Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Small Game 2022 Squirrel Season

Thanks for relating your experiences. I've been hunting squirrels for nearly 50 years myself and started out with a shotgun then graduated to a .22 at about 12 or so. I only use a shotgun occassionally but have a new one I will be using this season.

I've read the articles and listened to the justifications and understand the rationale for a shotgun in heavy foliage and if some people prefer it, hey, good for them. I no longer do. I've hunted squirrels both ways and prefer the way I do it now. It has a lot of advantages.

I almost never take a shot at a squirrel I can't see well enough to hit with a .22. I've seen shotgun hunters watch the tops of hickories and oaks for shaking branches, catch a glimpse of a squirrel, then fire into the shaking foilage hoping for a hit. Or I've seen them take shots at scurrying squirrels hoping their shot will penetrate whatever they are shooting through. I've seen a lot of squirrels wounded from poor shooting, or trying to shoot through foilage. Wounding occassionally happens no matter what you use. But shotguns used poorly tend to be worse at it, especially if you're using light loads and fine shot. So I don't hunt them that way. I've never really had a problem waiting until a squirrel is visible and still enough to take with a .22 (thus the reason I almost always hunt with a .22 regardless of the time of year).

When the foliage is down, you have better visibility up high, and more light down low. And squirrels aren't always on the ground at that point. Often times, they do retreat to the trees and they are scurrying along branches. And the shots aren't as hampered by foilage that can suck the energy out of already weak pellets. I've taken countless squirrels from the trees when all the leaves and mast are on the ground.

As far as squirrels on the ground, I'm not sure where you hunt, but there is scarcely a difference here between the forest floor when the foliage up high is full and when it has all fallen. Except for lighting and leaf litter depth, it's virtually the same. Yes, there is an occassional young beech that has green leaves out near the ground that may block a view here or there, or a low holly that has green leaves year round, but for the most part, in mature hardwood stands, the forest floor is equally open regardless of the time of year. And the young beech trees tend to hold their leaves even after they turned brown and often times don't start dropping them until they are getting ready to sprout new foliage. YMMV.

On the ground, I rarely take a shot past 30 yards or so because in many cases, it's hard to see that far - an not because of foliage. It's because the mature trees are often times thick, there are fallen trees, and younger trees just don't make being able to see much further than that possible. When the foliage is on the trees and blocking a lot of light, it can be dark in the woods even at midday. A scoped .22 makes picking off squirrels on the ground easier. When the foliage is off, and there is more light on the ground, nailing them with a shotgun is easier.

The way I have settled on hunting squirrels, a shotgun and rifle are fairly interchangeable. I'm shooting at what I can see well no matter what I use. I'm not shooting at glimpses of squirrels in shaking foliage. If I'm shooting at a moving squirrel, I prefer a shotgun, but I'm only shooting at a moving squirrel I can see well. And I can see them best when the foliage is down. When the foliage is up and I'm hunting dark woods, I want a scope. On the ground, when the wooids are bright, it doesn't much matter since I'm typically not shooting beyond shotgun range with a shotgun or a .22. I've reduced wounding doing it this way, notwithstanding the one I wounded a week or so ago that I didn't find. And I am taking as many, or more, squirrels than I did hunting the old way.

I understand convention and often times when someone hears something that goes against what they've always know there is resistance to it. But I've done it both ways and find no disadvantage to using a shotgun late in the season if you hunt the way that makes it effective. And I've found advntages - a reduction in bad shots being one. In fact, I've known people that didn't own a .22 at all and only hunted with shotgun through the entire season and had no problems limiting. There's plenty of squirrels and it'ss not that hard and can be both enjoyable and very productive. What's that old saying? Don't knock it till you try it.