Is a shotgun or rifle better for hunting squirrels?
by 
Darth Belal
ANSWERS: 22
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A .22 cal.rifle with a scope is great to make a good clean shot with little damage to the meat or pelt. But a shotgun works better to get squirrels that are on the run, which is hard with a .22 rifle. A 20 ga. or 410 ga. shotgun works very well, but nearly any gauge will work.
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If you are beginning, begin with a .410 with #5 shot, use two people to walk very slowly along a stand of large old oaks, about 50 feet apart, looking up when not moving and looking at the ground and where you can step quietly when moving. In the beginning, hunt with your eyes (squirrels don't fly up), and after you learn the sounds associated with them, concentrate more on what you hear. When you can find squirrels by hearing, start practicing shooting a .22 at targets until you can reliably hit a target about the size of a quarter 5 out of six shots at 25 yards. Now take the .22 to the woods and try only for head shots. Since sometimes the critters just love to run and play with each other, the .410 is still handy. But when they stop and look at you, hitting them 'right between the eyes' with a .22 is a quick kill which harms no meat and is very satisfying hunting. If you haven't bought a squirrel gun, consider a combination .22/.410. They are less expensive than deer rifles, almost as light as either gun alone, and very easy to learn to shoot well with.
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In addition to the very sound advice above i would like to put forward a safety consideration. A rifle can dispatch a squirrel instantly and with no damage to the edible parts but the implicaion of a missing bullet (rifle) rather than shot pellets (shot gun) is potentially far greater. A responsible rifle shooter would never fire on a target where the back drop is open sky. Since squirrels reside primarily in trees this is nearly always a risk. One person every year in the US is killed by a falling bullet. One of the features of a shot gun which make it such a versatile weapon is that you can fire in to the sky safely and it is for this reason that i recommend a small-bore shot gun as the best squirrel hunting gun. I personally use a 20 bore and it is quite adequate for an instant kill every time without damaging the meat and, to me, not finding the odd piece of lead shot in a perfectly barbecued leg of squirrel just wouldn't be right.
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A shotgun just point and shoot. A squirrel is a pretty small target and it will probably not stand still for you to shoot it. A shotgun blast will spread giving you better percentage of making a kill.
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I use a Desert Eagle and try to get two shots into it real quick.....for stopping power. You want to make sure you bring it down fast, cause it if charges you - your life is on the line.
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Unless you are a real good aim with a moving target I would go for the shotgun..more likely to hit it with one :)
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My husband is of the one shot per animal rule and he's very accurate. He's an easy keeper as far as his ammo budget goes. A box lasts him decades it seems :-). He uses a .22 for small game. One small hole, no shot to pick out for me:-). But for most people, they usually go for the more 'broad approach, and use a shotgun. I guess if you just want it dead, go for that. If you want to find something left and eat it later, use a rifle.
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A shotgun is not sporting period. squirrels moving so what as long as your safe with a safe backstop and its legal in your regs to use rimfires ,then pop them.When they move on ground or up in tree tops make sure you have a safe angle and shoot at their nose.If you miss sometimes they will stop confused and you pop them.I like top pop them sometimes when they are in high gear again ,be safe . But shooting straight up in a tree shouldn't be a problem if your in a safe area because i have read before that bullets rimfire bullets are not usually lethal because thge speed with which they fall is not fast enough.If someone could verify this for me post it I'd be intrested to know for sure.It became so easy to hit squirrels about 5 years back i switched to a .22 pistol for awhile and I no one guy that has hunted them with a bow. Just be patient when still hunting wait wait wait no movement and nut trees = success . Oh and if its windy forget it. light rain off and on no problem especially early in the seasaon .If you have accuracy prolems -practice.Good Luck To All .
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It depends how good you are with a gun. If you suck you should use a shotgun. If you use a .22 cal. rifle shot placement is very important. Do you really want to have to shoot it 5 times? One shot, one kill. That's how it should be. He's already be giving his life for yours. Animals should have our respect. So if you can't hit the side of a barn or don't understand the aerodynamics of a bullet do the squirrel a favor and reach for the shotgun instead. You won't be feeling good when he's wriggling around wounded because your aim sucks. Good luck.
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I am an Aussie: can I ask what is the reason you shoot squirrels? You can't eat them.
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I'll pick the 22 rifle anytime. I don't like it when I bite into a lead pellet or two, at dinner.....LOL
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As long as you do not want to eat them a Shotgun.
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That would depend on whether you are a good hunter or a poor hunter, and also whether you prefer eating meat or shot.
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a rifle is a good way to get them, you are less likely to destroy the meat and or end up picking out shot
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A camera. Grow up.
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My father used a 45 ACP. Rifle on one once...not much of the little bastard left after that...
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If you can't hit them with a .22, you need practice. I shoot them all the time with a .22. Maybe you need a scope on your rifle.
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BEAGLES are best for hunting squirrels!...:-D.. . . .
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In a few places I have been hunting I felt I was too close to houses to use a .22 simply because a ricochet off a branch cannot be accounted for. Always know where your projectile will end up, be aware that a .22 LR can travel over one mile. Who knows who might pick up a nasty headache simply because a squirrel ran up a tree and you missed the head shot by one half inch. I prefer a shotgun and number 6 or 4 for that reason.
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A .22 cal would be great but a 410 shotgun is great for somebody with a bad shot
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I dont need a gun. Those little rats run right out on front of my car all the time. *Thunk*
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A shotgun is great if you don't mind picking shot out of your teeth. A quiet man who is a good shot will do better sitting at the base of a tree with a 22 and waiting for the squirrels to come to him. I knew a man who put 70 squirrels in his freezer every year that way.
- M.C.S. - Dave RELATED QUESTIONS
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