  In the frame of a systematical study of light ion induced nuclear reactions
on hafnium, activation cross sections for proton induced reactions were
investigated. Excitation functions were measured in the 38 to 65 MeV energy
range for the $^{nat}$Hf(p,xn)$^{180g,177,176,175,173}$Ta,
$^{nat}$Hf(p,x)$^{180m,179m,175,173,172,171}$Hf,
$^{177g,173,172,171,170,169}$Lu and $^{nat}$Hf(p,x)$^{169}$Yb reactions by
using the activation method, combining stacked foil irradiation and off line
gamma ray spectroscopy. The experimental results are compared with earlier
results in the overlapping energy range, and with the theoretical predictions
of the ALICE IPPE and EMPIRE theoretical codes and of the TALYS code reported
in the TENDL2015 and TENDL2017 libraries. The production routes of $^{172}$Lu
(and its parent $^{172}$Hf) and of $^{169Y}$b are reviewed.
