10Glocks I would never tell a feller how to hunt. If it's legal and makes him happy good on him then. But I've been hunting squirrels for over 50 years in a part of the country where squirrel hunting is a long time honored family tradition and I have never heard anybody use that line of thinking for using a shotgun. Your thoughts are exactly opposite of every squirrel hunter I know, and I know bunch of them.
Here, it is shotguns in the early season when the squirrels are constantly on the move in trees with a lot of cover and shots tend to be close. It's easier to sneak close in the early season with all that leaf cover and squirrels tend to be preoccupied with the early mast crop constantly running around and always on the move. A lot of guys use the .410 or 20 gauge with a load of #4,5,6 and a modified or full choke. Shots at this time of year are moving squirrels and under 30 yards for the most part.
Later when the leaves are down and visibility is much further the rifles take over. Now squirrels are on the ground a lot and shots tend to stretch out there to 40,50 or even longer yardages. They are harder to sneak close to when the cover is gone and the dry fallen leaves are like walking on bags of potato chips. An accurate scoped rimfire rifle makes sniping squirrels with headshots at longer range possible and a very fun game.
I'm at a point in my squirrel hunting that early in the season I either use a .22 handgun like my old S&W K22 or my Ruger Hunter semi auto. Or my very favorite is my old Marlin M39A lever action with a peep sight. That old Marlin just seems "right" in the big timber. Later when the leaves are down, accurate scoped bolt actions or my Ruger 10/22 Custom Shop Competition semi auto gets the duty.
Have fun doing it your way but you are 180 out from anyone I know. Not that that is bad, however it is different than most in my experience.
