Sorry i couldnt respond sooner, ran into a problem. Yes i will be saving the hides which was the reason I got the 17 in 2014 cause I couldnt hunt with a 223 at night at the time and I knew a guy who also coyote hunted with one. I would use the 357 if I knew what kind of hide damage it would do. And I dont have quite enough to get a 223 or 243 or anything yet and my dad doesnt just buy all my guns for me.