My Dad's idea of squirrel hunting was to take his single-shot, bolt-action .22 short Winchester and sit patiently until he could get a bead on one over iron sights and kill it. He was pretty good at it, but it was frustrating for a kid. I couldn't hit shit. Dad thought a shotgun was overkill for squirrels. Fortunately my grandmother hunted squirrel with a 16-gauge. I got more tree rats with Grandma.
grandma was smart. ive hunted them both ways. even with a benjamin pump. luckily i was a deadeye dick from day 1. but i got to where id rather a nice couple of rabbits or a mess of robins. but those arent as legal.
My Grampa taught me to hunt ducks with his 16 gauge automatic. I was about 6 when I started and even a 16 gauge beat the hell out of my shoulder. He didn't have a 20 gauge and at the time a 28 gauge was unheard of. I never was much for squirrel hunting but my brother used to knock the hell out of them with a single shot 410
