Hunting Forum

What would be a good beginner gun for kid squirell hunting?Weve never hunted before to so tips would also help.

I was raised with a single shot .22 when I first went squirrel hunting. I would recommend a bolt action with a removeable magazine as the boy will never out grow the gun. There are some awesome air rifles out that are more than adequate for squirrel hunting. Also keep in mind a shotgun as the bunnies and birds are next on the list. Ask around at sporting goods stores and shooting ranges for access to land. Get out there early, sit still and be quiet, and you will never forget your first hunts together.

ok thanks ill look into that happy hunting

My son started with a singleshot .410 when he was 7. I agree you can't go wrong with a.22, since you can do plenty of plinking faiirly cheap. Rossi has a pretty good youth gun that has interchangable barrels. My grandson has one with a 22, 410 and I believe 243. Its a singleshot and you can get in 2 or 3 barrel combo's. We always sat early in the morning and then took slow walks through the woods seeing how many he could spot ahead. Helps with younger children who are not used to just sitting and being quiet.Good luck and have fun, and enjoy your time in the woods together.

if the kid is young start him with a .410 with nuymber 6 shot. it will be alot easyier for him to hit the squirrel as they can be tricky. if its not an option a good .22lr would be your next guess. once you get into the woods jsut sit and listion for a bit. see if you can hear a squirrel barking or droping accorn peices. ALWAYS WATCH THE TOPS OF TREES jsut because u cant hear a squirrel or see him you can often see the bnranches moving. (hunting in the wind is hard)

I would start him with a shot gun if its his first time. Its a little easier to hit with and a little less dangerous for someone new to shooting. Start with a .410 unless you think he can handle the recoil of a 20ga. Low brass bird shot should do fine. A .22 will deff be more of a challenge for him. I would let him get a few under his belt before moving to something that will take more patience like a .22. Just let him have fun first and kill a few.

Pop started me with a .22, single shot bolt action at the age of 5 yrs old.  He loaded gun for me 'when' I was to take a shot.  Don't think I ever got one, but it was always fun.  Next I graduated to a 4-10, which I was a bit scared of the recoil for awhile. 

Glad you're taking your boy hunting.  To this day I still squirrel hunt each season with pop.

The .22 or .410 are both excellent choices for young adult (and us old kids) it really depends on where you hunt and how near the closest homes may be think safety first , a .22 can/will travel a long way the .410 has very short range by comparison and has an effective range of about 30 yds for smallgame loads.

I would buy a 22. cricket because of the safety factors of it. Also some good tips would be to. Find good oak trees producting alot of acorns and try to find alot of squirrel nest in the trees to hunt around. I wouldnt suggest hunting in the national forests due to the number of hunters.

I also would have to put in my vote for a bolt action single shot .22 rifle with open sights. I'm partial to the gun I started out with, so I would have to reccomend one like it. I was only about seven years old at the time and it was a great gun for me to learn on. It was light weight so I never got tired of carrying it either. A great, reliable little gun that I still love!

I have hunted squirrel since, well a long time, and have used 12 ga 16 ga, 20 ga .32 cal flintlock, .22's and air rifle. I prefer squirrel hunting over all other hunting.My favorite is the flintlock and air rifle but don't recommend either for a starter. Last year I couldn't get a shot where I hunt with the air rifle due to it being so thick with invasive bush honeysuckle. To me PERSONALLY for squirrel the 12, 16 and 20 ga are just to big(to loud,not enough challenge, and to much lead to get out). So I found a nice Hawthorne 3 shot Bolt action .410 for $125, and man if I had known a .410 was so much fun I'd bought one a long time ago. These bolt action shotgun can be bought for under $150 and is the way I'd go since a 22 you have to be extremely careful. As for the Cricketts, I bought one for my daughter, and it is a great shooter,but when she got older I thought I'd buy the adult stock for her and it does not even come close to being able to shoot it or any one else that has tried it, the design is not right and you cannot aim it.
If he is going to use it later in life for deer or other game I'd go with a 20 ga Remington 870 or Mossberg 500. I personally love the feel of my daughter's youth 870 but either are good guns if he is able to handle recoil. MY $.02.

^^^^ i agree with Cbrown 100%

I ONLY hunt squirrels with my .22cal air rifle #1 the noise #2 accuracy and #3 the clange. i have hunted with shotguns 12 and 410 gage and just to much lead in the meat. you may not get as many hunting with an air rifle but tis weal worth it taking only head shots from 20 to 50 yards!!!! VERY REWARDING!!!! and a good way to get youngsters into shooting rifles

A .22 will be ok if you live in a place with few homes or can be ensure of the background stop. The reason I don't recommend the air rifle for beginners is because it could get to fustrating as the sucess rate is lower. The flintlock also can make a preacher cuss at times and I ain't a precher and have wanted to throw it a few times, and I have a fast shooting one as I have polished all the works. I really like the Air rifle because when you skin one there is little damage and you don't have to find shot but it takes a lot patience. I have shot 1 on one limb of a tree and his buddy was on the other side on a limb playing and he had no ideal Ralph was on the ground dead so I got Fred also. It also has allowed me to hunt in suburban area and no one hardly knows I am killing tree rats. When I use the .410 I use #5 or mostly #6 and it is easier to find the lead, but eating a little lead won't hurt me I don't think and if it does Social Security will be broke before I'll get it anyway. The air rifle lets me also to practice in my back yard almost daily if I want. I have a .177 but if I had to get a new one it would be at least .22 or .25 cal.

Still use the 410 i got when i was 6 for squirels.  Some corn around the base of some trees will get them where you want em.

That's cool rfensick. As for some tips, I won't hardly hunt once the wind starts blowing the limbs as I like to hear them in the tops. I like to find where they are cutting nuts and find a big tree close by to stand or sit at, They can really spot you if you move a lot so all movements should be very slow. I believe that your face should be masked as well as good camo. I like to look up for unusal movements of limbs and leaves. I have tinittus in my ears but for some reason I have bionic hearing for squirrels and can hear a squirrel cut a nut from a very long distance. My kids are amazed sometimes with the ringing in my ears, that I know where one is that they cannot find. I also listen for the cutttings hitting the ground. Another good thing to do is to find a tree line going from some wood to a cornfield, Man, you can slaughter them early in the morning or late in the afternoon when they are going/coming to/from feeding in the corn field. I always look for nests for a indication of the numbers and if I don't see many of them there probaly is not a lot of squirrels. Do not shoot the nest!! I aslo carry a bellows type of call that can also be shooked or blown. Don't retrieve every one you shoot when you shoot them but mark where they are in your mind, as there may be more that will come out if you remain still.

As several have stated above,a single shot 410/22 combo gun like the H&R or Rossi,or even a Thompsom Center Encore or Contender if it's in the budget,and the youth will have a gun they can grow into,and have for life!
A 410 will probably mean more kills so will build confidence better to start out than a 22.
I had the good fortune of growing up where I could be let loose with a bb gun very early in life,and graduated to a 22 around 11 or 12 y/o,but I hunted squirrels with dad with a 20 ga shotgun!We hunted areas where you never knew if you'ld bump a bunny or a grouse while squirrel hunting,so we went prepaired for anything!

Them were the good old day's MJ. It was a time when seeing a 13 year old with a BB gun didn't bring out a swat team. My first BB gun was a Daisy Model 99 I believe, you loaded 50 BB in a tube like thing and then screwed that into the barrel. It was a target model with peep sights. Man that thing was accurate. I sold flower and vegetable seed out of a comic book ad to buy it.

I was taught by a friend, much older than me, how to get the most out of squirrel hunting. Ease into the woods and when you see moving limbs, slip into the area and sit down and wait for the feeding squirrels to move. Watch until you can spot several and then start shooting. When you kill one, watch where it falls but do not move. The others will go back to feeding in a couple of minutes and you can shoot again. When you have shot all you want, or think that that is all, go out and pick them up. Then if you want more, move to a different spot. I have killed as many as eight in one big tree and when I moved to pick them up there were others that ran to hide. I hunted mostly with a 410 because the land oweners had cattle in the area and a 22 made the owner nervous.

Hi there. I got my son a air gun when he was a lil younger. started him out with how to shoot basic. like cans , targets etc. Then i bought him another airgun but this time a more powerfull one. kept teachin him gun safty n stuff an took him on a few squirrel hunts. As the GAMO .177 did its job he got very excited an now LOVES to hunt squirrels. He uses the Gamo all the time an its safe an accurate an very cheap to shoot. Hes now 12 an shoots a 20 ga for deer hunting. but when it comes to squirrels he uses the Gamo Gun. we got 31 squirrels last season an we ve been doin great this yr again. Hope to break the last season kill record.

Depending on age my 6yr old grandson uses a cricket 22