Every .17hmr I own shoots as good if not better at 100yds than any 22Lr rifle that I have ever owned did at 50yds. There may be exceptions to that statement, but in general, a .17hmr is much more accurate. Cost is another matter, ammo is $8-10 a box of 50 and certainly isn't practical for plinking like a .22Lr is, but if you like shooting sub moa groups, the 17hmr or the 17mach 2 is the rifle to have. The 17Mach2 is a necked down .22 stinger round shooting at ~2200 fps, a 100yd zero will be .7" high at 75 yds, compared to a 22Lr that will be 2.5" high mid range. 17M2 ammo is $5-6 a box of 50, so it's a bit less expensive than the 17hmr, but still not as cheap to shoot as the .22Lr.
Lot's of yotes have been killed with the .17hmr, but it's not a yote caliber. If I were out with the 17hmr and had the 20gr XTP rounds with me or a standing shot of 100yds or less, the 17hmr will fulfill the task with a well placed round in the boiler room, but a shoulder hit will be less than desirable, especially with the Vmax or to a lesser degree, the TNT/Speer hollow point, they tend to fragment instead of penetrate. The 20gr XTP or Gamepoint bullets are controlled expansion bullets and will make a big difference in penetration and terminal performance or larger critters like g'hog, yotes, foxes and such. Up close, 25-50yds, the Vmax bullets will fragment on a yote rib and not penetrate at all, so I wouldn't want to rely on it for a quick kill, at 100yds, they seem to do better as speed has slowed and the 17gr pill is not so explosive, but I'd still rather use the 20gr bullets for larger critters. Head shots are a bit tricky as the head tends to move more than the rest of the critter, but the .17hmr is very capable of that kind of accuracy if the shot presents itself, but I still rather take a broadside standing boiler room shot over the head shot, a slight miss on a head shot will result in a wounded yote destined for a long and slow death.
