Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints 17 caliber for foxes

I posted this once last week and it disappeared so here it is again.

My son and I want to try a 17 caliber of some flavor for fox hunting. The 17 HMR is certainly NOT it; too many foxes run off into the brush and can't be recovered.

What 17s have anyone had experience with shooting foxes and/or bobcats. I am not worried about coyotes with this rifle. Availability of factory ammo is a plus. No fire-forming is also a plus. Availability of suitable rifles or actions is a big plus. Want to use a bolt gun.

200 yards would be a long shot with this rifle.

i have shot fox and coyotes with a 17 Remington work just fine,also shot a fork horn buck a few years ago ,antelope doe too worked just fine. i like the 204 better.good luck,Pete53

I've never had a problem with the HMR on fox, if you hit them right. Low in the chest, or thru the shoulder.....

I am with huntsman on the HMR being all I need but since you want other I would go 17hornet. Not a lot of choices but only HMR comes with a variety of choices. WSM, HH, FB, or REM limit you on rifles. I would select Ruger 77/17 or CZ 527 American

17 Hornet

This if you are just talking fox.

And coyote, badger, porkypine, skonks and other such....

the 17 Whoregnat is so much more than talking foxes.....

OK...I loaded up my .17 Rem with 20 gr. Vmax going slow at 3650 fps...killed 18 fox with last month in Texas...got ONE exit...soooo, fur friendly, and 18 DRTs...I'm sold....


You will note that is approximately what the .17 Hornet is doing....


This isn't all of them...but you get the picture...so to speak...

Nice catch ingwe!!!!

Just for informational purposes Ingwe. I never saw one exit when started at 4500 either.

17 gr vmax's at 2550 outta the HMR rarely exit either..... some hummerized fur.

Nice!!!

Damn Huntsman, stacking them up with the hummer. I wish we had foxes around here, used to see one occasionally years ago but I haven’t heard of any around in a long time.

The dude abides...

I picked up a Ruger M77-17HMR when they first appeared around 2002 or so? Gun shop in Tucson, Jensens had exactly one, came with a free box of ammunition, which wasn't available at the time, had to wait three weeks before getting any.
I decided to use that little rifle almost exclusively for the first month of my calling season to be able to make an informed opinion of how it performed on predators. I shot 28 coyotes with it that first month, and had 4 run offs. It is definitely a surgeons tool when it comes to coyotes, the least bit sloppy and it doesn't have enough azz to slow them down.
Where it shined was for fox, I found it to be perfect for our gray fox in southeastern Arizona, great little cartridge in my opinion.

Couple questions ...

4500 is gettin' it on. Is that with the 20 grain?

Have you played with the 15.5 grain Hornady lead free yet? I'm curious about it .. nothing to launch 'em from right now. Wonder if they hold together to get inside or blow up on the hair and make a big crater.

What scope do you have on that Remington?

Good to know! I figured they'd stay in a coyote.....I think the grey I shot for the most part are smaller than your red....I dunno..never got a red.

But you have the rifle I want...so be looking over your shoulder!


I'm heading out next week to see if a 25 grain V-Max at 4,000 will stay in a javelina...

Those were 20 Vmaxes over CFE, like lightning bolts on reds. Scope is a T10 with a Lee dot reticule, great scope but I recently took it off because it has a habit of adjusting itself in the back seat of the truck, or when my 4 year old hunting partner grabs a turret and twists it to hear the clicks.

25 Hornady HPs will stay in a 200lb pig.

4 year old hunting partners will do that.

I'm out of the .17 Rem biz but circling to return. My last was an LVSF. I remember shootin' a digger squirrel about 10-15 feet from my jeep with a VMAX, probably 20 grainer, who knows how fast, but scootin' along smartly 'cause reduced loads aren't in my varmint vocabulary. I had time to open the action to eject the empty, lay the gun back on the passenger seat, and take my earmuffs off 'n' set 'em on the seat, so probably 15 seconds or so, and there was a little thump on the hard top. WTF? Climbed up there ... chunk of meat with a rib bone sticking out. I dunno how high it had to go for that sort of hang time, but it was impressive. .17 is <fun>.

Tom

Damn!

17 Rem fan here but never tried a hornet. 25gr bergers @3900 rarely exit but you still have plenty of energy for coyotes @ 300+. I know you said coyotes are not a concern but who doesn't take a shot at a coyote if given a chance?

We have shot at least 20 this year that we lost- they run 10 feet into the brush and it's over. In this case the HMR is apparently not working for us. I wonder if the Winchester magnum version would be enough of a step up?

It’s pretty fast Dennis.

I’ve only used the 17rem but my results on a few coyotes with 20vmax wasn’t very good. Usually had to shoot them again if possible. Never lost any but only out of luck. Even right behind the shoulder shots and they’d run a good ways. Never shot them “on” the shoulder because I knew the bullets were blowing up. I shot 25vmax after that and they seemed to hit with a lot more authority on coyotes. Shot a few bobcats with the 25vmax. Never had one exit even on broadside shots but they were called in and inside 100 yards where the velocity was still up. I bought a box of woodchuck 25bthp to try. They shoot very well but now I’m playing with the 20 practical and haven’t shot them at game yet.

Great pics!! My 17 HH Savage Striker handgun 18" barrel is netting 3650 from 20 v-max with 17.7 gr AA1680, 2" gps. at 200. haven't shot any pd's with it yet but that's its purpose--walking PD'r. Oughtta be perfect for that app.

Exactly my experience with the 17hmr. I used it on 2 reds, except I wasn’t able to recover one of them.....not botched shots either. Broadside and frontal.

In .17 Rem max loads with 25 grain rem's will stay in a groundhog's head. You won't have any runoff's on fox. Haven't shot any coyotes but would expect good results. I think the 25 grain Hornady bullet is a bit tougher, should be better for coyotes.

Huntsman, where's the Wolves?
some beautiful skins there! those large whites are what I need for a project!

I've used a 17 Fireball, but sold it as I am building a 17Rem on a Kimber 84M Montana. Come on Lilja, get that barrel made and shipped!

Good to know...Im thinking about going to 25 Vmax for everything....cause my calling is pretty much like yours. We do it at night so almost everything is inside 100 yds. Dont mind if I lose a fox pelt once in awhile, but I dont want to mess up a cat, or a good coyote.

I have been using a Ruger 77/17 since 2004. Where I use it I’m required to use Non-Tox (the 15.5 gr) exclusively. Fox hunting and whistle pigs is where this rifle shines. It’s taken skunks, raccoons, woodchucks, 13ers, and coyotes. Of all the fox taken over the years I have never had one run off. The same can not be said for coyotes! This past winter I had 4 DRT’s and 4 run off’s. Placement is soooo critical. I had a 165yd shot that dropped right in the tracks, and last week I had an 85yd shot that ran back to the den with a light blood trail.
If I go out exclusively for coyote I will take my .243, but when managing small critters, I love the flexibility if the 17 HMR.

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the 17 WSM. Up until last season, that's what we used and never had a run off. More coyotes showing up now, so I'm shooting a 223 with a 50 grain vmax. Shot 5 last season without an exit!

Hey Longshot...where did you hit this coyote? I read if you hit bones they do not pencil through but then others say the 50 Vmaxes are good too. Definitely this brings up alot of dicsussion tho.

Didn't hit a coyote with the .17. I killed a couple in Texas with lung and head shots. No issues at all with the 50 grain Vmax in my .223. Last season, I got 5 fox(not coyotes)with the Vmax. All were chest shots, either head on, or broadside.

.17 Remington.

There can be only one...

I can’t remember ever shooting a fox with my 17 rem but 20 grain vmax at 4300fps usually blew up on the fur going in on coyotes and I often had to hit them again. I switched to 25 vmax and it didn’t do that. Usually bang flopped yoties and the few cats I’ve killed it didn’t exit.

Good luck, Ben.

Good to know...


I shot a bunch of fox with the 20 gr. Vmax slowed to 3700 fps and have only gotten one exit so far.Gonna use the Hornady 25 HP or Vmax on coyotes and cats this year.

I usually carry my .17 Fireball for fox if coyotes are also around. 20 g v-max is great on fox but you can/will get a splatter if you hit the front shoulder bone on a coyote and then they're tough to recover without snow. The .17 hornet works great for me on fox too out to 200 yds.