Small Game, Predator and TrappingFrom shooting squirrels in your backyard to calling coyotes in Arizona. This forum now contains trapping information..
I guess it really depends what you want to do. If you are just interested in just blowing things up (like a prarie dog) then no if you are into eating the animals then i would say yes.
However, the thing that i like about my 17hmr is that you can make some decent long range shots (i was shooing starlings last year at 130yds) which makes things a little more intersting than just plinking. Sort of long range varminting but just on a smaller scale.
I've killed a number of squirrels and rabbits with my .17. I generally take head shots. However, I have shot several behind the shoulder. Yes, the exit hole is bigger than what you get with a .22, but not that big, and you are only losing a little rib meat.
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"Shoot him again....his soul is still dancing"
The perception that it blows up animals probably comes from the fact that you can get some of the guts hanging out of the exit hole which looks much worse than it actually is. Of course, if you take a poor shot and gut shoot them, you will get a mess.
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"Shoot him again....his soul is still dancing"
I spent a weekend trying a 17 HMR for prairie dogs, honestly I found it worthless. The wind blows it off so far as to make any kind of distant shot impossible. I live/shoot and hunt on the prairie....the wind never stops blowing. For rabbits maybe headshots but for typical "rabbit range" a 22lr will leave them in better condition for the pot.
17HMR......overkill
