Fox Vs Hmr

[Deker 3,478]

Shoot within your capabilities and that of the calibre/ammo you are using.

 

That applies to EVERY type/calibre of gun!

 

The HMR is more than capable of fox if you are sensible!

 

ATB!

[shropshire dan 467]

Bloomin heck. I get the hmr isnt the ideal tool for the job but its all I have at the moment. I do keep range to a minimum and even less in wind

Edited May 29, 2014 by shropshire dan

[celticrusader 78]

Im very confident within my own abilities as an ex paratrooper and marksman...that being said i dont deliberatly target foxes but only when the opportunity arises.

I do hear mixed reports from all about the distance used should be under the yards mark and that many have had this problem thats why there is mixed feelings for the calibre,but also that the type of grain is never always stated.

A friend has said that they would not have gone far once the round has met its point of impact from what I have described...still I'm not comfortable with that and would've liked them to have dropped relatively soon after.

[shropshire dan 467]

Completely agree cc. Humane as possible, I will have a cf rifle soon for charlie but until then I only have the .22lr and hmr. I am confident and preety good at calling them within 100yards

[celticrusader 78]

My other friend and I recently went rabbiting which is what I mainly spend my time doing, that being said he wanted to use his Steyr Aug .223 and do you think I could make him reconsider..no ofcourse I couldnt and although it was a windy day and my shooting with the .22lr was terrible to say the least he managed to pull off 3 100m shots all of which left the rabbits just about edible...if it wasn't for the fact that I like rabbit and maybe there was another reason other than fox where I live I would get a .223 or maybe another calibre but its not really logical for me at the moment.

[slipper 116]

Shoot rabbits all the time with mine its good long range practice and cheap enough to shoot rabbits crows and magpies etc and if you head shoot them you can eat them, game dealer still buys them off me when head shot with the 223

[celticrusader 78]

Yeh absolutely and 100m's with a .223 you would have no worries about aiming off with wind but even with a moderator my friends is a fair bit louder than the 17 hmr but still didn't deter them from returning...not much point shooting out of that range but I guess every now and then a certain shot will present itself which requires it.

Never bothered with a game dealer as I thought for all the effort required I think they'd only underpay .. Plus I love them stripped and cut up into a curry or stew ...just curious what the price is for them?

Edited May 29, 2014 by celticrusader

[alan81 110]

lads the .17HMR is more than capable for fox out to 150+ yards and don't mind anyone who says its not, they just cant use it. I stopped a fox in his tracks at 189 yards with my 22WMR he needed a second shot when I got to him but he never moved a step. don't forget the HMR has a fair bit more power than my WMR at that rang so its well up to the task. a mate of mine has taken a fair amount of fox at 150 yards and further with his HMR.

 

Edited to say 90% of our shots are neck shots. they don't move much when shot in the neck.

Edited May 29, 2014 by alan81

[celticrusader 78]

Well you seem more than capable from your own experience to justify the hmr as a calibre for fox.

I dont know what the issue was with myself but I have known the results to be from one extreme to another on rabbits so I can safely say this...there is undoubtedly a problem as I have experienced and have known many people with enough savvy to know that its not there abilities effected but I do believe also that this is a calibre where the statistics speak for themselves and let's face it that many people can't be wrong now can they.

 

Oh and good call Alan81 on the neck shot as I believe its a better POA than the head is.

[shropshire dan 467]

Cheers guys. I may try a neck shot alan

[alan81 110]

just to ad about the .17HMR having two extreme's, I find that both the HMR and WMR tend to do more damage past 100 yards when the bullet slows down a bit but at closer ranges 30 to 60 yards the bullet can just go straight through from not expanding quick enough. some might disagree but id think more wont.

[shropshire dan 467]

I shot a rabbit at 40 yards in the chest with the hmr and it dropped i got to it and it was gone. Lots of blood on the deck but know rabbit, and i defo d=seen him drop through the scope. ive noticed when not shooting for meat and chest shooting that over yards it blows the chest and guts out below this produces a neat little entrance/exit. Have found at any range if you hit the shoulder bone it blows bunny to bits.

[celticrusader 78]

Shot a bunny with the 22lr and dropped him at 15 yards stone dead , after 15-20 mins I went over to pick him up and when I got within a foot of him he got up to run away but I grabbed him by the fur on his back and inspected him to find no mark on him whatsoever...I can only assume the round riccoched off the skull bone knocking him for six.

Edited May 30, 2014 by celticrusader

[shropshire dan 467]

Thats madness

[SportingShooter 0]

The HMR is quite capable of killing foxes, the same as any other rifle so long as you have confidence to putting it in the right place,

 

What I question with the HMR or any other rimfire when shooting foxes at 100+ yards is the necessity to do so,

 

I don't see the need to shoot a Fox at more than that distance when the potential to injure it is much higher and there is a much better tool for the job i.e. a centrefire or a better opportunity when you are closer to him. As much as I despise foxes, I don't like to see anything suffer because of my error in not having the ideal tool for the job.

 

At distance, the HMR loses it's energy along with some of it's wind bucking power which is why Foxes are injured. At 150 yards it roughly has 70 ft/lbs of energy left to hit home and do enough damage to kill the fox, compare that to the lowliest of centrefire rounds, the .22 Hornet, which at the same distance has 320 ft/lbs which is more than the HMR has at the muzzle!

 

And to suggest that shooting them in the neck so it paralyses them which enables you to give them a "coup de grace" just adds to the argument for me,

 

At 150 yards, the HMR has 7 ft/lbs more energy than the WMR. Nothing to write home about by any means.