I've had one for 7 or so years now, originally got it to act as a training rifle that was cheaper and easier on the shoulder than 308. Turns out though it's most fun as a desert rabbit gun. I'm not an experienced hunter, but the rifle is so accurate and flat out to 200 yards that you just wander around in the desert until you spook up a rabbit and then wait for them stop running at any distance and POP, down they go. Always go for the head though, body shots can rip up a lot of meat. I use the 16gr lead-free stuff since that's what was required in CA and I have a lot of it on hand. Fortunately the rifle really likes it. Mine doesn't like the 20gr stuff at all, goes from a sub-MOA gun to a 2MOA gun when I try the heavy loads.
Wind is not this rounds friend. It's easily blown around, so if practicing wind calls is what you want you'll get all you could ask for.
Two years back I got the bright idea to cut the barrel down based on internet research. Some guy did an accuracy/velocity test on the 17 and found that anything past 16-17" is just wasted barrel, so I had mine cut back to 16" to make it easier to carry around. That bull barrel is surprisingly heavy. Accuracy is still excellent, but I haven't run rounds over a chrono as mine seems to have died. I also had it threaded... but due to a lack of subsonic .17HMR rounds it's kinda futile. Still, everything is cooler when it's threaded.
I have one of the newer savages in .22 and it's action is so much nicer than my older 17 rifle that I would recommend the newer version over and older rifle unless you got some sort of screaming deal on it. Even then, buy once cry once and we're not talking a huge investment of cash to get a much nicer rifle in the new generation.
I run lots of cheap glass on mine, but it can take advantage of higher magnification.
I tried one of the Boyds tacticool stocks on it, hated it. Yes, it made it feel more like a large rifle, but it ruined the 'in the hands' feel of the rifle when out in the field.
Original configuration in 2009:
Now at 16". Last year when I tried to find some squirrels and was rewarded with a nice walk in the woods: