Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Predators and Varmints Disapointing 17 HMR hit on Squirrel.... is this normal?

I've struggled with the round myself.... bang flop hits all too frequently...I am a red mist addict..

however my faith in the round for sage rats increased after switching to the 17grain and 20 grain Hollow Points..TNT and XTP depending on who's bullet it is..

both open up those little rats a lot more consistently than the 17 grain V Max does...

bang flop is still lethal, but I prefer the splat effect myself..

when using a 22 long rifle, I prefer the head shots... they die more animated that way.. a kin to a fish out of water, flopping all over the place...

For someone who is repeatedly failing to get clean, one shot kills on squirrels at 20 yards with a .22 or 17 HMR, I guess I'd have to recommend a cylinder bore 12 gauge stuffed with #8 trap loads. If that don't do it, hire a young boy with a pellet gun to take care of those pesky varmints for you.

+1 on the boy......

I spent all last summer with a Savage model 93 in a .17-HMR and I had no problems on most squirrels but sometimes I would get a pass through and the blessed critter would die under the barn.

We used several different brands and types of ammo and most was very accurate indeed. The best was Winchester brand and they shot 1/4 inch groups for 5 shots at 50 yards,well under 1/2inch at 75 yards when the wind was not blowing ok.

My beef with the .17-HMR was when I tried to down fox,coon and opsum with the small caliber. It is just not enough in my humble opinion. P-dogs ya and squirrels but that is about it really. I have found the .22mag to be much more in putting down larger critters around our place. The 50 grn bullet by Federal makes that .22mag a coyote caliber at 50 yards.

LOL

Pretty good memory Pardner.

I killed one early summer that I caught about 20 yards from the hole in the vineyard, knew he was heading for the barn and hit him good with #8 from a Browning Maxxus, actually rolled him about 20 feet before he got to the barn as he cleared the vines...

The Coyote was 10 yards further out when I plugged him with a 22lr, and I killed 2 squirrels at the hole, both made it the 1 foot back in the hole, as did this 17 HMR kill. It's been 8 days since I last saw him, I am sure he expired.I killed another by the railroad cars along our west property line, running away from me on a parked flatcar. Maxxus again, he was 2 carlengths when he got to the end, where I place the bead knowing he was going to stop and drop off the car. Stopped him on the car, nice birdshot pattern on the yellow car, not much blood out of him but he spun around for a good while.


I have killed many Ground squirrels with a 12ga in the last 40 yrs, many take 2 hard 12 ga hits before they stop dead....they are much tougher than the beldins most people call sage rats.


I have no problem pokin holes in Vermin and not being able to skin my kills because they scurry away, much better than the Poison many use around buildings, just started the post asking if I am expecting too much of the 17 HMR.


And I fit the Boy profile well , and I have killed a bunch of ground squirrels in the mountains with a .177 springer air rifle, it seems headshots are pretty lethal on them.


I'll take no offense to your attempt at harassment of my shooting skills, but I would come visit you in upstate NY, if you're still along the Susquehanna river I suspect you are close enough to Rochester, and learn from your many years killing vermin, maybe I can go on one of your hunts......


So thanks for your suggestions, I'll keep trying to get those one shot kills you suggest you must always get..

It's all good


Allen

I'm quite aways from Rochester but if you're ever headed to NY, sure, let me know and I'd be happy to take you hunting.

Thanks for the offer, never too old to learn....


Yea, I go to Rochester for work, actually will be there most of next month....

Been as far as Lake George, probably closer to you than Rochester.

I am pretty disappointed with the squirrel situation, I did pepper the barn with the Maxxus before I got the 17 scoped.... caught the vermin far enough out of the hole to only stick a few pellets in the wood..lol


Guess I'll take the 17 remington out next, as I step up in bullet size...lol


Allen

Actually I'm about halfway between Rochester and lake George. We don't have any ground squirrels here but we do have grey, red and fox squirrels. Probably not worth your time or money to pay for a non resident license just to hunt squirrels but if you'll be coming in the fall shoot me a pm and maybe we can arrange some deer hunting. Course, if you really want to hunt squirrels the season opens Sept. 1st. I've got some good spots and I'd be happy to take you.

Thanks


The Shot schedule currently stops Oct 1st ( Gov't physcal year end) but I usually have several weeks tied together that make for "stay-overs" in the first quarter schedule. Since we are weapons testing funded, the budget will probably keep us testing and me traveling.....

If I have a chance, would love to visit and chase game.


Allen

Just let me know. I've got lots of ground to hunt, both public and private, and usually go out after squirrels, turkeys, rabbits, grouse or deer several times per week fom Sept 1 right on through winter. Some good company would be welcome any time.

I started shooting prairie dogs in 1949 with a 22 RF ,some time after that used a 22WMR with the 22 RF. When the 17 HMR first came out I got a Cooper rifle. I liked the flat shooting 17 HMR but when the 17 HM2 round came out I got one. Since getting the 17 RF the 22 RF rifles stay at home. Most all of my shooting is prairie hunting. A few years ago before the plague and poison reduced the prairie dog population I shot a bit over 2,000 p dogs with the 17 RF rifles. For p dogs the 17 RF rifle are the best..

I have shot thousands of gophers. The 17Vmax is pretty destructive. Not as good as a 22WMR with top loads but much better than any 22LR loading.

The only gophers that survive a hit and crawl off at 125+ yards or less are ones hit on the far periphery. Any body shot results in instant death. 200 ft pounds per pound of target is like hitting a moose with a howitzer or a mac truck.

I find the 17HMR to be very deadly on all types of small varmints ground squirls in California, prairie dogs, gophers, and wood chucks in Wyoming. A bit light for wood chucks but under 50yd.s it takes them out. The best thing about the 17HMR is you can watch them die in the scope, no recoil. I find it to be a real fun acurate round. JMO
Steve

The guys that don't like the HMR for prarie dog and down self erecting targets are just dumb Russ

I like my .17 HMR. I only shoot about 100 rds a year squirrel hunting. It DRT's any Squirrel in these woods. I shoot the Speer TNT as it shoots the best out of my Savage 93. My buddy shoots the V-Max and he blows way bigger holes in them than I do.

I have had good luck with my 17 HMR against gophers, cotton tails and jack rabbits. My 17 HMR met its match against a crow at 60 yards. Put the cross hairs dead center in his chest and pulled the trigger. There was a very satisfying "Thwap", a cloud of black feathers and a crow flying away into the sunset...

Now my HMR has been recalled by Remington and it is being converted to a 22 mag. I am hoping it is still as much fun to shoot. I think it will be.

You will love the .22mag! I sure do now days since Federal brought out those 50 grain bullets and they do a great job on fox or coyotes under 50 yards.

You could have hit below or next to him. The bullet exploded and did some damage to him. That most likely resulted in his death in the hole.

A hit on a ground squirrel at close range with a 17 HMR would do a huge amount of damage. The round explodes and would take out a big chunk of his hide.

You must have hit some feathers and missed the body. A direct hit on the body would have resulting in a cloud of feathers and blood with the bird dropping to the ground.

I had a goph make it down his hole a foot or two after I hit him with a 300WSM. Couldn't believe it so I dug and found him.
Hit one with a 44mag right in the guts and he started to crawl off.
Just depends on how lucky the goph is to make it that last couple feet, I guess that's where the mist comes into play.

Nailed this one Saturday at about 100 yards.
Hummer with the tiny Vmax.