.17hmr on fox

[cassshantia 16]

as stated on topic ,i know these little guns have a hell of a range on vermin ,personally 110 paces on a hare (head shot)

with the expanding bullets where would you take the shot head or engine room or does that depend on the range ?i have a .243 as well and some times when im out sods law a take the wrong gun

any help much appreciated

[hw100sniper 2]

Cass personally ive killed 3 foxes (this year) between 140 and 160 yards however these were in good conditions and shot placement was paramont if a head shot hadnt been on I wouldnt have pulled trigger.I practise out to 200yds with the 17 hmr on a 2ltr coke bottle or similar and would say id at least a 90% success rate but never felt the need to shoot live targets at this range .In summary personnally id say its what your comfortable shooting out to and how acurate you feel you are.

[cassshantia 16]

thanks for that one this time of year well winter in general cold wet and windy so this time of year i'll give it a miss

and wait for a odd night which is calm

[dc5 0]

I was out last night with the hmr and the wind was quite strong but I was still getting head shots on the bunnies @40-70 yards

 

I also had a fox walking along a fence line @ about 40 yards but couldn`t take a shot as It was on the opposite side and I was near some buildings

 

If the rain goes off I`ll try tonight.

[plinkplinkplop 0]

We have been out lamping several times over the past couple of months and knocked over 3 Foxes with the .17 at well over 100 yrds.

[lurchers 2,871]

i was told you cant use a 17hmr on foxes but i cant see the problem why not when they do the job great.can somebody explain why pls.

[Colster 1]

i was told you cant use a 17hmr on foxes but i cant see the problem why not when they do the job great.can somebody explain why pls.

 

 

A Fox isn't always just Vermin. The dictionary definition has vermin as something that through it's actions or numbers is detrimental. A fox plodding about on an arable farm (that doesn't have a pheasant shoot) is not vermin and you couldn't really shoot it unless you have Fox specifically worded on your licence.

 

Now here comes the confusing bit: some areas will allow Fox to be killed when the licence holder just has Vermin on their licence, other areas will only allow it if it's specifically worded on the licence - for example my FAC has Vermin for the LR and HMR and Fox and Deer for the .223 and .243, in my region (Norfolk) they state fox specifically.

 

It gets worse.... some regions will allow rimfires (sometimes excluding .22LR) for fox but the majority don't, they will follow the Home Office Guidance which "advises" that FLO's should specify a minimum of a .22 centrefire as a dedicated foxing rifle.

 

....hang on we're nearly there.... Now some areas will allow rimfire for fox on the condition that it is not a primary foxing rifle, this condition is known as "opportunistic fox", this covers the shooter while out shooting rabbits to take the odd fox where the opportunity presents.

 

Right, that's the legal bit out of the way, now we come on to a shooter's perspective. This is my own personal opinion and should be treated as such.

 

HMR, LR and WMR are all fine on fox as long as the shooter takes the size difference into account. Just because your HMR will kill a rabbit at 150yards, doesn't mean it will kill a fox at that distance.

 

If the shooter reins in his expectation of his rifle in line with the increase in size of the quarry then the gun will do the job, provided the shooter does theirs.... don't blame me if your FEO has a different view on this as his word is law, mine's an opinion.

[blackfox 9]

Personally, i dont rate the .17hmr as a fox round. You can talk shot placement all you like, but there is always a time when something dosent go quite to plan.

 

And yes i did own one and did take a few foxes with it, they were taken at sub 100 yrds, but didnt take to it so i sold it.

[The Seeker 3,048]

I have .22rf and 17 HMR and in South Yorkshire my FAO will not allow fox on either as said above depends on region but SY do not allow these calibers for fox.

[lurchers 2,871]

i was told you cant use a 17hmr on foxes but i cant see the problem why not when they do the job great.can somebody explain why pls.

 

 

A Fox isn't always just Vermin. The dictionary definition has vermin as something that through it's actions or numbers is detrimental. A fox plodding about on an arable farm (that doesn't have a pheasant shoot) is not vermin and you couldn't really shoot it unless you have Fox specifically worded on your licence.

 

Now here comes the confusing bit: some areas will allow Fox to be killed when the licence holder just has Vermin on their licence, other areas will only allow it if it's specifically worded on the licence - for example my FAC has Vermin for the LR and HMR and Fox and Deer for the .223 and .243, in my region (Norfolk) they state fox specifically.

 

It gets worse.... some regions will allow rimfires (sometimes excluding .22LR) for fox but the majority don't, they will follow the Home Office Guidance which "advises" that FLO's should specify a minimum of a .22 centrefire as a dedicated foxing rifle.

 

....hang on we're nearly there.... Now some areas will allow rimfire for fox on the condition that it is not a primary foxing rifle, this condition is known as "opportunistic fox", this covers the shooter while out shooting rabbits to take the odd fox where the opportunity presents.

 

Right, that's the legal bit out of the way, now we come on to a shooter's perspective. This is my own personal opinion and should be treated as such.

 

HMR, LR and WMR are all fine on fox as long as the shooter takes the size difference into account. Just because your HMR will kill a rabbit at 150yards, doesn't mean it will kill a fox at that distance.

 

If the shooter reins in his expectation of his rifle in line with the increase in size of the quarry then the gun will do the job, provided the shooter does theirs.... don't blame me if your FEO has a different view on this as his word is law, mine's an opinion.

thanks for that mate just that the police in my area [durham] says you cant use a hmr for fox thats why i asked,but if it works for you that will work for me atb