I have a Henry Lever Action 17 HMR and it is - by far - my favorite small game gun, the most accurate of my rimfires and the easiest to handle. If it were legal here, I could DEFINITELY take a deer via a head shot with it because I'm so confident of shot placement and speed to target with it.

For small game, especially groundhogs, it's a fantastic round. I've done some farm clearing myself and just sitting in a chair and with a scope and some patience made a dozen kills in no time at all, all across the fields from 50 yards out to about 175 yards.