do the job. There's just very little margin for error.
 
#16 ·
:yeahthat: Skein is a great example of those true experts who know what they are talking about. Skein LOVES his .17 HMR, but like me, leaves his in the rig when it's time to get serious about coyotes. And Skein IS a serious coyote hunter!

However, put him in a field full of sage rats, and he gets "nutzo" with his .17 HMR. There's no stopping the dude!! :laugh::meme:

Rusty
 
#17 ·
My 17 HMR is the reason I don't have a 223 or 22-250. I get 500 rd cases for 85 bucks, which isn't bad. Its a great walking varmint gun.

On the other hand, my 243 is also a reason why I don't have a 223 or 22-250. I don't normally keep pelts and the 243 with 70 gr bullets dumps coyotes with authority.

I don't usually buy into the one-gun-for-everything idea because I think you end up having one gun that is mediocre on the high end and too big on the low end.

I am not confident that I could put a coyote down cleanly with my 17 HMR. I've shot animals as big as '*****, and it did fine. I'm not sure if I'd shoot anything bigger than that with it. I use the 17 gr V-Max on rodents.
 
#18 ·
Ok, I can't stand it anymore and have to put my two cents in.
Yes, with decent shot placement and a non-plastic tipped bullet, they'll put a coyote down as well as a .243 will put down a deer. It'll probably run 20-50 yards and fall over.
The real question is...what ELSE can come into a predator call. Do you really want to have a stick break 10 yards behind you only to find out its a 150 pound cougar??? It'll be crouched down, head down in front of its chest, facing you with its ears back and could be on you in 1/3 of a second.
Crazy you say... welcome to the first (and last) time I took my .17 to an inadvertant cat fight.
That cat is still alive as far as I know. Can't say the same for the underwear I was wearing.
CCI hollowpoint, a 20 grain softpoint will work as opposed to the v-max plastic tipped deals that are so accurate. But what else is gonna show up???
 
#19 ·
I'm interested in knowing who has cleanly killed coyotes with the .17HMR round or even the .22 MAG. I want your feedback. I understand bullet placement is key for a clean kill, but I also know all shots are not optimal for a quick kill.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know 204, 22 swift, 22-250's, 223's, 243's are optimal (one guy here said he even shoots his .300 win mag to kill 'm and gut 'em in one shot...). I'm just curious who has had success with the screamin' fast little .17HMR.

Good ballistics comparison between the 22mag and 17hmr here, by the way: http://www.chuckhawks.com/compared_17HMR_22WMR.htm

Ron


The quote below is the story of my first yote with .17HMR that I got in May 2006. As you can see, I got him in a fleshy area. I was using ballistic tips but I have since purchased hollow points for the larger critters.

I have Friday off so I got up about 8:15. The dogs were being clingy. This usually means they need to eat so I called my wife to see if they were lying and she said they were. I was on the computer when I happened to look out the bedroom window and saw a coyote running around the yard chasing my chickens.

I quickly grabbed a gun out of the safe and went to the front door. When I opened the door he spooked and since there are houses in that direction, I held my fire. I went out after him in my bathrobe and slippers (in the rain) and met him coming back around the driveway. Same scenario, no safe shot.

So, I went back in the house and got my bibs & boots and headed out again. I have permission from my neighbor to hunt on his 40 acres behind me so I headed down the path. I passed the remains of the 2 chickens that got taken last month and set up on an old stump on the edge of a brushy clearcut.

I used my bunny squealer for about 15 minutes and who should come trotting down the middle of my shooting lane but Mr. Yote. I put the cross hairs under his chin and dropped him like a bad habit

The .17 performed beautifully, I hit him head on in the collarbone area so there was no exit. I am impressed with this little cartridge.
This is a post where I discussed the ballistics of the .17

I researched the .17 MachII and the .17 HMR. I compared the ballistics against each other and against various .22 LRs and I sought the input of the members of this board.
  • I reached the conclusion that by the time I bought the .22 mag and the barrel and bolt necessary for the HMR, I would have spent more than the cost of a nice bolt action and scope.
  • I considered converting my 10-22 to a .17 MachII but the ballistics of the Mach II are only a little better than a hot .22 LR.
  • I considered the cost of ammo, did I really want to be banging away with $0.18 per round HMR the way I do with $0.02 per round .22 LR?
A member of this board pointed out that because high accuracy is important to me that a bolt action would deliver what a semi-auto could not.

The .17 HMR sighted in at 100 yards will drop only 2.3 inches at 200, pretty good for a rimfire. I can also tell you that the terminal effect of the .17 on small animals is MUCH more satisfying than a .22

I looked mainly at the Savage and the Marlin. While the Savages were a bit less money, I went with the Marlin because of the trigger which is pretty nice for a rimfire. I put an 6 X 24 scope on it and a bipod. At 100 yards from the bench, my group is less than 3/4". Gun and scope w/o the bipod is around $460.
 
#21 ·
I am surprised that nobody has mentioned the wind drift with the 17. Most of the dog hunting is done in the winter when most days there is wind blowing. The 17 just does not have the weight to stay on tagret with even a hint of wind blowing. Even rat shooting becomes a tricky game with a 17 when a cross wind is blowing.
 
#23 ·
I have only shot two coyotes with my 17 one small dog at 75 yards hit behind the shoulder it ran 40 yard circle and was dead .The second one was walking in hay field 150 yds broke the hip first shot and hit it in the chest the second shot and put it down for good.I use the 20gr mostly.
 
#28 ·
bullet placement is key for a clean kill, but I also know all shots are not optimal for a quick kill.
Ron
Ron,
the .17 HMR has its limitations as a Coyote gun, but if you need a close range quite Coyote killer the .17 does a good job. We have a lot of coyotes near the house where a big bang of a large caliber would not be appreciated by the neighbors.

I have passed up alot of shots at coyotes with the .17 when they were running or due to background and distance. The 3 shots that have been taken were all single shot kills. None of them have taken even 1 step after being hit.

Here is one from last Friday morning, placed the cross hairs on the front of his shoulder and he went down hard. (Hornady 17gr Varmint express, w/v-max bullet) He hit the ground head first and was dead by the time I walked to him. One of the nicer looking coyotes I have shot in a long time.




My 22-250 is a better gun for Coyotes at a distance but the .17 does a great job at close range.
-Steve
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top