Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Small Game Any shame in squirrel hunting with a shotgun???

I mostly hunt squirrels with a .22 , even with the 20 grain super colibri round. My 12 year old took one yesterday at about 25 yards with that round. For safety on my farm near town I am going to have him use a 410 pump. We used to use shotguns all the time when I was a kid. I am just wondering if many still use a shotgun? Also how far do you think the little 20 grain super colibri will travel at 500 fps (poor ballistic coef). I am guessing about 300 to 400 yards??

dogdoc

I see no shame in it and use a shotgun most times I hunt squirrels. Most of my squirrel hunting is in the early season and I prefer the shotgun then. Later in the year, with fewer leaves is when I usually start using a .22.

BTW, a .410 with 3" #4s or #5s works great on squirrels!

i used to use a remington 1100 20 gauge all the time to squirrel hunt when i was younger ive killed a ton of them with it so i see no shame in it i mostly use a .22 now just because i prefer to head shoot them so i dont have to pick the buckshot out of them

I use a 16 gauge this time of year because the leaves are still so thick and the grays are wild as heck.

Shotguns makes cleaning messy and eating sometimes pellet-y, but whatever works.

Leaves on trees can be an advantage. Use them as cover.




Went deer hunting this morning, but got bored....

Ella

In a populated area such as you describe, I would be ashamed to shoot up in trees with a rifle. I wouldn't be ashamed to shoot squirrel with a shotgun in the boondocks either, but the situation you describe was absolutely made for a .410. Go for it!

I envy you that boy btw. Good times.

Shotgun is not only safer but you will probably find that you have far less chance of wounding and losing squirrels. I use number 4 shot in any gauge. Those larger bbs are way easier to pick out and they usually fall out when you skin em.

We are taking the kids out for the annual squirrel camp weekend starting tomorrow. Normally I just sit back with the MKII pistol and let the kids hit or miss with their single shot .410's. This year we have a must eat what you kill last meal on Saturday night. I'll be carrying the wifes Mossberg 500E in .410 this year and backing up their shots and taking the longer pokes. I'm a healthy eater . When the leaves are down and there isn't so much pressure, I prefer a rimfire here in the mountains.

there's no shame in hunting squirrels with a shotgun. i started out borrowing my Grandpa's 20 guage Stevens bolt action, single shot.

using high-power number 4's it'd knock the harriest buck squirrel in the woods out of a near 100 yellow poplar when he was curled up at the top soaking in the last of the day's sunshine.

but, .22 are more fun, but have long since stopped shooting up into trees with them, because of housing density now. for me, it has become a safety issue.

having a .22 round drop down on a roof and then roll into a gutter can be disconcerting to a homeowner outside raking leaves on a beautiful fall day.

Nope, no shame at all. Matter a fact, later on, and if I'm hunting with someone, it's safer. Especially if they are on the ground.


maddog

.22's are great when it's safe to use 'em and that is a good point you guys brought up.

For me a .36 BP rifle is a heck of a lot of fun during squirrel season after the leaves start dropping. A .32 might be better but I don't have one and the little .36 works fine and luckily is at it's most accurate with light powder charges.

A pound of black goes a long way in this little rascal.

You guys with safety issues might consider a .22 or even .177 pellet rifle for squirreling. .177's to the head and body are deadly and the pellets are going to fall too lightly to be a danger.

You hunt squirrels with buckshot? How big do they grow where you hunt?

I hunted with a shotgun until my wife (whose dad always hunted with at 22) bit onto a piece of shot and hurt her tooth. She told me not to bring home anymore squirrels shot with a shotgun.
I replied that there wouldnt be anymore squirrels.
She told me to shoot them with a 22, like her dad did.
I explained the old 22 I had was not accurate enough.
She said to go buy a 22 that was accurate and I did, bout 30 years ago.

Gotta love that woman!

I like a .22 better after the leaves are gone, but I'll use a shotgun when necessary (early season, or when mandated by regs).

I grew up with one of the Marlin 60s firmly clenched in my squirrel-killin' fists, and probably shot more with it than I have with a shotgun.

I have my 12YO son use his .410 barrel on his Rossi. I feel much better knowing he is using shot and not a .22 that can go for a long ways. I use my Ruger .32 single six, but I only shoot at squirrels on the ground as I dont care if I get anything. He is shooting both at the ground and into the trees so I feel it is much safer.

Went last weekend for our annual "Squirrel Camp". We drag the kids around National Forest and piss off bowhunters for a weekend every year. Its a good time and we teach them woodsman skills, hunting skills, how to prep what they kill and cook it. We managed to scratch out 11 limb chickens this go round and scout some old deer hunting areas. My little shooting partner was off his game and shot about $10 worth of .410 shells to bring back one tiny squirrel. He shot under everything this weekend. We cleaned them up, pressure cooked them in chicken stock, pulled the meat and cooked it in water, Golden mushroom soup, and milk. No leftovers after that meal. One I had to shoot running on a follow up to my quick draw partners leaf scattering . Wifes Mossberg 500E in .410 full choke. Still have to aim like it is a rifle for the closer shots.

That Harrisonburg country is some beautiful country..glad there is still lots of game..

It has been many a moon since I have used a shotgun on squirrel, but this thread inspired me.



Even went retro with an old box of Super X

no shame at all. i really enjoy hunting with my vintage shotguns for squirrel. i just don't shoot many with them because it peppers them too bad. one of these days when i can afford it, i want to buy a win 42 and use it for squirrels. but they are out of my budget range these days.

I love to hunt squirrels, period. While I most often use a .22 rifle, I have killed many squirrels with various shotguns. Once a season, I take the old Winchester single shot 16 gauge that was my Grandfather's out for a hunt. Be safe with whatever gun that you are hunting with. Enjoy the hunt.

No shame in shooting squirrels with a shotgun. Shotgun or air rifle is the only responsible thing to do in more populated area's.

On the WMA's I hunt most require the use of a shotgun. Glad you like to "piss off" the bowhunters who have made several trips from home to set up in a good spot to bow hunt for deer then on opening weekend a group of first timers come out and shoot up the trees. Real cool. I feel the WMA's should be closed to small game hunters during the first two weeks of bow season.

[bleep] the bowhunters. I pay as much for my license as they do and have just as much right to be out there. Small game seasons also existed long before bow seasons so it's bow hunters who are encroaching on small gamers, not the other way around. That being said, if I know there is a bowhunter in the area I will go somewhere else so as not to disturb his hunt. It's the ones you don't know are there and give you schit for ruining their hunt that get my dander up.

This ^^^^^^^

I bow hunt and yet totally agree with you. Nobody is entitled to special privilege on public ground. As a group I don't know any other single one group that are bigger whiners overall than bow hunters.

Gotta agree about the whining....this coming from a former bow hunter. I actually [out of courtesy] knock off squirrel hunting some of my woods, when the tree stands go up for bow season, here in Indiana.


maddog

Back to the OP. Nope...

I am overun with Squirrel's, so I shoot a lot of them on my property every year during the season. I use a little Rossi convertible barrel rifle. It has two barrels. A .410 and a .22 LR. The whole package weighs about 5 lbs. I can switch barrels in a minute, and for the tree rats that climb to the top I use the .22 barrel If they just stay low or try the old hide-behind the tree trick, I use the .410. If I shoot 30 or 40 in a season, next year there are another 30-40. Can't figure out how they can reproduce so fast. I give them away to friends who enjoy them. They are great to eat. I see no shame in using any weapon that will do them in without massacreing them so the meat is wasted.

Can't figure out how they can reproduce so fast.


Its called reproduction.....

I've still got my first gun, Ithica super single. That .410 is a squirrel killer. With #4's I can hit 'em in the head.

Since I usually do most of my hunting in the early season, I end up using a 16 or 20 ga with #5s. Too many people around anymore to use a 22.

Well yes. If you miss.

I agree Blackheart. One weekend a year out of an already too long 5 week archery season is not much to ask. And before you fall off your soap box Palidun, I am and have been a bowhunter for a long time and have had squirrel hunters, wood cutters, campers, dogs, hikers, bikers, and anything else you can imagine come by me while in a treestand. More important than worrying about the chance of upsetting a person or two on "public land" that I pay almost $150 a year to use through license fees is the teaching of a group of young kids to be careful and hunt clean and use what they take.

The whole piss off the bowhunters comment is tongue in cheek because without fail, some high and mighty elitist string puller gives me crap about a .410 or 22LR shot he heard and how it affected his carefully placed stand 100yds from the road when I am half mile away making a single shot. We avoid areas with vehicles parked for safety reasons, but the elitist will have you believe they deserve a 5 sq. mile radius to maintain the integrity of their stand . Hell one year I came out of my bowstand after seeing more deer than I ever have on a single sit to find a marathon checkpoint and refreshment station at my vehicle. I kept hearing them all morning and didn't know what was going on. They probably drove the deer to me . Last year a bowhunter we walked up on later thanked me for taking the kids hunting and teaching them right when we saw him leaving for the day. We apologized, but it was no big deal to him. Shame everybody doesn't get it.

I have to agree with the complaints about bowhunters' attitudes toward small game hunters. I have been inquiring around about squirrel hunting locally on private land. What I have been hearing from a number of local landowners is something like "Well, I let 'Joe' bowhunt for deer back in there, and he doesn't want anyone else walking around in there". Meaning for a couple of months before bow season.

The first time I heard this, I assumed that the landowner just didn't want to give me permission to hunt squirrels on his land, and was shifting the blame onto Bowhunter Joe, but after I had heard it a couple more times from different landowners who had different bowhunters hunting on their land, I realized just how possessive bowhunters get about the areas they have permission to hunt.
As bowhunting has increased in popularity here in Illinois, it has gotten harder to find places to hunt small game.

I mostly use a 20 gauge for all of my small game hunting. 5's or 6's and a modified choke.

Dan

Deer season lasts from mid-September to January in Missouri, when you add up the bow, firearms, and black powder seasons. Small game season lasts even longer, but I'm not giving up the entire autumn.

On the other hand, those long seasons mean we coexist with much less friction than the stuff you are describing.

And that is exactly why you are seeing a drop off in hunter recruitment.

No one has anywhere to small game hunt as an entry level to hunting anymore because of the entitled bowhunters.

It amazes me to see the measures these guys take to have the woods all to themselves and then the audacity to tell me how much better of a hunter they are than I am.

Hell, I could probably kill a deer with a rock if no one else was ever in the woods that I hunted.

I always thought the old 410 single shot was the best squirrel huntin rig out there...

Depends on how tall your trees are. Around here, a .410 won't dependably take limb chickens out of the top of a tall hickory if you're shooting straight up from the base of it.

As to the OP:

I sure hope not. I have a young 'un to introduce to harvesting limbrats this June season, and I think a shotgun might be easier for him to reliably hit with. Also, a box of .22 ammo here is rarer than an honest politician, which is to say I haven't seen any for a very very long time.

In our family, if you a squirrel other than with a .22 and in the head you are laughed at.

Dogdoc, my dad started me out with a 410 single shot also. I was so excited when I got it I could hardly stand still. Not much instructions about leading game but off I went. I killed exactly one squirrel with that gun. Most of the time they were in the tree tops. If it was me I would start a youngster out with a 20ga. Of course, my opinion based on my experience

My ancient Savage .22 over 410 was the squirrel gun for the whole family. My step-mom thought that it made a great bat gun too. When she saw bats hanging on the beams in the summer kitchen she would slip in either a cb cap or a 22 LR shot round to make sure that she didn't blow a hole in the roof - then whack the little buggers that peed and crapped up in the old oak beams.

Terry

When I just want to walk the woods, take shot of opportunity, I take my .22. When I want a mess of squirrels, I take my shotgun.

RE: starting a kid out, I got a 20 ga. for my son. Had I been
able to find one I would have gotten a 28ga.

I have found those Colibri 22 ammos are pretty poor for accuracy. Match a five shot group at 25 yards with some Remington sub sonic and you will see a 1" group vs a 6" group.

I have killed a lot more squirrels with a shotgun than 22. No shame too it.

During the Tennessee Spring squirrel season, I plan to carry a shotgun rather than my beloved .22 rifle. Squirrel hunting ought to be fun. Use what you want, or what you have. Enjoy the experience, and eat the squirrels.

My first gun was a new Ithaca Super Single 20 gauge, Modified choke, that did a fine job with 1-ounce field loads of number 6 shot on rabbit, squirrel and quail. I hunted on public hunting grounds and a few family farms, so the opportunity to use a .22 rifle didn't exist. Since I could afford only one gun, and I could hunt with a few friendly folks, I just enjoyed my occasional hunts. It was a good way to start my apprenticeship as a hunter and as a reloader.

Considering Squirrel season is year round here and bow season only lasts 4 weeks I don't see I am asking too much for a 9 day break in the tree shooting. Another annoyance is that since there are small game hunters in the area we must wear blaze orange which does not make good camouflage. That said I usually hunt squirrels in January and February simply to let the deer hunters have a break, just making an effort to be reasonable.