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.