Is it hard for anyone else to kill squirrels with .22 calibre?

I've dropped hundreds with .22 JSB 18's. Eye to ear hole, neck and heart are all awesome shots. My favorite though is top of the head straight down the spine, produces a cold cocked quiver for a few seconds and lights out. I've had more run with a .22lr, but they didn't have the same accuracy as my PCP.

Maybe I'm just a savage, but I really like using my bulldog to smash squirrels. .357 does a nice job when you hit them right in the head. 

Go big or go home. After all, to paraphrase Ted, can a squirrel really be too dead?! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5F2eL2_eh4

I've had no problems with squirrels using a .22 hammerli 850, .22 MaximaThor, and .25 MRod. With the MRod , I use PolyMags, JSB 25.39s, or JSB MK IIs 33.95. Head or mediastinum shots work well , they never move far, if at all. With the Hammerli 850, Sniper lights, and Metal mags work very well. I only had to chase (walk after ) one with the hammerli, and wack him with a stick. I used a Fallcon 13.something on this one. These are very accurate with this rifle. The .22 Maximathor loves H & N Barracuda Match 21. somethings. Head shots and mediastinum work well. Accurate shot placement is the key to a humane kill. Right through the eye, or on a lateral head shot, between the eye and ear. A neck shot, at the base of the skull, aiming for cervical vertebrae #2 disrupts the spinal cord and mid brain. A good technique from behind, or the side. PolyMags work very well for this.

That would work well. A Polymag from .25 MRod to the head works very well also.

This brings back memories from many decades ago... tried to kill a squirrel with a .177 cal. First shot was center of chest, woo hoo, great shot I thought. Then the critter kept going. I ended up pumping 13 shots, most at point blank range. Needless to say, my "hunting prowess" ego took a nosedive that day!

FWIW, I had the same experience with expanding ammo as the previous fellow. 

For me, the H&N Baracuda Hunters are much more accurate than Hunter Extremes. They deform well, and dump loads more energy into a nutter than domes do. In fact, they seem to hit a squirrel harder from an 18 FPE .177 than a dome from a 28 FPE .22 does. It's only a question of whether they're accurate enough to hit the clockwork at the range you need. 

By the way, Crow Magnums hit even harder, and expand better, but tend not to be accurate at over 800 fps or so. They're just too draggy.

Having the ammo expand makes a big difference. Even if the larger wound channel doesn't do it for you, the higher impact force will often do it. (For head shots)

I live in the states now but I'm from the U.K. Used to hunt grey tree squirrels all the time with a 12 flbs .22 gas ram 20- 30 yard head shots no problem 

When I was 12 or so I killed my first squirrel with a .410 shot gun. He fell from the highest limbs of an American Beech tree. I shot him 2-3 times because he was "twitching". My dad had to throw him away because I shot him up too bad -- he didn't need the follow-up, it was just nerves.

I've used powder burners for more than 50 years of squirrel hunting. The air rifle is a new thing for me. I will only head shoot them. If no head shot is presented, the squirrel is passed. I like broadside and go for between eye and ear. The first two I shot with an AA .22 shocked me how quickly they dropped dead. The rifle seems harmless compared to my .22 LR and .17 HMR but kills em just as dead. And the AA S410 FAC isn't even as hot as my current rifles.

Although the .22 does fine (18.1 JSB) my main squirrel rifle is FX Wildcat in .25. (25.39 JSB).

By the way, if using the .17 HMR anything other than a head shot will do too much damage (I eat squirrels). Even a frontal head shot can destroy good eating forelegs. 

bowwild, you articulate my argument better than I! Aside from the stealth factor, which is my favorite attribute re air guns, the more appropriate power band for small game is a close second. I've found even a .22LR to be far too much oomph for the little critters.

I only have ground squirrels here I have found the young very small ones the easiest to kill even though they are a smaller target. One day two years ago I was able to kill 33? (If I remember right) in one day all at between 35-40 yards with my 11 ft lb .22 pellet gun DRT. I was amazed because they just kept coming to see why the others were laying there. Normally if I shoot one it is some time before another will come out. Out of all those only one crawled about 2 feet and died in the entrance to his hole. The older ones are just hard to catch out side their holes now that I shot all the dumb ones. When they hear the house door or anything they go underground. My dad use to live on the property next to me and he shot them with his .222 with his own re-loads at 140 yards because they thought they were safe at that distance but it was always DRT with the head missing.

I have been hunting squirrels for over 50 years and the only thing that I have ever used that put them down with no death dance consistently was my shotgun. I have not used a shotgun to hunt squirrels for about 40 years. I think it is important to keep your shot high when going for a head shot. If I miss high I miss altogether. If I miss low I may hit the head and miss the brain. Two years ago I figured I would give my 17WSM a try for squirrels. I shot 1 through the head at 50 yards and he never moved. I took the top of his head completely off. I later shot one on an angle slightly toward me. The bullet went in behind the nose and took the back side of his head off. He fell out of the tree which was less than 10 yards and he was still moving a full minute later. The 17WSM shoots a 20 gr. bullet at 3000 fps and I still had a squirrel that showed movement with the backside of his head blown away. So two things are for sure here. Squirrels are hard to kill but it can be done with proper shot placement. If I can shoot the back side of a squirrels head off with 300 fpe and he still moves around on the ground a 25 cal. isn't necessarily be the answer. Proper shot placement is the answer.

Last year I was shooting ground squirrels in the Phoenix Az area, lots of those "skinnies" around. .22 PCP shooting JSB Heavies and Crosman Premier HPs Both killed them but those crosman HPs sure make a heck of a whop and cause more damage. Call me nasty but I do side by side tests on the dead ones as well and again those HPs really do number in comparison the the domed ones.

https://youtu.be/7Xk-h4sByP4

https://youtu.be/rToZeWsaR7Q

If you are making good head shots as you claim. They are technically dead. Just because they move about or cling to a limb with a final death grip. Doesn’t mean they ain’t dead. 

I started with a .25 for, you know, knockdown power. But I have seen just as many run back into their hole as I’ve had with my .22. Both go clean through. So it is about shot placement. I have noticed as I’ve gotten better, less are making it back to the hole.

I always try for chest shots in the woods ,,i have a bigger area to aim at.mrod .177 and rws 94 .22. both days got 5 squirrels shot out to 50yds.

I head shoot squirrels with my BSA R10 MKII .177 shooting JSB 10.3 gr pellets at 940 fps. Before that I was using another .177, and RWS 48 shooting Crosman Premier Heavies 10.5 gr. I have NEVER head shot a squirrel and it up and ran away. The last grey squirrel I shot was a head shot with the R10 .177. DRT. Ali said "Kill the head, and the body will fall". Even with a .177 I prefer head and shoulder shots. I shoot slugs in my RAW HM1000X .25, and body shots are DRT. But slugs are expensive compared to JSB MKIIs. MKIIs to the head and shoulders work. No meat is damaged with head shots if one is hunting for table fare.

What range are you getting them? I aim for head when they are closer, but at 100 plus yardages, unless they’re standing up, it’s a chest shot mostly. DRT happens but it’s exceptional when it does. 

A few things I have learned after shooting about 2,000 tree squirrels.

1-1,200 = 12FPE .177 cal springers.

1,200 - 2,000 = .22 and ,25 cal PCPs.



DON'T aim for the head or face - DO aim for the brain/brain stem

DON'T aim for the body/chest/center mass etc - DO aim for the heart.

Turn on your x-ray vision when you're lining-up a shot. Aim small miss small.

Look through the animal and "see" the organ you want your pellet to hit.

Heart:

There are many ways to get to the heart depending on the angle you're presented with.

Straight on -go through the chest to the heart. From the side you might sneak one in through the armpit and through the heart.

From the back place one right between the shoulders through the spine and through the heart.

Brain:

If you're underneath -up through the neck, through the brain and out the top of the head.

From the back -right at the base of the skull where the top of the spine starts.

From the top -top of the head, right between the ears and through the brain.

From the side -in the ear, through the brain and out the other ear.



I always avoid trying to shoot through the face. Be patient. You'll get a better look.

Matt