Author |
Message |
naildriver
|
Post subject: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 7:30 pm |
|
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:26 pm Posts: 323 Location: Southern Illinois
|
What is your favorite squirrel caliber/load combination or combinations ? Mine would be 17 mach 2/eley 17 gr - 17hmr/ horandy 17 gr - 22cal / winchester 40 gr power points. Just currious what the favorites out there are.
|
|
Top |
|
 |
three feathers
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 8:49 pm |
|
Presentation Grade |
 |
Joined: Sun Nov 23, 2003 12:21 am Posts: 643 Location: tennessee
|
.22 LR-HV
_________________ Three Feathers
|
|
Top |
|
 |
Colonel26
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2010 8:57 pm |
|
*Proud to be a* |
 |
Joined: Tue Dec 16, 2008 10:18 pm Posts: 3978 Location: Kentucky
|
I haven't squirrel hunted in years, but when I was a kid we always used full choked 20ga shotguns with 6 shot. But most of the old timers around here talk about using full choke 410's loaded with 4 shot. It must have worked, they didn't starve to death and for most of them hunting was about eating and not sport. I just might have to get me a 410 now that I think about it and try it myself.
_________________ “There are things in the old Book which I may not be able to explain, but I fully accept it as the infallible word of God, and receive its teachings as inspired by the Holy Spirit.” Robert E. Lee
|
|
Top |
|
 |
Tal/IL
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 11:06 am |
|
Moderator |
 |
 |
Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2003 9:14 pm Posts: 2396 Location: 35 miles from Normal, Illinois (as close to normal as I'll ever be)
|
I wouldn't expect the hot-rod 17 cals to be very useful for squirrel hunting, assuming you plan to salvage some meat. My experience has been that, even with head shots, the hyper velocity cals do excessive damage. My favorite squirrel hunting cartridge is Win .22LR Target - Standard Velocity. But, nearly all my squirrel hunting is done with a 32 cal percussion squirrel rifle any more.
_________________ "The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding." - Justice Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941)
|
|
Top |
|
 |
JNS
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 12:42 pm |
|
Joined: Tue Jun 09, 2009 12:06 am Posts: 84 Location: Wisconsin
|
Cheap .22LR and .17 pellets have been all I've used so far. .22 works best IMHO. Soon to try my 12ga. w/ #4 and #6 shot hopefully. .17 cal. cf rifles never looked too good to me. Too expensive to shoot. Edit: but then again the 12ga. doesn't sound much cheaper.
_________________ "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin
|
|
Top |
|
 |
naildriver
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 7:16 pm |
|
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:26 pm Posts: 323 Location: Southern Illinois
|
Tal, I do try to salvage all the meat with the exception of the head so thats where I shoot them, I have not experienced excessive meat loss when I do my job. Every so often I lose a front leg if the angle of the shot is not good.Thanks for your post and I'm glad to hear your hunting with the 32 percussion, are you trying for head shots with that?
|
|
Top |
|
 |
lossking
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 9:00 pm |
|
*Proud to be a* |
 |
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 7:25 pm Posts: 9559 Location: Louisiana
|
22 Long Rifle high velocity 38-40 grain hollow points, 22 magnum 40 grain full metal jackets and 2 3/4" 20 gauge 1 oz. number 5s.
|
|
Top |
|
 |
naildriver
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 9:43 pm |
|
Joined: Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:26 pm Posts: 323 Location: Southern Illinois
|
lossking, great choices, some public ground around here is shotgun only and occasionally I hunt with someone that likes squirrel brains, in both cases I've had very good results with the 1oz of 5's.
|
|
Top |
|
 |
lossking
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 11:52 am |
|
*Proud to be a* |
 |
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 7:25 pm Posts: 9559 Location: Louisiana
|
naildriver, undoubtedly there are several excellent shotshells for squirrels but, like you, I've found that particular 20 gauge load to be one of the best.
|
|
Top |
|
 |
Tal/IL
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 5:39 pm |
|
Moderator |
 |
 |
Joined: Sat Jun 28, 2003 9:14 pm Posts: 2396 Location: 35 miles from Normal, Illinois (as close to normal as I'll ever be)
|
Quote: ....with the 32 percussion, are you trying for head shots.... Of course!!
_________________ "The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding." - Justice Louis D. Brandeis (1856-1941)
|
|
Top |
|
 |
lossking
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 2:43 pm |
|
*Proud to be a* |
 |
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 7:25 pm Posts: 9559 Location: Louisiana
|
|
Top |
|
 |
geometric
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 8:28 pm |
|
Joined: Tue Jun 15, 2004 11:55 am Posts: 5648 Location: Hemingway, S.C. 29554
|
Tal/IL, I had .32 muzzle loader like yours & it was very accurate but I couldn't deal with the stock. It was a pretty little thing but to me it was about as comfortable to shoot as a pitchfork with a barrel taped to it! I hope yours fits you better than mine fit me. I sold it. I now shoot squirrels with a left handed bolt action CZ. It is most accurate with plain .22 LR ammo so thats what I feed it. When I am hunting with a shotgun it is a 20 ga. Elsie with 7/8 oz. #6 reloads. I had a SXS .410 Stevens when I was a kid. I always used 6's regardless of what shotgun I was shooting. The .410 was a great little squirrel gun & I killed a ton of bushytails with it but it was a lot easier to hit anything flying with the Elsie. That was back before plastic hulls & wads so the .410 shells were loaded with a full 3/4 oz. of shot. The 7/8 oz. 20 ga. load is at least twice as effective as the .410 but I regret selling that gun. Head shots are the way to go with the .22. Any .22 cal. bullet through the head is more than potent enough to kill any squirrel so I go with what is the most accurate. I guess every rifle is different. The bore is so tight I had to buy a .17 cal. rod to clean it. A .22 cal. rod won't fit down the barrel. I tried all the fancy target ammo but it shoots the tightest groups with plain promo HV .22 LR solid points.
|
|
Top |
|
 |
fulldraw10
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 7:32 pm |
|
Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2012 4:34 pm Posts: 15
|
If im hunting in a open hardwoods i use a 22 but if its thick brush i use a 20 or a 410 a 12 in my opinion is a little much if you want to eat them you dont want to blow them in half with a 12 then try to eat them
Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine
|
|
Top |
|
 |
CLAYCOMO TRUCKS
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 7:36 pm |
|
Joined: Sat Mar 13, 2010 12:04 pm Posts: 506 Location: Missouri
|
I use a .223 for head shoots at 75 yds. But seriously I like a 10/22 ruger with 36 gr high velocity. In a shotgun a 20 ga. with #6's
_________________ "There is only one quality worse than hardness of the heart and that is softness of the head." -Theodore Roosevelt The only good crow is the one your about to shoot!
The only good squirrel is a dead squirrel!
Max-5 really!!!!
|
|
Top |
|
 |
Little Bear
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 5:09 pm |
|
Field Grade |
 |
Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 12:28 pm Posts: 71 Location: N. Fl. & SW GA>
|
My choice of shotguns is a Ithica 16 ga. NID choked M/F and 7/8 oz #6. My rifle of choice is a Remington LH 581 with a red dot sight. Ammo is bulk Federal's.
_________________ If I forgot my gun I would still hunt, If I forgot my dog I'd go home.
|
|
Top |
|
 |
SuperXThree
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 5:29 pm |
|
Crown Grade |
 |
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:11 pm Posts: 3610 Location: St. Charles Missouri and Virginia
|
Last year I was using 1 1/8 oz of 5 or 6's and this year I plan to use the same and some 30 gr. speer tnt .22 wmr bullets.
|
|
Top |
|
 |
double20
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2012 7:08 pm |
|
Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 8:46 pm Posts: 1745 Location: SW Missouri
|
I reload 1 ounce of #5 shot for my 20 gauge. And as naildriver and lossking said, it is a really great squirrel load that is tough to beat.
|
|
Top |
|
 |
Dove Hunter
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 4:35 pm |
|
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 10:39 am Posts: 634
|
I haven't hunted tree squirrels in a long time but always used a scoped 22 LR and tried for head shots.
I sometimes hunted with an old guy who was a pure meat hunter. He used a full choked 12 with high base 5s or 6s and could take squirrels a long way off and out of the tops of some tall trees. One time I was kidding him about using too much gun, not sporting, etc. He said, "when I go squirrel hunting I go to kill squirrels".
|
|
Top |
|
 |
double20
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:49 pm |
|
Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 8:46 pm Posts: 1745 Location: SW Missouri
|
Dove Hunter wrote: He said, "when I go squirrel hunting I go to kill squirrels". Was this guy the guy off of the Dos Equis commericals? "I don't often hunt squirrels, but when I do I prefer a 12 gauge."
|
|
Top |
|
 |
Dove Hunter
|
Post subject: Re: favorite squirrel caliber/load Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:30 am |
|
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2008 10:39 am Posts: 634
|
LOL, that was him, "back in the day". He'd have probably used an RPG if he thought it would work better.
|
|
Top |
|
 |
|