The 17 hmr would be about 150 yards on groundhogs. I would take it over a 22 mag. However if your gonna be shooting farther the 223 is still tops and is realy cheap to shoot. I personaly luv the 17 hmr, when I squeeze the trigger, I know im gonna hit where im aiming, its realy accurate (not that the 22 mag isnt). At wal-mart the 223 nef runs around $180 here.