.17 Hornet on Bobcat, Fox, and Coyote

TheWolf57

TheWolf57

New member
Looking into buying a Savage 25 Walking Varminter in .17 Hornet, primarily for fox and bobcat, as my .243 is too big for them. Does anyone have expirience with this cartridge on fox & bobcat. Is it fur friendly? I see it as a better choice than a .17 WSM because its reloadable & is available in a decent rifle.
 
It is not fur friendly on Jack Rabbits at 125 yds. I'm guessing the mass on coyotes and bobcats may be a factor.
 
We recently shot a bobcat on video with a 17 Hornet, using Hornady's new 15.5 grain NTX load (lead-free). The bullet performed well, with there being minimal fur damage. The images and video are probably not something that can be shown on here, due to the graphic nature of the shot and the images of the performance. Before the 17 Hornet, I have shot many, many predators with a 17 Remington and never had any issues, if I did my job with bullet placement.

Eric
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I shot and killed coyotes with a 17 hmr....a 17 hornet will do fine. Know your yardage and dont push it too far and you will be fine. Im also gonna buy the 17 hornet..neat little round.
 
My Walking Varmiter in 17 Hornet is 4 for 4 on bobcats..I bought it for a dedicated cat gun and it does that very well..Going to see if I can make it 5 for 5 tonight..





 
A buddy in Az has one and he smacked a grey fox with one at a bout 70yds and dropped on the spot with very little hole going in and nothing out. He also shot a couple jacks with it and they were about like the fox. But nothing bigger than that at this time. It is a nice shooting gun.
 
My 25 loves the 15.5 NTX but doesn't seem to care for the 20grain V-Max at all. I have some 25 grain V=Max loaded with Little gun to try out next trip to the range.
 
Here is an update on the 17 hornet. I have one in a Savage Model 25 and I love it. We did a predator hunt this weekend and I shot 2 coyote's and 2 bobcats. All when shot acted like they were hit with a lightning bolt. I shoot handloads with 25 grain Hornady Hollow Points. The big dog in the picture my buddy's son is holding won big dog of the tournament at 43 lbs. I shot the big dog standing at 120 yards front facing right in the chest. Drt. The female took of and i hit her in the neck at 270 yards running. Drt. The first bobcat i shot was sitting looking at me at 70 to 75 yards. Chest shot no exit DRT. The second cat was walking broadside at about 100 yards no exit. DRT.







 
Great little round, Ive shot two greys, two cats and multiple coyotes with my hornet. Shot all of them with the 20gr factory loads. The only animal that I had any sort of damage on was a cat, I hit it high shoulder and the bullet splashed off the spinal column. Left a 3in diameter hole.
 
From what I'm hearing from you guys with actual multiple field experiences on predators, the 20 gr Vmax will do the trick if the stars align and shot placement is good (ie no bones), but the 25 Hornady HP is the schizzle. Too bad Hornady only wants to sell there ammo with the racehorse bullet for the most part and not the old mule that pulls along nice and steadily. I haven't seen much on guys with the 25 Vmax in factory form........

I have a 77/17H built for the Ackley version and I'll be trying to stick with the HP for load testing.....maybe the 20 for groundhogs around here in the summer.....

Thanx for the real world input here guys! Not too many people talking about what this round is really doing in the field in predators.
 
Originally Posted By: YellowhammerI won a Savage 25 in .17 Hornet at the PM hunt on Saturday. Looking forward to trying it out.

That's great. How did you win it?
 
You guys have officially pushed me over the edge. I ordered my ruger 17 hornet yesterday, along with about 250 rounds of ammo from midway. They are running a sale on the hornet ammo right now. I can't wait to start plinking with it. Anyone have any scope suggestions they wanna share?
 
Well last spring i bought the 17 Hornet & a 204. The 17 is a tack driver. Ammo was a nightmare to get. Was 2 months getting any after i bought the rifle. Thanks to A member on here i finally got some.
I suggest trying something different than the 20 gr. v-max from my experience. I'm going to look into the hollow point i guess.

4 out of 5 fox have big exit holes. Front chest shot was the only one that didn't exit. I'm shooting the 20 gr. V-max factory. Front chest shot on coyote at 100 yards spun and run , no recovery. Coyote made it into standing corn field. Shot several wood chucks with some nasty exits. If i hit bone it wasn't pretty. Retired to safe after coyote ran.

204 is 8 for 8 on coyote. 1 runner made it about 80 yards. A fox had exit hole not as big as 17 Hornet. I'm shooting the 40gr. V-max factory.

The scope i bought for the 17 Hornet is now on my 204. My main carry now.


Vortex Crossfire II 3-12x56 AO
Hog Hunter Scope
V-Brite (MOA) Reticle | 30mm Tube
Illuminated dot in center of duplex reticles - adjustable brightness
UNCONDITIONAL FULL LIFETIME WARRANTY
$300 bucks

Hope you have better luck than me !
 
Pa.Mick, which rifle did you buy in the 17 hornet? I'm just hoping this ruger I'm getting is also gonna be a tack driver. I'm gonna try to do some cat hunting with it, but mostly shooting for fun and wiping out some of the crow population as well. I've always wanted a centerfire 17 caliber rifle.
 
I have the Savage 25 walking Varminter. Probably gonna try some hollow points next . it's a fox killer for sure just need a fur friendly load. I did a lot of reading on it checking how guys were doing with it. Was not happy when the 1st coyote of the season got away from me though. Other guys have done well with it.

Might have to limit it to smaller than coyote but I didn't expect that. Shot placement is everything. I'm sure I killed him but I like DRT.
 
I scored another cat last night..Shot was about 80 yards and it was DRT..I will take some pics of the bullet performance once I get her skinned..So far I haven't been able to tell where I hit her..20 gr V-Max..



 
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