17 HMR Safari ?

[GeorgiaDave]

Hello from Rainy Georgia,

   I recently read of a guy who was on a big game safari in Africa, not sure where, but also took along a 17 HMR rifle for smaller game. The article was quite interesting and told of a bunch ot "little bitty deer" as well as hares and jackals being taken with the 17. I was thinking that this would certainly be fun in between the large game hunts especially when given the opportunity to really stretch the range of this hot rimfire. I am not condoning shooting past the effective range of this cartridge, but it would surely be effective for camp meat and simply trying some different hunts. I have also read of the love of the 22 Hornet in Africa. I know that it is underrated here in the land of shortmags and supermags. Anyone here ever spot and stalk small game on Safari. Sounds like fun, Thanks.
Dave

[Grumulkin]

It should be fine for Spring Hare and marginal for Jackal.  I don't think there are many "little bitty deer" it would be suitable for; in fact, I'm not sure what deer you are referring to.

I'm not sure where you've read of the "love of the 22 Hornet in Africa."  It should be OK for close range cull hunting and for poaching but, other than that, I doubt very many love it.

Methinks that not many professional hunters are going to relish running arount with their vehicles and trackers going after Spring Hare and are going to be even less enthusiastic with you going after "little bitty deer" with a 17 HMR with the real risk of losing the animal.  Also, in many African countries, a 17 HMR would be illegal to use for antelope and deer.  Also, I don't think there are many, if any, safari operators that would need you to shoot small game for camp meat.

[WL44]

Yes, I've stalked vermin here with a rimfire, but only when I could do so on the properties of friends and wasn't paying a heap for it. I don't get many of those opportunities anymore and large scale culling opportunities that do exist (for vermin) aren't attractive to me.

Dave, you are correct, it's fun and often very challenging to hunt the smaller species.  The smaller antelope species do not get the recognition that they deserve and are often cheaper than the larger species and the mounts take up less space in the bedroom at home! (See my other post in reply to the question on $$). But they usually need to form part of a safari to make it worthwhile for the operator and PH.

Smaller antelope (no real "deer" here that I'm aware of except introduced deer), like Duiker (many species ranging from really tiny that you'd fit in a shoebox to larger and some very exotic), Steenbuck, Klipspringer and Oribi (threatened status in some areas I think - JJ can correct me) etc. have all been hunted with rimfires (.22 LR), but that's generally not legal that I'm aware of and they really deserve a centrefire. 

Grumulkin is correct - rimfires are illegal for much except birds and vermin, which depends on where you are and what the specifics are. Either way, I doubt you'll likely be able to legally hunt much more than some birds, rabbits, springhare and rock hyrax ("dassie"). The smaller antelope and Jackal can be successfully hunted with the .222 and larger and yes, the Hornet is quite popular for this in some areas where the range is not long (but not my choice) and for things like rock hyrax. The Hornet is also used for night time culling by some as Grumulkin point out, but generally the .222 and larger is preferred.

In short, the 17HMR, .22 LR and .22 Mag are for small vermin in my opinion. These are species usually incidental to a hunt and to bring a rifle and pay day rates for that is unlikley to be attractive to you, but you could certainly enquire.

Not to generalise too much, but in most areas the small species are not that numerous that they are a primary choice for "camp meat" and of course they are small.

In short a hunt of smaller antelope species is really worth looking at, particularly if you've done and can combine with some of the others. But I'd not use a rimfire and probably not a Hornet.

[JJHACK]

I rather doubt that you would be able to get a permit to bring in a rimfire for hunting. If you cliamed it was for a match event and had proof of that event you might get it through.

.22 rimfires are required to have a special permit and often times they are lumped together as "rimfire" cartridges. Not reeally fair to be sure, but it's just the way it is. .22's are very strongly looked down upon for almost any hunting and considered to be a poachers weapon of choice. A special permit is required to have a .22 rimfire, and an exempt property is required to hunt with one on that property.

It's clearly not a realistic option for a visiting hunter. Residents who have one and live on a huge property can easily do what ever they wish with it. I will relate this little tale for you to get an understanding of the laws there. A very good friend of mine who owns a large farm has a .22 he uses often for various vermin troubles. He brought the rifle along on a trip in a friends truck. Sometime later, months later the guy was pulled over and searched ( not unusual in South Africa) during the search they found several spent rimfire shells and a couple unfired rounds under the seat. The owner of the truck did not have a permit for a .22 rimfire, but he had the ammo in his truck. Now in RSA you cannot have ammo that you don't have a firearm permit for. So they arrested him for this. He spent the night in jail and had to go to court and explain what had happened, the man with the permit had to go to verify this was the case and he was cleared of the charges.

There is far more risk in owning a .22 rimfire then having a 308, 30/06 or 270.  Centerfire hunting rifles are as common as little brown birds. But having a .22 rimfire ends alarms out that this could be a poacher everytime law enforcement sees one.

[moxgrove]

you could do a 17 hornet . That would be a fun little cartrdge to play with any ways. Darn, now I want one

[JJHACK]

I found the hornet and the bee very annoying to load for, those little bullets in that tiny fragile case pinched my fingers on the loading press so many times. Personally the .223 is the smallest fun and functional varmint round in my opinion. The little .22s are cute, but so limited and difficult to load for. I just kept trying to get more out of it to make it work better.

[moxgrove]

I use a curved hemostat to hold those tiny bullets.  I definitely know about the pinch problem.

[KAYR1]

I havent used it on anything bigger than a groundhog. Probably a little light for Buff and such.