.17 on Yotes???

LuckyStrike

LuckyStrike

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Sorry if this has been discussed to death...but I cant seem to get the search to work.

I am wondering if "you" use a .17 rimfire on coyotes?

Is it effective to stop them, and if so, what range would be optimum.

Thinking of buying one, but also some of the centrefires look enticing.

Thanks in advance,

Lucky
 
I bought a Stevens Model 310 this summer in .17 HMR just to shooting around with. After shooting some rabbits and coons I was thoroughly impressed at the damage it did. The only thing is that it is such a small bullet. I have some 17 grain ballistic tip and some 20 grain hollow points that Ive shot with. So theres not alot of weight to it. Shooting at something 150 yards away youll find that there is quite a bit of time that passes from the bang until the bullet hits the target. By a fair amount of time I mean like a second or two. That was my case anyway when I was shooting pop cans. I bought a Savage .223 a few weeks ago with the sole intention of hunting coyotes. With a 40 grain bullet you can get muzzle speeds of 3600 fps and out to 300 yards its still going over 2000fps. Where as a 20 grain .17 HMR has already slowed down to 1300 at 200 yards. Either way Im planning on taking my 17 out for yote this year. To be safe I probably wouldnt shoot a whole lot further then 150 yards. Hopefully this helps somewhat. Ill let you know what my .17 does to a yote when Ive knocked one over. If you havent bought one already.
 
I personally would not. At the ranges the the 17 hmr would or could take a coyote cleany on a regular basis (50 yards in my opinion), I would rather use a shotgun loaded with buckshot.

JD
 
17 hmr looks close to the 4.6x30(more case capacity) round used in the H&K MP7, and that round was designed for humans with body armor. I wonder how the two compare ballistic-ally?
 
I've shot one in the face at about 125yards a few years back while gopher hunting. Dropped like a rock.
 
I would only take a coyote within 100 yards with a .17hmr, i love the round but much prefer my .22-250 for yotes. Not saying a .17 cant do it, i just feel more confident using a centerfire, its more forgiving for me lol
 
It can be done, but I prefer the most humane kill as possible. I've hunted those buggers with .222, .223 and .22-250. All seemed to get the job done equally with good shot placement.
 
smak_daddy said:
It can be done, but I prefer the most humane kill as possible. I've hunted those buggers with .222, .223 and .22-250. All seemed to get the job done equally with good shot placement.
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Do you have any evidence that a 17 would not be humane with good shot placement?
 
The topic of coyote hunting with small caliber rifles is debated to death! I personally have never used a .17 but would. I used my .22 for coyotes now. It's all about accuracy, type of ammo, range, and shot placement.

Just keep the coyotes in as close as possible.
 
-JD- said:
I personally would not. At the ranges the the 17 hmr would or could take a coyote cleany on a regular basis (50 yards in my opinion), I would rather use a shotgun loaded with buckshot.

JD
Click to expand...

^x2 Shot placement is critical no matter what game you're hunting...but especially true when you're trying to do "the the most, with the least" power-wise. If you have problem coyotes, and that's the gun you have to deal with it, then...as others have suggested, try to limit your shots to close ones. I would personally have more faith in a .22WMR at 100 yards, but bought a .223 this summer with coyotes in mind.
 
I've shot 13 coyotes with a 17 hmr. Shots ranged from 50 to 200 yards. None of them dropped instantly, Some were never recovered. I've taken headshots and chest shots. It will kill them but I wouldn't call it effective. There are so many better options out there that I wouldn't even consider it as a coyote round.
 
joe-nwt said:
Do you have any evidence that a 17 would not be humane with good shot placement?
Click to expand...

Nope. I have no evidence for you. My comments were just based on my experience and feelings. (as inaccurate as they may be).

I've seen a couple of bad shots that led to unfotunate kills (both with .22 lr). Broke my heart to tell you the truth. Both turned into mulitiple shot kills.

If you guys can tell me the 17 cleanly kills dogs, then I'll agree with you. I'm not here to argue. I have no experince with the 17. I allways lean on the experience of others.

I've shot those wiley yots since '88 and felt the .222 was the low end as a good dog calibre.
 
savagelh said:
I've shot 13 coyotes with a 17 hmr. Shots ranged from 50 to 200 yards. None of them dropped instantly, Some were never recovered. I've taken headshots and chest shots. It will kill them but I wouldn't call it effective. There are so many better options out there that I wouldn't even consider it as a coyote round.
Click to expand...

Yuck. Thats what I am talking about.

Why shoot shoot something with a calibre that is at the lower end of the effective spectrum?
 
smak_daddy said:
Nope. I have no evidence for you. My comments were just based on my experience and feelings. (as inaccurate as they may be).

I've seen a couple of bad shots that led to unfotunate kills (both with .22 lr). Broke my heart to tell you the truth. Both turned into mulitiple shot kills.

If you guys can tell me the 17 cleanly kills dogs, then I'll agree with you. I'm not here to argue. I have no experince with the 17. I allways lean on the experience of others.

I've shot those wiley yots since '88 and felt the .222 was the low end as a good dog calibre.
Click to expand...

I was just asking. My only experience with the 17 was that 1 coyote I mentioned above. It seemed to work fine with that particular shot at that particular distance. And while I have shot other coyotes, I have never hunted coyotes specifically. And as such, I've always shot to kill (usually with a big game rifle), not to salvage fur or anything. So my experience with smaller calibers is somewhat limited.
 
I don't have any evidence to say the .17 won't work. I know people have shot and killed and will continue to do so for coyotes. I just don't have the confidence (i think thats the right word lol) to use it for coyotes unless it was the only rifle i had with me at the time. If i am specifically hunting yotes i take my .22-250. Better safe than sorry for me
 
.223 is the minimum I use on coyotes. I know many people take them with a 22 mag, .17 or even .22LR, but for me it's about bullet weight and foot pounds of energy in addition to placement when it comes to being sure of a kill.

Just as birdshot is for birds, varmint rounds are for varmints.
 
I personally wouldn't. I'm sure that a professional shooter could guarantee proper shot placement, but I'm not a pro shooter. I can't guarantee that. I use a .204 ruger and a .223 rem. both rem 700's. If I had a choice it would be .243 or .270 but my province has a "no larger then .22 caliber" outside deer season law.
 
The .17 in my wishlist in my signature has been on order since August and I had planned on taking a few coyotes with it. Now Christmas approaches and it's still not in so I bought the .223 also listed below.

Like others have said...it's a numbers game - specifically foot pounds! Shot placement is key no matter what, but basically a light bullet like that is going to start slowing down very quickly so in order to hunt ethically with it...you need to be a fair judge of distance or carry a rangefinder...or plot out your site in advance so you know the distances to landmarks.

A CCI 17gr poly-tip v-max will deliver 138 ft-lbs at 100 yards (under test conditions, mind you), whereas their 16 gr TNT Green hollow points deliver just 96 ft-lbs.

Against your typical 'yote I'd say 125 ft-lbs is your absolute rock-bottom for power...so the poly-tip v-max or other catridges with similar performance figures (Winchester 17gr Hornady V-max, CCI 17gr TNT hollow point) at 100 yards should be suitable up to and including that distance...but beyond that you're really pushing the limits of the round's effectiveness.

Even a CCI Velocitor (.22lr) delivers over 125 ft-lbs at 50 yards and under so under those circumstances it is also suitable...but on the bottom end for sure.

I believe there's a 20gr round out there from Hornady I think that would maybe push it's effectiveness out to 125 yds.

Warning!! - lecture to follow.

You shouldn't be bringing a spoon to a knife fight, you should be bringing a .223 or .22-250 instead. I've also heard that the .204 performs very well as a coyote round...although I know no one who owns such a rifle nor have I bothered to look up its characteristics. For a dedicated coyote gun, the factors are very simple:

Initial Cost
Ammunition Cost
Performance
Practical Usefulness

In Ontario you are not permitted to use anything larger than .275 on small game if memory serves, and you are not allowed to use anything greater than .22 during big game seasons if you do not have valid tags to hunt any big game, so that meant that I could toss the ideas of a .270 and a .243 out the window on the basis of practical usefulness...I wouldn't be able to use them whenever I wanted unless I wanted to cough up some money for big game tags. This left me with the .223, .22-250, .204 Ruger, and .17HMR. The .204 Ruger rifle was too expensive for my taste at the time, so that got disqualified at on the initial cost evaluation. The .17HMR just isn't powerful enough to take the animal quickly and reliably at ranges beyond 100-125 yds, which are quite common when hunting these animals on prairie or farmland. So that was out (as a dedicated gun) on the basis of practical usefulness....who wants to hunt coyote with a gun they can only use at 1/3 of the ranges they're likely to encounter? If you're out rabbit hunting with a 17hmr and happen to spot a coyote at a reasonable distance...that's another story.

That leaves you with the .22-250 and .223 and the cost of ammunition settled that debate.
 
A 17 hmr will do the trick but the main concern is wind drift. A 17 grain tip will blow off coarse alot faster than say a 40 grain. I bought a 22mag now as a deticated winter gun. I try to call yotes and when sure no yotes around I will release a dog or two for rabbits so this way I just carry one rifle for both. I have used a 17, 22 and now just have to put the camo on my new winter rifle a 22mag. Yes I own a 243 but in deer season I can;t carry it anyways.
snowgun.JPG
 
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