My buddy and I bought .22 Magnum Mossberg 640K Chucksters to start our varmint hunting mostly because any centerfire rifle was not legal in the central farm zones where we hunted. It was mostly just crows back in those days because chucks were protected and there weren’t many of those anyway. With the 40 grain solid ammo it did a good job on squirrels without wrecking them. Today I do have a Savage m24 DL in .22 Mag. over a 3” 20 gauge with a peep sight that I like for a rambling around gun. We don’t see that many coyotes here either and while it IS light for a coyote, that cartridge and the 3” 20 gauge with heavy shot would not be out of place as a calling combination or a turkey gun in a state where you can use a rifle. As a .22 with a heavier bullet, it wouldn’t be as affected by wind as much as a 17HMR.
I still have more .22 LR guns, but each has their place. I agree that for the little stuff a LR is more versital.
