RE: is the .17 enough gun?
Accuracy out to 100 will be very good from most rifles, as long as there's no wind. Beyond that, you will need to know the bullet drop, because past 100 yards, the bullet will begin to drop pretty quickly, and hope there is no wind, because it doesn't take much wind to blow the tiny bullet of course.
I shot two snowshoe hares with my hmr two winters ago, and never got an exit out of either of them. Both were frontal shots though. One was only about 35 yards and the other was just over 100 yards.