I'm always amazed that any discussion of cartridges on the Campfire ends up as a put-down of any cartridge that isn't somebody's pet.
Of course, the original post in this thread was guaranteed to start this one off in that direction.
The truth is that the .17 HMR and .22 Magnum are very different rounds, despite using the same basic cases. The differences between the weight and bore-area of their bullets are very much like the differences between the .223 and .280.
So why in hell would their performance be directly comparable?
Personally, I find all the present easily-available rimfire rounds very useful, with niches for each, the reason I own rifles chambered for the .17 Mach II, .17 HMR, .22 Long Rifle and .22 Magnum. And I shoot all of them every year, on various kinds of small game and varmints, just as I shoot a wide variety of centerfires on varmints and big game.
