2026 17HMR hunting pictures.

Great shooting,those are some pretty hefty looking chucks. I also like that rifle,looks very handy and those rings look pretty stout too.
Matt
 
Nice work! Gotta love that little 17HMR; amazing performance from such a small round.

Here's a blast from the past, way back in 1980 when I was out for rockchucks with my Sako Vixen 223. The old boy shown weighed in at 16.5 lbs, and was one of the largest shot that season. Shot with a 50gr Nosler Soft-point over H335 (way before the BT came out). Still have that little Sako Vixen.



This was a good morning with my Anschutz 17HMR resulting in 8 rockchucks on a local ranch here. All one-shot kills with the little HMR, quite the amazing little cartridge.



The weather is going into full spring, so more adventures for us all soon. :)
 
OH, is that objective bell touching the barrel? If not, it sure looks like it is.
I like 'em low over the bore too; reduces any canting effects and just plain looks better than a honking high mounted scope.

My Cooper 20VT M38 Varmint wearing a Leupold VX3 LR 6.5-20X 40mm, mounted in low Leupold rings. Barely clears the barrel, about as low as I can get it.



Sometimes I wonder how many squirrels and rockchucks this baby has sent into that alfalfa patch in the sky.
 
Way cool! We have a crow season in the fall. Most don't partake in it. Our red fox numbers are small due to the numerous amount of homes built on prime farmland. The prey are not in great numbers to support the small carnivores. In the desert and mountains the numbers are sustainable. Here you would need to travel +30km to get to decent hunting grounds. That's why I enjoy camping. Get away from the city, and the sheeple.
 
One very fun aspect of shooting crows with a high velocity rifle, is the picture perfect crow, sitting on a branch facing the shooter. A well placed shot dead-center of the breast results in the much loved explosion of black feathers, and two wings separated from the body slowly spiraling down together.

What'a sight! :love:
 
Day: (I don't know) Just got home from work and decided to see if any chucks were out. Boy I was in luck! Snuck around our conex and spot one in the field. Big Ol' male. Set up the tripod, put him in my crosshairs, and the bugger starts making a break for it. The moment he paused, WACK! Right in the noodle! To my surprise the chuck starts running. Blood pouring from the exit wound, squirting with each bound. Finally ran out of blood, but went 40+ feet. I start to put my tripod away when another pops out from under the conex. Swing around and pop that one. YES! A double. Grab both chucks, set them up for a picture and another pops out from under the conex. Had to duck behind my grain tote. Backtrack to get a better position with the hay stacks shadow as cover. The chuck was licking up the blood from the one I just shot. Line up the tripod, greatful for the Primos trigger stick. One squeeze and ready for no. 3. Wack! Another brainer. Hopefully these are the last of the bunch. Pretty great morning.1000002037.jpg1000002038.jpg
 
Seems we have great affection for the little 17HMR, myself included. Nice to see it's popular in the UK too.

Here's the result of one session shooting from my BR Pivot in the field with my 17HMR. I was shooting in an alfalfa field, and noticed the little rats were emerging from the alfalfa and scooting across the perimeter two-track and into the sagebrush. Then they'd come out of the sagebrush, stop on the two-track and bail back into the lush alfalfa. Range to the two-track was 160 yards on average.

So I rotated my bench around and settled my scope on the two-track. It was like a shooting gallery, as when the rats would stop out in the open, it was like they were just begging to be shot....I obliged them and had at it.



The ejected brass cases tell the story......"there must have been some frisky shooting here"......;)



The week long shoot we just returned from resulted in my Anschutz M1715D HB going through just over 400 rounds of Hornady 17gr Varmint Express ammo. Not sure how many squirrels got smacked, but my hit ratio was over 90%......beaucoup squirrels! And an added bonus: NO reloading! Whoo-hoo! :)

My Annie on the bench last month in the outback on our week+ shoot:



Portrait of our buddy "Skippy the Flying Squirrel" that makes all this worth the time in the field:



And proof that squirrels can indeed fly:



As we say, it's the most fun you can have with a rifle! (y)
 
Last edited:
Rick in Oregon said:
Seems we have great affection for the little 17HMR, myself included. Nice to see it's popular in the UK too.

Here's the result of one session shooting from my BR Pivot in the field with my 17HMR. I was shooting in an alfalfa field, and noticed the little rats were emerging from the alfalfa and scooting across the perimeter two-track and into the sagebrush. Then they'd come out of the sagebrush, stop on the two-track and bail back into the lush alfalfa. Range to the two-track was 160 yards on average.

So I rotated my bench around and settled my scope on the two-track. It was like a shooting gallery, as when the rats would stop out in the open, it was like they were just begging to be shot....I obliged them and had at it.

Click to expand...

Ha! Maybe it's giving too much credit to these little critters Rick, but you'd think after seeing the first half dozen of their brethren bite the dust, they would become a little cautious or at least somewhat leery about venturing forth onto the two-track. Either that or these are some of the dumbest creatures on the planet.
 
MTPaul said:
Ha! Maybe it's giving too much credit to these little critters Rick, but you'd think after seeing the first half dozen of their brethren bite the dust, they would become a little cautious or at least somewhat leery about venturing forth onto the two-track. Either that or these are some of the dumbest creatures on the planet.
Click to expand...
Paul, I believe you've nailed it buddy!

Back around 1982, my wife was with me on a squirrel shoot not ten minutes from the house. She's been with me for pd's too, but this was the first time out for her. I was prone with my Kimber K-Hornet, she was laying next to me. She spotted a large male feeding with two others at around 150~ yards. I said "watch the big one on the right". At the shot, he seemed to explode in a vivid red mist of chunks. The others with him barely noticed and just continued to feed. I laughed when she turned to me and said "I bet the others are thinking 'where's Fred'. Amazing degree of stupidity to say the least, no built-in self preservation tendencies whatever. I've seen this for over 50 years, and it's been the same all over the west where I've engaged them.

Good thing for us, right? "Willing" targets en-masse......target-rich environment, what could be better? :)
 
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