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Newbie for groundhogs, .22Mag or .17HMR?

12K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  rats1955  
#1 ·
Hi everyone,

I've been shooting and hunting for 15 years now and believe it or not, never had a rimfire rifle. Bows, shotguns, centerfires, blackpowder I've all done but I am brand new to this and have a question or two.
I recently moved to a farm house and there are groundhogs all over the area. The farmer gave me permission to hunt these critters anytime I want. I do have a .243 but I'm 10 minutes away from the county border where rifle hunting is allowed and of course I'm on the wrong side. Also, it'd be fun to get my hands on a plinker too since I can go right out my backdoor to shoot. Here's the question, most shots will be around 100yds give or take a few. My main concern is that I'd like to see the groundhogs drop before the get back to their whole. I really don't like the idea of wounding one and having it crawl down its whole and wondering if its dead/suffering. Thats just the deer hunter in me and even though its a groundhog, I'd rather put it down fast. I heard that a .22LR most likely wasn't enough unless there was a perfect head shot but some suggested a 22Mag rifle. Then I started reading about the .17HMR and the round sounded pretty devistating. Any input on which caliber would do the best job would be a HUGE help as I'm pretty confused. Also if anyone could recommend a round/rifle combo that they use as I see there are a ton of options. I really would prefer to spend no more than $300 for the rifle. Thanks for any help/opinions that you can offer!

Rich
 
#2 ·
Well, my opinion will be far different than anybody else, as far as how I came to my conclusion. When the .17 HMR first came out, I was one of the first in town to own one. I was real excited about it. But I also wanted a .22WMR for the longest time, and couldn't decide on a rifle. So one day, I decided to buy matching Savage 93 models one of each caliber. I would take them out that spring, put them through the ringers and keep what I thought the better of the two. The first thing I noticed was the .17 shot much flatter than the WMR could, out to extended ranges when sighting them in. That was where the good stuff ended in my books. My first and closest shot on a prairie rat was somwhere around 70 yards. I put the crosshairs on his shoulder. He was quartering towards me. The little bullet wen't in, and left a small chunk missing on the offside. The farthest was around 150. The bullet wen't in, but didn't come out. Regardless, everything I shot with it died on the spot. But...

I was familier with the .22WMR. Anything I shot with that rifle didn't just die, it was torn to pieces. There was no chance in Hell any of those pieces were going to crawl back into their hole. It didn't matter at the range either. My closest ever with a .22WMR was about 10 feet under a Texas gate. (Note to self, don't do that again) We were wiping pieces of gopher off the three of us after that. And even pushing the envelope, making long shots, after a hit, all it's guts were dragged out the other side. All shot's were instant kills. I sold the .17 after that, and still own a .22WMR. I know the .17 has alot of fan's, and it's great for rejuvinating the rimfire world. But I made my decision on them. Hope that helps.
 
#3 ·
groundhogs

:yeahthat:

And remember, your first few groundhogs will be easy until they all learn quickly that they are being hunted. Then they will be 200 yd targets real quick and you`ll need a CF .222 or better to reach them. They learn fast to move out or keep an eye out for any human doing anything. They become something you have to sneak up on from covered positions, kind of like sniping.
Go for the heavier bullet of the .22 mags. you`ll need it. They are tough critters if not headshot.
SmallCal has seen GHs in this area that will weigh in at 20# or better. I use a CF Remington bolt action with 4x16x40 scope and get shots out to near 300 yds.
SmallCal :Blasting_
 
#4 ·
that is another reason i like the 17hmr. not only can you zero it at 100 yds, and it is only 3 inches low all the way to 150, but they can't quite get the hearing distance right. with a centerfire, they will pop up way out there, with a long bbl 17 say 22 or 24 inches, they are not quite sure how far away you are. so if they pop up at 150, just put your crosshairs on the top of their noggin, and away they go. And yeah, most of the 17 bullets are designed to explode inside, and not come out the other side. with the exception of the 20 grain gamepoints.
 
#5 ·
17HMR or .22Mag ?

Just like pharaoh2 I bought one of each. But I had the .22 5 years before the 17 HMR hit the newstands. The .17 will outshoot on paper almost anything from 50' to 125 yards / 375 feet. But with a few of us the performance in the filed was spotty. I still have my .22Mag and have sold the .17 to someone who wanted it.

My"sage" advice is to buy the .22 mag for better performance, ammo availability.

My "sage" advice on the hogs is to hunt them away from the house initially. Take them from the house when destruction is an issue or there is too great a target opportunity.

Best regards,
chalmitch
 
#6 ·
I've lived on the 6 acres left of a farm for 17 years now and have to take out 6-8 grounghogs during each season just to keep from getting overun. I do it with a .22LR and subsonic RWS hollowpoints. Shots are 60-70 yards at the most. The noise level is minimum and most die on the spot with upperbody, shoulder, head hits. Once in a while one will get back to the hole.

For this reason I'd like to move up to a .22WMR for cleaner kills. Before all the neighbors, horses, houses were here I'd use a .243 Win. and no problems at all.
 
#7 ·
I'm in the same boat as pharoh2 in that I bought a .17 and was amazed at it's great assets.

In the back of my mind, I mentally kicked myself for selling a wonderful Marlin 25mn so I could buy the Savage .17. The Marlin took a great many groundhogs no question asked.

In the end, I liked the .22 mag for the weight of the bullet, and then sold the .17 to a friend that mostly shot targets.
I then bought a stainless Savage 93 HB in .22 mag. Wayyy plenty accurate for groundhogs.

I have to agree though, you may have a different opinion.
 
#8 ·
Awsome help guys, thanks! You pretty much answered the question. I knew that for "paper" shooting the .17 was the way to go but just wasn't sure for the hunting purposes. Looks like I'll do some more research but will definitely be leaning to the .22Mag.

That was a funny comment too about the groundhogs catching on pretty quick that they're being hunted. When I first moved here I would see them 150 yds or so from my deck and was able to stalk up on 2 in the first week and take them with my bow. I figured, "geez this will be easy, who needs a firearm for these stupid rodents." WRONG! Since then, all they have to do is see the back door open and they're running for home! Haven't been able to get within 50yds of one since!

Thanks again for the help, now time to spend the morning looking up some guns :)
 
#15 ·
What ammo do you use for your .17? What kind of rifle is it if you don't mind me asking? I was totally leaning towards the .17 HMR before posting here then was convinced on the .22 mag after reading these posts. Now though I'm thinking that after hearing so much about the accuracy of the .17's, head shots are quite possible out to 100 yds which should put them down immediatly. With that being said, I think I convinced myself to get the .17 for hunting purposes out to 100yds or so and then I'd still have a fun plinker gun to poke holes in paper for fun around the 150yd range.
Then again odds are tomorrow I'll change my mind again, me choosing firearms reminds me of my girlfriend shopping for clothes!
 
#16 ·
I purchases the .17HMR this fall for mostly ground squirrels. By the time the gun came in, the ground squirrels were in for the fall. I tried it on some prairie dogs and found it to be great. I didn't get the explosive hits of my .223 but they dropped on the spot. I also notice that they didn't seem to be bothered as much with the report of the .17HMR as the .233. I was able to get multiple shots where the .223 would send them down the hole after the first shot.

I was using the ballistic tip on the prairie dogs. They dropped, but I did notice there was no noticeable damage other than a small entrance hole. I would like to try the TNT round the next time to see if there is any difference.

I am really happy with my .17HMR, I would recommend it to any one.