Any opinions on the 17HMR and 22WMR for Lynx and Beaver up to about 100 yards?
Can't make up my mind, will mostly be using it for Lynx out on the trapline next season, they are standing on the trail all over the place..
The 22LR seems just a bit small for the cats and 22-250 prob blow them up....

My wife and I have used the 22mag with great results forever! Wolves,wolverine,lynx,seals,beaver,fox,coyote, and otters at 100yds or less it is dependable with solid hits. I carry a 222 quite a bit but even that will tear-up a lynx or fox if heavy bones are hit. That being said I'm about to trade my 425 Express for an AR 15???

Like waterrat I have carried a 22 mag on the line and taken a lot of different sized critters with it. I like the idea of a heavier bullet then the 17 provides when talking beaver in particular, they can be pretty tough and take some punishment

.22 lr will put down anything out there if your standing over it. if your going to shoot 100 yards the mag will do..

I havent tried beaver yet...but my 17hmr has done very well on cats!

question on beaver...I thought the shot was behind the head? anywhere else they'll sink?

Tradbowl, even there they will sink. I prefer to catch them on land if possible then lung and head shots both do very well on them. If shooting on water getting to them quickly is the key and a dip net is helpful. If shooting in dead water with little or no current and one sinks you can quite often sit there a bit and it will pop up they gas up in the guts pretty quickly causing them to pop up. If it is in faster current and sinks it most likely will be lost

.22mag
I killed my first bobcat at 125 yards with a .22mag.

use the 22 mag, goot results

I use a 22mag an have taken many beavers and lynx with it and have good results but my brother uses a 17hmr for lynx and beavers as well and it puts them both down instantly very good result both work great

My 2 cents, 22 mag will take care of any furbearer you aim at with less damage IF you strike bones.

.22 mag, no doubt!

I have shot a PILE of beaver with it. I use it every spring for shooting beavers and when you can't get a good head shot, hitting them through the lungs does the job too.

otterman is right, if they sink, they can be lost, BUT if the current is relatively slow, you can go down stream a few hundred yards and wait. It doesn't take long for them to bloat. Once they rise up, you have to really watch as not much of them is above the surface.

I have also shot wolverine in a trap with it. They are dead in seconds. FWIW

Haven't shot any lynx with the .17 but have shot coyotes and fox with it. I use it extensively for beaver anymore, but only with full metal jacket bullets. Next small rifle is a .22 mag though.

I asked this a while back on here, got conflicting reports. Many on the Wilderness like the 22 mag, some like the 17. When I asked on the main forum, it was split about 50/50, with many on one side condemning the other as obsolete, the other side replying that one was a solution non-existent problem. And from some of the research I did and research others showed on here, it seemed like a push to me. It came down to availability of ammo and the firearm I wanted to use. I wanted a Henry lever, and the 22 mag is more common in the village (I plan on spending time there again at some point.) So I got a Henry Lever 22mag and put a Nikon fixed 4 power scope on it, and am very happy with it's performance at the range so far. I've only taken 1 grouse with it, but the bullet went right where the cross hairs were. As far as ballistics for them, from my understanding the 22mag hits harder because it's heaver in the range your talking, but the 17hmr will go farther but because of how light it is it's subject to wind drift and losing punch further down range. I'll see if I can dig up the thread I started on this very same thing a while back, there should be some graphs and links to ballistic charts in them.

22 mag all day! I love my bolt action Ruger. Taken a handful of beavers and one coyote at 120 yards and more fox between me and the old man then I'd like to count

Seems to me that the 22 WMR is more popular on the traplines, Thanks

i carry a 17hmr for beavers. i puts a pin hole in the head and never exits