Squirrel hunting

Wingbone · November 2, 2005, 09:59 AM

HI guys,
I've hunted squirrel's in upstate NY with a scoped .22 and enjoyed it alot. Here in Suffolk County I'm limited to a shotgun. Here's my question, which one? I have several 12's with different actions and chokes,(will there be
anything left after a shot with a 12?), I have a .410 with a full choke and a .20 ga with imp. cyl. So, any advice from the shotgun/squirrel guru's? If it matters the .410 and .20 are bolt action mossbergs. Thanks,
Ken

Windjammer · November 2, 2005, 10:07 AM

If you interested in saving the meat, can you use an air rifle to hunt with? A .177 caliber pellet moving at 1000 fps will do a squirrel or rabbit.

I try to stay away from shotguns for squirrel because I do not like bitting a piece of shot while eating.

Steve499 · November 2, 2005, 10:20 AM

I'd probably start with the 410 and try to get the squirrels to peek around a limb or something if I could. It would be hard to make the change for me, too, because nothing works better than the old .22 for squirrels. But, if you have to, you have to! My Grandpa had to use his 12 gauge after his eyes got so he couldn't see the sights on his Steven's Crack Shot .22. (Rarely saw a scope in the 50's, no money for that stuff anyway) Sometimes you would bite down on a pellet but you WERE having squirrel!

Steve

Ohio Annie · November 2, 2005, 10:22 AM

I use a .410 with 2 1/2" #6 shot shells. works great.

jaymag · November 11, 2005, 08:05 PM

410 would be more fun!I have shot them with a 12ga. and it won't hurt the meat if your at 30 yards or so.Use 7 1/2 with 12ga.Or 6 shot with the 410.The 410 is perfect for little varmits.

butch50 · November 16, 2005, 01:57 PM

410, except for one thing, seems that 410 shells are more expensive than 12 or 20ga these days, so if cost is a factor..... Any of the three will work fine, but I use the 410 myself.

mete · November 16, 2005, 05:06 PM

I use a 12 with #4 shot no problem with blowing it away. The most challenging way to hunt them is to use a 22 pistol .

Mannlicher · November 27, 2005, 06:43 PM

years ago, I settled on a 20 GA with highbrass #6 shot for early season squirrels.

shureshot0471 · November 30, 2005, 05:10 PM

I have been hunting squirrels for a while and a 12 gauge with a #6 shot has never hurt any meat of mine o well I take that back the ones that are like 10 to 15 yards but that takes the challenge away from it there is nothing wrong with a 12 gauge to hunt squirrel

Vane · January 13, 2006, 09:36 PM

12 gauge improved cylinder 7 1/2 shot, works fine and no complaints from the wife about destroyed meat.
Have fun!

lil_bro · January 13, 2006, 10:26 PM

My .410 works great on the fuzzy little things and it does not mess up as much meat the 12ga.

Brandon_Lutz · January 13, 2006, 11:17 PM

I use a 12 Guage with 3 inch, #6 shot

I knock out from way up in the trees. I use a Winchester shell that they dont make anymore. I can't remember but I think it was Double X. Everything now is "Super". Those old ones though we bought several cases of before they quit making them. Been so long since I hunted squirrel, I'll have to go back and look at the case.

BIGR · January 14, 2006, 07:32 PM

Started when I was a boy using a Savage single shot .410. I killed many a squirrel with that shotgun. Later moved up to a Winchester 20 GA. pump. I have used a .22 rifle and that seemed to be more fun. I guess I have lost interest in squirrel hunting. I have not went squirrel hunting in 20 years. I am slipping bad.......When I was a teenager I couldn't wait til squirrel season opened in October.

squirrelboy18 · January 14, 2006, 09:57 PM

I have been shooting squirrels for years with a high powered pellet gun (73 of the evil fuzzballs are in the great acorn place in the sky). I just bought a .22 so I will be going with that now. As for a shotgun, I've only shot at one squirrel when it was 150 yards off(I didn't know better back then).

mdbuckle · January 15, 2006, 09:55 AM

I have an over surplus of old 30-30 ammo. So I take my Winchester lever action out in search of the little buggers. I do not eat them, I just have so much fun hunting them. It is very good practice too!

Gary Conner · January 18, 2006, 05:31 PM

If they are cat squirrels, (grey squirrels) then a 16 gauge, full choke shooting number 6 shot with high velocity loads is the ticket.

Pellet guns are okay on Fox squirrels (Red squirrels) that will sit still and bark at you, while you are aiming at them with a .22 or a pellet gun, but Cat Squirrels will usually run across the treetop canopy as soon as they know you are there, and hide quickly, so they are harder to kill with a rifl or a pellet gun than a Fox Squirrel is.

I've always had excellent luck with my model 12 Winchester 28 inch barrel, .16gauge loaded with no. 6 shot. It will shoot through some of the small branches, etc. that cat squirrels will hide behind, and it sure brings em down.

As far as the shot being a problem when you are eating the meat, the shot usually isn't a big problem if you check for it when you are cleaning your squirrels, and it usually is right on the top of the meat.

Anyway, hope this helps some.

November 2, 2005, 09:59 AM	#1
Wingbone Senior Member Join Date: September 23, 2005 Posts: 136	Squirrel hunting HI guys, I've hunted squirrel's in upstate NY with a scoped .22 and enjoyed it alot. Here in Suffolk County I'm limited to a shotgun. Here's my question, which one? I have several 12's with different actions and chokes,(will there be anything left after a shot with a 12?), I have a .410 with a full choke and a .20 ga with imp. cyl. So, any advice from the shotgun/squirrel guru's? If it matters the .410 and .20 are bolt action mossbergs. Thanks, Ken

November 2, 2005, 10:07 AM	#2
Windjammer Member Join Date: September 28, 2005 Location: Eastern North Carolina Posts: 83	Air Rifle If you interested in saving the meat, can you use an air rifle to hunt with? A .177 caliber pellet moving at 1000 fps will do a squirrel or rabbit. I try to stay away from shotguns for squirrel because I do not like bitting a piece of shot while eating. __________________ "I am completely out of ammo... that's never happened to me before." --- Burt Gummer

November 11, 2005, 08:05 PM	#5
jaymag Senior Member Join Date: October 4, 2005 Location: springfield,MA Posts: 239	410 or 12ga don't matter 410 would be more fun!I have shot them with a 12ga. and it won't hurt the meat if your at 30 yards or so.Use 7 1/2 with 12ga.Or 6 shot with the 410.The 410 is perfect for little varmits.

November 27, 2005, 06:43 PM	#8
Mannlicher Senior Member Join Date: July 8, 2001 Location: North Central Florida & Miami Posts: 3,209	years ago, I settled on a 20 GA with highbrass #6 shot for early season squirrels. __________________ Nemo Me Impune Lacesset "The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so.".........Ronald Reagan

January 13, 2006, 09:36 PM	#10
Vane Junior Member Join Date: May 26, 2005 Location: Germany (Military) Posts: 13	12 gauge improved cylinder 7 1/2 shot, works fine and no complaints from the wife about destroyed meat. Have fun! __________________ You live to serve the boat, serve well and live! Socialism kills freedom... Your right to swing your fist ends when it connects with someone else's nose.

November 2, 2005, 10:20 AM	#3
Steve499 Senior Member Join Date: December 14, 2004 Location: Central Missouri Posts: 533	I'd probably start with the 410 and try to get the squirrels to peek around a limb or something if I could. It would be hard to make the change for me, too, because nothing works better than the old .22 for squirrels. But, if you have to, you have to! My Grandpa had to use his 12 gauge after his eyes got so he couldn't see the sights on his Steven's Crack Shot .22. (Rarely saw a scope in the 50's, no money for that stuff anyway) Sometimes you would bite down on a pellet but you WERE having squirrel! Steve

November 2, 2005, 10:22 AM	#4
Ohio Annie Senior Member Join Date: August 10, 2004 Location: Ohio Posts: 351	I use a .410 with 2 1/2" #6 shot shells. works great. __________________ Annie @8-) Maker of fine GSR since 1998

November 16, 2005, 01:57 PM	#6
butch50 Senior Member Join Date: April 15, 2005 Location: Republic of Texas Posts: 1,403	410, except for one thing, seems that 410 shells are more expensive than 12 or 20ga these days, so if cost is a factor..... Any of the three will work fine, but I use the 410 myself. __________________ ‘‘Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest.’’ ~ Mahatma Ghandi, "Gandhi, An Autobiography", page 446 ‘‘The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able may have a gun.’’ ~ Patrick Henry

November 16, 2005, 05:06 PM	#7
mete Senior Member Join Date: June 14, 2004 Location: NY State Posts: 6,575	I use a 12 with #4 shot no problem with blowing it away. The most challenging way to hunt them is to use a 22 pistol .

November 30, 2005, 05:10 PM	#9
shureshot0471 Senior Member Join Date: October 1, 2005 Location: In the sticks of East Texas Posts: 185	I have been hunting squirrels for a while and a 12 gauge with a #6 shot has never hurt any meat of mine o well I take that back the ones that are like 10 to 15 yards but that takes the challenge away from it there is nothing wrong with a 12 gauge to hunt squirrel

January 13, 2006, 10:26 PM	#11
lil_bro Senior Member Join Date: November 26, 2004 Location: Oklahoma. Posts: 396	My .410 works great on the fuzzy little things and it does not mess up as much meat the 12ga. __________________ "I reject your reality and substitute my own." -Adam Savage- "Mythbusters."

January 13, 2006, 11:17 PM	#12
Brandon_Lutz Member Join Date: September 9, 2005 Location: Saint Landry, Louisiana Posts: 28	I use a 12 Guage with 3 inch, #6 shot I knock out from way up in the trees. I use a Winchester shell that they dont make anymore. I can't remember but I think it was Double X. Everything now is "Super". Those old ones though we bought several cases of before they quit making them. Been so long since I hunted squirrel, I'll have to go back and look at the case.

January 14, 2006, 07:32 PM	#13
BIGR Senior Member Join Date: June 13, 2000 Location: Mountains Posts: 1,385	Started when I was a boy using a Savage single shot .410. I killed many a squirrel with that shotgun. Later moved up to a Winchester 20 GA. pump. I have used a .22 rifle and that seemed to be more fun. I guess I have lost interest in squirrel hunting. I have not went squirrel hunting in 20 years. I am slipping bad.......When I was a teenager I couldn't wait til squirrel season opened in October.

January 14, 2006, 09:57 PM	#14
squirrelboy18 Member Join Date: January 10, 2006 Location: Columbia, SC Posts: 26	I have been shooting squirrels for years with a high powered pellet gun (73 of the evil fuzzballs are in the great acorn place in the sky). I just bought a .22 so I will be going with that now. As for a shotgun, I've only shot at one squirrel when it was 150 yards off(I didn't know better back then). __________________ Jered Gebel, 18, Eagle Scout of Troop 26 "Peace through superior firepower" Please visit my computer repair site, http://home.sc.rr.com/jeredscomputers

January 15, 2006, 09:55 AM	#15
mdbuckle Member Join Date: January 5, 2006 Location: Corner Brook, Newfoundland Posts: 23	I have an over surplus of old 30-30 ammo. So I take my Winchester lever action out in search of the little buggers. I do not eat them, I just have so much fun hunting them. It is very good practice too!

January 18, 2006, 05:31 PM	#16
Gary Conner Senior Member Join Date: September 29, 2005 Posts: 440	cat squirrels, or fox squirrels? If they are cat squirrels, (grey squirrels) then a 16 gauge, full choke shooting number 6 shot with high velocity loads is the ticket. Pellet guns are okay on Fox squirrels (Red squirrels) that will sit still and bark at you, while you are aiming at them with a .22 or a pellet gun, but Cat Squirrels will usually run across the treetop canopy as soon as they know you are there, and hide quickly, so they are harder to kill with a rifl or a pellet gun than a Fox Squirrel is. I've always had excellent luck with my model 12 Winchester 28 inch barrel, .16gauge loaded with no. 6 shot. It will shoot through some of the small branches, etc. that cat squirrels will hide behind, and it sure brings em down. As far as the shot being a problem when you are eating the meat, the shot usually isn't a big problem if you check for it when you are cleaning your squirrels, and it usually is right on the top of the meat. Anyway, hope this helps some.