Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Small Game 22lr for Squirrel

Didn’t think about FMJ. Makes sense.

Those do amazingly well on hogs. Also FMJ in the .17 HMR.

DF

Yup, there is only one proper way to wack squirrels, head shots and 40gr solids(my 10/22 likes the old Winchester Wildcat stuff). I know guys that favor a 20ga for squirrels, not a fan of picking out shot of my squirrel stew.

I don't have any...


but I just spent some time working up ( down?) a load in my .222 that mimics a 22 mag, velocity wise...plan on bonking some squirrels with it....

I'll take chest shots any time and I'll kill 6 squirrels to your 3 while you're waiting to arrange a head shot. I can't count the number of squirrels I've shot that I couldn't even see their heads. Surely that number would be in the hundreds, maybe even thousands by now. I have no beef with anyone who only wants to shoot heads but you are significantly reducing the number of squirrels you'll be taking in a season by doing so and I simply have no desire to do that.

I hunt a little thicket for deer.
It's got houses around and tons of squirrels.
Shotgun would be the choice if shooting from the ground up into the trees.
I think a .22 rifle, sitting in a stand shooting ones on the ground a better idea.

Yeah, if I'm hunting in a State forest with nothing but woods for miles around it's rifle time. If in a small farm woodlot with houses in every direction it's time for a shotgun or air rifle. I do have some damn good squirrel woods on farm land and I kill alot of squirrels there with a shotgun every year. Safe use of a rifle there would be very limited as to the shots you could take.

I doubt that I've shot more than a dozen or so fox squirrels with a .22 LR since I got my first 17HM2 in 2007. If there is a perfect fit of cartridge and game, I think that the 17HM2 and tree squirrels would be the poster child.

Stalk 'em, squeak at 'em, shot 'em in the head, and hope that you remember where they fell to Earth while you're waiting for the next one to offer a shot.

Ain't no sin in hunting them with a shotgun.

Sometimes that can be a real challenge.

DF

It can indeed!

22lr & squirrels = peas & carrots

Early season while the leaves are thick on the trees, a .22 can be tough, at least for me.

I'm thinking about trying my 28 ga. Ithaca 37 with #6 this coming season. Light gun, not a lot of shot, full choke should blast them out of the thick stuff.

DF

I've had squirrels barking at me while on a deer stand.

So, this is now in my pack. Good for coons, too.

And quiet doesn't hurt. A close deer may hear it, but the sound won't carry that far.

DF

Buncha snobs.



JC Higgins 16 gauge.

If your experience with bolt action shotguns is the same as mine, you really need that thick recoil pad.

Squirrel hunted with a friends Rem 1100 in 28ga last year. With #6s you'll do fine out to 30 yards or so.

12, 16 and 20 ga. are all good. I switch back and forth between the three. .410's not so hot in tall timber. Never tried a 28.

28 kicks like a .410, kills like a 20.

Never owned a 16, have plenty of 20's and 12's, reload for all three.

I have three 28's, the Ithaca pictured, a 1100 and a Merkel O/U, which is more of a bird gun than a squirrel gun.

DF

Surprises me you don't have a 16. The perfect gauge for a SXS double IMO. 12 gauge SXS looks like a blunderbuss and 20's look like a cork gun.