Module 6 of 8 Core
Weapons, Marksmanship & The Upward Shot
Choose and run the right squirrel weapon, the classic .22, the shotgun, or an air rifle, and master the meat-saving head shot and the safety nuance unique to shooting up into trees.
Best after: Know Your Quarry: Squirrel ID, Biology & Behavior
Lessons
6 lessons in this module · 41 across the path
- The .22 Rimfire: The Classic Squirrel Rifle Why the .22 LR is the traditional choice: precision head shots, meat preservation, cheap practice, and the marksmanship discipline it builds. Assumes primer: rifle-caliber-fundamentals, marksmanship-fundamentals.
- Shotgun for Squirrels (#6 Shot, Treetop Shots) The shotgun option for moving squirrels and dense canopy: typical loads, choke, range limits, and the meat-vs-certainty trade-off. Assumes primer: shotgun-fundamentals.
- Air Rifles for Squirrels Hunting-grade air rifles, their quiet low-ricochet advantage in close cover, energy/range limits, and SC legality. VERIFY with SCDNR. Assumes primer: firearm-types-overview.
- Rimfire Optics & Sighting-In for Treetops Rimfire scopes, parallax at close range, and a near zero suited to short up-into-the-canopy shots. Assumes primer: optics-basics, sighting-in-zeroing.
- Shot Placement on Small Game (Head Shots) Aiming to preserve meat, the small kill zone, and which up-tree angles to pass. Assumes primer: marksmanship-fundamentals.
- Shooting Upward: Backstop, "What's Beyond" & Ricochet The safety nuance unique to treetop shooting: knowing what's beyond and above, trunk vs. sky backstops, and rimfire/shot fall-zone and ricochet awareness. Assumes primer: firearms-safety-four-rules, situational-awareness-etiquette.