Coyotegods: 17 remington on fox

Hello everyone. I have been browsing this forum for quite some time and just recently registerd as a user and now this is my first post, so please be gentle! My question revolves around the 17 remington for red fox. I bought the 17 remington because, from what I have been reading, I thought it would be a great 2-for-1 gun, coyote and red fox. Where we hunt in Central PA, we shoot mostly red fox, but will sometimes run into a coyote. If we JUST had red fox, I would use the 17 HMR, but I am not comfortable with that caliber on coyote (I know this is a hot topic, but this is my opinion only). My shots in this area are mostly under 100 yards (occasionally we will need to reach out to 150) and we only hunt at night, so all shots are head shots. I purchased the 17 remington 2 weeks ago and worked up several loads using the 25 gr Berger match bullets using IMR4895, remington brass, and Rem 7 1/2 primers. I settled on 22.9 gr of IMR4895 with a COAL of 2.215. Well, last night we went out and I had an opportunity to take a red with the new rifle. I have to tell you, I was disappointed. The male red was 89 paces away when I shot. The shot went exactly where I aimed, just below the glowing eyes. The problem is, it just blew the face off of this fox and it did not die. Granted, it did not move from where it was standing after the shot, but we had to finish it off when we got up to it. I was honestly shocked that the bullet did not penetrate to the neck of the fox and kill it dead. Is my disappointment valid? I have shot 2 other fox with the 17 HMR (about the same distance) in the same place (just below the eyes) and they were dead before we got to them with only a tiny entry hole just above the nose. Is there something wrong with my load or am I simply expecting the impossible with the 17 remington? It seems like I need more penetration since I will be shooting through bone when I shoot them in the head. I was not dissapointed about the damage to the face, it was the fact that the bullet did not penetrate to the neck or head to kill the fox.
I apologize for the long first post. If anyone has any suggestions on a bullet that may penetrate better or a load that my do what I think it should do, that would be great. Or if I am simply out of my mind and the load performed as it should, please do not hesitate to let me know that as well. Thank in advance for you replies.

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