17HMR for Coyote?

[jjohnson]

Hi, Gents!

Question for you - I'm an old shooter and reloader, but have no experience with this cartridge.....

A friend of mine asked me if the 17HMR would be okay for coyotes called within 100 yards. My initial reaction is that the bullet's not up to it - but my prejuidices on 17 bullets go back to the 70s, when the bullets available weren't nearly so advanced as they are today.

How about your opinions? Any of you taking coyote with the 17HMR? My buddy's not a pelt hunter, and is more likely to actually shoot the occasional groundhog with the 17, but is coyote, even under 100 yards, stretching it?

Thanks!

 

[earlthegoat2]

If you use the 20 grain bullet and keep shots within 75 yds and can make an accurate head shot every time then I would say yes you can use the 17 HMR on coyotes.

Generally speaking though rimfire cartridges are not ideal by any stretch on them.

 

[ArmedBear]

keep shots within 75 yds and can make an accurate head shot every time

That's one thing the .17HMR really does have going for it: extreme accuracy. I remember the first one I saw in action. An old guy at the range ordered a CZ 452, sighted it in, and promptly put ten shots in less than a nickel-sized circle at 100 yards.

So, those head shots are definitely a possibility for the rifle, with the right shooting setup.

 

[josh...just josh]

put the shots in the head or even in the lung/heart area (with the right ammo the .17 penetrates more than you think) and the yote will go straight down. Give it a minute or two and you will get a bunch of people telling you that you NEED at least a .223 to drop one, don't listen to them.
Hunting is different in different parts of the country. Here in Iowa we don't really get 300 yd. shots on anything. You might need a .223 to get yotes in Wyoming, but I've dropped plenty here with a .22 mag.
One of the arguments against using the .17 hmr on coyotes that I have heard is that if you gut shoot them, they will die slowly....If you gut shoot a yote with a .308 it will die slowly (faster I'm sure, but still slow)! Hunting is all about a good, clean kill shot, and the .17 hmr gives you the option to hit something anywhere you want. The people that tell you that it wont work are the same ones that say that a 30-06 doesn't have enough power for deer hunting...

 

[627PCFan]

+1 on under 100, if not 75 yards, and do not use the 17 grain Vmax's.

 

[josh...just josh]

I just watched a video on youtube where a guy shot wild hogs at about 50-75 yards with a .17 hmr. He shot five in his two videos and only two didn't go down cleanly. If you know anything about hogs, you know that they are notoriously hard to kill. I read one time on a muzzle loader forum where a guy hit a hog with a .50 cal TC smoke pole and had it run about 50 yards. After the hog dropped they saw the that bullet had gone through both lungs and ripped the heart! They are tough as snot. If a .17 can do anything more than just tick off a full size hog, you can be assured that it will no problem with a yote.

 

[rangerruck]

I know a guy, who has a friend who is a sherriff deputy out in I think west columbia, texas. Part of his job is to cull wildlife/pest animals. he carries a 17 hmr rifle for the job. One of the primary pests is coyote. He told me in half a year's time, he had shot over 100 coyotes, and most shot were dead right there; the longest shot he had on one, was 165 yards, DRT.
I think he was using the Gamepoints. He took shots , the best he could get; head, neck, side/low shoulder, or low front chest.

I have used the 17's myself, for coyotes, and for some hybrid vulture types, that were perched very high, and at least 100 yds away.

 

[627PCFan]

"for some hybrid vulture types, that were perched very high, and at least 100 yds away." --Proof of viability of using the 17 for self defense

 

[cz85cmbt]

The .17 is no coyote cartridge. They are only viable for head shots. Vital areas are protect by bone and a .17 will not penetrates through ribs, breast plate, or shoulder. Perhaps the smaller coyotes of the southwest and the southern U.S. but coyotes here in the North can go beyond 40 pounds and are heavy boned and well muscled where the .1 cannot get the penetration needed.

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

I use my .17 for hogs all sizes on almost a daily basis, I have 5 pastures that are full of hogs. I use the 20 grain hunting bullett and kill them with head shots as well as body shots, the damage is amazing with that little round, besides they are only hogs, I aint gonna eat them, they are not a game animal so the game warden will tell you it is not illegal to just let them lie, (good coyote bait too). I have killed 8 hogs since monday of this week at up to 150 yds. 5 with my .17, 3 with a mini 14. so many hogs, so little time and ammo.

 

[ochadd]

My father kills coyotes monthly with his Savage 17hmr here in SD. Typically in the 100-150 yard range. He and I would rather have a .223 but the 17 makes for a great pickup and tractor gun.

 

[cz85cmbt]

This post never ceases to keep me amused, how big are these hogs that you take body shots on? I'm sorry but a 100 pound hog will only be wounded with a true shoulder shot, and now if you only care to wound animals and have them die days later then you aren't being very sporting. Even the heavier .22 magnum with proper bullet choice is questionable at 25 yds to penetrate bone on a large predator.

 

[Big Bill]

You can kill a coyote with a .17 HMR, but mosy likely it won't be a clean kill. I use my 25-06 to hunt coyotes with. When I was hunting for fur back in the day, I shot a heavy barrel Ruger M77 Mark II 22-250 with a 10X Leupold on it. I got a clean kill every time. I shot my last coyote with my 20-06 and he died immediately. I hate for an animal to suffer.

 

[josh...just josh]

Even the heavier .22 magnum with proper bullet choice is questionable at 25 yds to penetrate bone on a large predator.

Have you ever shot a coyote with a .22 magnum? Everyone that I have ever shot or seen shot whent right down. I don't know everything and I know that other rounds more "ideal," but I can't stand it when people just flat out say that there is absolutly no way...try it. I haven't shot a yote with my .17 hmr yet but I'm sure that it will be just as effective as a .22 mag if not more so.
There is a video on youtube of a guy that shoots a .17 hmr at a class two bullet proof vest that is wrapped around a bucket, not only did the shell go through the vest, it still had enough left to go through the bucket too, and that was even with the "explodes on impact" v-max rounds. Those little bullets fly very fast and a small hole is easier to make than a big one.. A $800 centerfire shooting $1.50 bullets would probably put them down harder, but if you have a .22 mag or a .17 hmr they will work just fine too.

 

[Clipper]

My buddy has a gut pile 75 yards from his house, and shot a few 'yotes with his .17HMR, but they'd run 50-100 yards, and he didn't care for searching for 'em, and switched to .22 WMR. he's had mostly DRTs and 2-3 steppers since.

 

[Big Bill]

If I only had my .17 HMR or .22 WMR, and there was a coyote with a nice pelt 50 yards out standing broadside, I'd shoot it.

 

[rangerruck]

I once had a link to a site, that showed an autopsy of a decent sized pig, that had been hit with a 17 hmr ; wish I still had it.
it showed then entrance wound, bullet luckily went between ribs, forward traveled and also through the side mostly, shredded the tops of the heart and lungs, and ended up in the far side shoulder area. I think it was shot with a gamepoint, but not sure on that one...

 

[schlockinz]

I don't see why a 17hmr wouldn't kill coyotes. People shot em in Utah with them just fine. If he's got one, or if you guys can try it out, give it a go, could be fun.

 

[cz85cmbt]

How is it there are two so wildly different camps on terminal ballistics. The big and heavy camp and the light and fast side. I personally subscribe that neither camp is 100% right or wrong but there are certain facts about terminal performance that cannot be overlooked. First the .22 magnum is not horrible at killing coyotes within 50yds. But it is far from ideal. Well designed soft points and solids might do the job, again within 50yds. It is twice the bullet weight and in most chamberings exceeds the .17hmr in energy out to around 75yds. Nearly all .17 bullets are designed to expand immediately which is excellent for crows, ground squirrels, ground hogs wood chucks ect. These rounds hardly ever stay intact and are not meant to based on the cartridge's intended targets, small, medium distance vermin. A coyote is a tough creature weighing upwards of 50 pounds in the northeast with typical females weighing 25-30 pounds and males ranging from high 20's to high 30's and low 40's. A coyote's weight, bone structure, and toughness against the .17's ability to penetrate simply do not make for a very good margin of success. Now there are some stories where a .17 has done things that seem outside it's ability but that does not mean it can do the job again with a high probability of success. I'm not saying that anyone is unethical I just see people using the .17 as if it is a wonder cartridge when in fact it does a couple jobs excellently, one of which is to provide lethal ballistics on small varmints and the other is giving a very flat trajectory at medium ranges. I just don't think it is the best information to give a person asking about the round's ability on coyotes that the .17hmr is a solid choice.

 

[Art Eatman]

Before this thread started wandering around all over the place, there was an early post or two about the concept of head shots and the known accuracy of the .17HMR.

If a coyote isn't spooked, he tends to just stand there and stare at you. That can be a one-time mistake on his part. A .17 to the head is probably just as effective as any Big Boomer...

 

[pat86323]

a 17 will kill a coyote, dont you even worry. I have personally shot coyotes with a 17hmr and they dont like it one bit. My old man and i always carry his 17 in the truck when we are out hunting just for that purpose. They usually go down in a heap of fur real quick like. Headshots are best but i have lunged them before too.

 

[HGUNHNTR]

I suppose the accuracy potential of the .17 helps make up for lack of ft/lbs of energy, I still prefer the .223.

 

[kolob10]

17hmr

I refuse to use a 17HMR on coyote. I quess I'm a bit sensitive and don't like to see animals suffer. The 17 will kill a coyote but not as cleanly and quickly as other rounds including the 22 mag. I usually use a 22-250 for coyote around here just to make sure the animal doesn't run off and die a slow death. I have done some testing with the 17 HMR 's. They are wickedly accurate and I confine my use of it to squirrels (head shots), rabbit and bird pests. It works well on rats also. I suspect that it might be a decent fox round up to 75 yards. Good shooting.

 

[RumRunner]

some of you guys crack me up... damn

a 17 WILL take care of a yote. lung/heart or head, not a difference. i know guys who make killshots on yotes and foxes with a .17 out to 300 yards.

you cant really say it wont work until your have tried it...

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

someone will always tell you a certain caliber wont do the job, like I said before I kill lots of pigs in excess of #200 with shoulder shots with a .17, there is a guy on .17hmr.net website that does it regular too and has pictures of the damage to the carcass, I am a computer idiot and dont know how to post pictures but I do it all the time also, the little 20 gr. destroys lungs and heart no problem. I shoot them with my 6.5 Swede, 7-08,.308 etc and sometimes they run a good ways. we are infested with them in my part of Texas so I dont care how far they run and die, just one less pain in the #### tearing up my pastures. a .17 right behind the ear usually puts them down on the spot. our ancestors hunted all sizes of game with crude weapons, I am a good shot, got confidence I canget the job done with whatever round. my favorite all around low recoil round for big stuff is the .22-250, I can put that little round wherever I want.