Advice getting started on squirrel

[SuburbanWoodsman]

Never thought about calling… gonna keep that in mind myself

 

[doc holiday13]

I am also new to squirrel hunting (only deer hunted). In your opinion, Is it possible to squirrel hunt with a 12g or is it just to much?

Its fine. I used 12g for over a decade but carrying 50rds of 1.125 oz and a 8# gun up the holler/down the holler would wear me out. My 28g is 3# less and 50 rounds of 28g is 1# less than 50 of 12g. Not to mention lower recoil and fewer pellets to pick out of the squirrel

 

[Buffalotears]

Its fine. I used 12g for over a decade but carrying 50rds of 1.125 oz and a 8# gun up the holler/down the holler would wear me out. My 28g is 3# less and 50 rounds of 28g is 1# less than 50 of 12g. Not to mention lower recoil and fewer pellets to pick out of the squirrel

I hadn’t thought about the weight difference. That all makes sense. Thanks for the insight!

 

[Ditt44]

A 12-gauge is fine but a bit heavy in both weight to carry and shot/pattern up close. If you can put in choke tubes for a "full" pattern, I would do that and use 2 3/4 inch shells...low brass #6. If I'm all-around small game hunting, I carry my father's 1920 era Winchester Model 12. Light weight and still deadly.

A better option in shotguns, and should be fairly cheap, is a full-choke .410 in any variation with 3-inch shells of #6. That's my favorite shotgun for squirrels mainly because it was my first ... a Western Field three-shot bolt action that weighs almost nothing. It was made around 1950 I think and my dad got it for me when I was ten; I'm now 56 and it's as fun as ever, even for shooting clay birds. Now days I am into using small-bore muzzle loaders for squirrel, .32 and .36 calibers