Pennsylvania Game News - November 2020 - 54

college experience of carefully reﬁned
card skills, I lasted longer than any
other game participant, earning an inline
muzzleloader to boot.
Knowing both ﬁrearms came from
the same gunshop, and because I already
owned a quality inline, I worked out a
deal to trade the muzzleloader for the
cost of adding a decent scope and an
adjustable bipod to complete a wellrounded .17 HMR setup.
That's called being lucky, good and
smart, as the decision led to many years
of success and satisfaction in the ﬁeld
with my versatile .17 HMR.
Consider this caliber a step up from
a .22 long riﬂe, with more power, speed
and downrange accuracy than the longtime small-game staple.
For example, the 17-grain Hornady
Varmint Express V-Max polymertipped bullets I use in my .17 HMR
shoot roughly 2,550 fps compared to a
40-grain "high-speed" .22 Thunderbolt,
which leaves the muzzle at 1,255 fps, but
slows to about 1,017 fps at 100 yards.
Don't get me wrong, I love a good
.22 for plinking cans, precision squirrel
hunting and stalking woodchucks, but
the .17 HMR is far superior in performance.
But it does have some limitations.
As light a round as it is, the .17 HMR
is not as ideal compared to a .22-250
for heavier predators like coyotes, and
it's a tad more destructive on game
meat than a .22 magnum. But I've
successfully taken a variety of species
with my .17 HMR and ﬁnd the caliber
extremely accurate at ranges out to 200
yards, making it a reliable choice for
hunting thin-skinned game, varmints
and fall turkeys with carefully consid54

ered shot placement.
Before I get into any game-speciﬁc
hunting scenarios, let's take a closer
look at my setup and the versatility it
provides. The gun I own is a Mossberg
International 817, which is not an overly
expensive ﬁrearm at about $230. It has
a 5+1 magazine, and with a black synthetic stock, it weighs less than 5 pounds.
I added a 3-9x Simmons scope,
which offers variability for close range
spot-and-stalk hunting and more precise
downrange magniﬁcation for open-ﬁeld
shooting. The adjustable bipod is made
by Harris, featuring a pivot system that
provides a slight range of motion. The
legs fold forward when not in use and are
fully adjustable, allowing me to shoot in
a prone, seated or kneeling position. It's
no high-priced setup by any means, but
it works very well.
A number of ﬁrearm companies offer
versions of the .17 HMR, as the caliber
has signiﬁcantly grown in popularity
since being introduced in 2002. For
example, Savage Arms offers around
three dozen riﬂes in .17 HMR. A few
years ago, I added its Model 93R17
with a Bushnell scope to my collection, knowing it would be nice to have
a second .17HMR without a bipod for
deep-woods carry, coupled with an
inkling a future hunting buddy - my
son - might need one of his very own.
And when he does, there will be
plenty he can hunt with it.
There is no doubt a well-placed shot
from a .17 HMR will be lethal on any
small game you wish to hunt, but it
might be too much gun for many species.
To preserve meat, consider clean head-
Pennsylvania Game News - November 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - November 2020
