Weapons, Marksmanship & The Upward Shot Core

Shotgun for Squirrels (#6 Shot, Treetop Shots)

Lesson 26 of 41 · Module 6, lesson 2

Assumes the Hunting Primer. New here? Start there first.

Your objective

By the end, you'll be able to explain when to choose a shotgun over a rifle for squirrels and how to set it up with shot size, choke, and range limits.

Concept ~7 min

Two squirrels are chasing each other through the oak tops — bounding, pausing, bounding again. Your .22 never settles on one; the moment you get a sight picture, the squirrel is gone. This is the day the shotgun earns its keep. This lesson is about when to reach for it, and how to set it up.

Quick recall

Quick recall from the .22 Rimfire lesson — what does a rifle require that a shotgun lets you skip?

A still target and a steady rest A hunting license A scope

Show answer

Correct: A still target and a steady rest — Right. One bullet, one exact point. The shotgun's spreading pattern is exactly what frees you from needing the squirrel to hold perfectly still.
Not quite: A hunting license — You need a license for both (verify current SCDNR rules). The thing a rifle demands and a shotgun forgives is a still target and steady aim.
Not quite: A scope — Optics help a rifle but aren't the core difference. A rifle demands a still target and steady rest; the shotgun's pattern forgives movement.

When the shotgun wins: motion and cover

The shotgun’s gift is a forgiving pattern — a spreading cloud of pellets instead of one bullet. That cloud covers small aiming errors and a moving target, so the shotgun is the tool when:

Squirrels are moving — running limbs, leaping between trees, scrambling around a trunk.
The canopy is thick and you only get a flash of squirrel through leaves, with no clean head-shot window.
Light is low and a precise rifle aim isn’t realistic.

If the squirrel is sitting still and you have a clear head-shot window, the rifle is usually the better, cleaner choice. The shotgun is your answer to chaos.

Set it up: #6 shot and a tighter choke

For squirrels, the standard load is #6 shot. Here’s the logic in one breath: the pellets are heavy enough to punch up through leaves and into a squirrel at treetop range, and there are enough of them to throw a dense, gap-free pattern. Smaller shot (like #7½) gives more pellets but each is lighter and loses punch on the way up; larger shot (like #4) hits harder but thins the pattern. #6 is the balance.

Because treetop shots are often long and straight up, you want the pattern to stay together out there, so reach for a tighter choke — modified or full — rather than an open one. The tighter choke holds your pellets in a denser cluster at 30–40 yards.

The why What a choke actually does

A choke is a constriction at the muzzle end of the barrel that squeezes the shot column as it leaves, controlling how fast the pattern spreads. An open choke (cylinder/improved-cylinder) spreads fast — good up close. A tight choke (modified/full) holds the pattern together longer — better for the longer, vertical squirrel shots where you need pellets still bunched at distance. Many squirrel hunters settle on modified as the all-around pick.

The hard limit: range and meat

Two honest limits keep the shotgun ethical:

Range — keep it inside about 40 yards. Past that, even a full choke’s pattern opens into gaps a squirrel can fall through, and the pellets lose the energy to kill cleanly. Beyond ~40 yards you start wounding, not killing.
Meat — you will lose some. Shot peppers the body, so you’ll be picking pellets out of the meat and some of it will be bruised or bloodshot. That’s the price of the forgiving pattern. (It’s also why you’ll always head-shot with a rifle when you can.)

Schematic of a hunter in timber with the eye-line angled steeply up toward the canopy, illustrating a long, near-vertical treetop shot where a spreading shotgun pattern has an advantage over a single rifle bullet. — Diagram (not a photo). The treetop shot: long, steep, often through leaves. The shotgun's spreading pattern catches a moving or half-hidden squirrel here — but only inside about 40 yards, where the pattern is still dense.

Check your understanding

Knowledge check

You're set up under thick oaks and squirrels keep moving through the tops, never sitting still. Best tool and load?

Shotgun with #6 shot and a modified/full choke, shots kept under ~40 yards .22 rifle — always the better squirrel gun Shotgun with #4 shot, taking 55-yard shots to reach the high ones

Show answer

Correct: Shotgun with #6 shot and a modified/full choke, shots kept under ~40 yards — Exactly. Moving squirrels in cover are the shotgun's job; #6 and a tight choke give a dense pattern, and the range cap keeps it ethical.
Not quite: .22 rifle — always the better squirrel gun — Not for moving targets in thick cover. A rifle needs a still squirrel and clear aim; that's exactly what you don't have here. This is a shotgun day.
Not quite: Shotgun with #4 shot, taking 55-yard shots to reach the high ones — Two problems: #4 thins the pattern, and 55 yards is well past the ethical cap — the pattern opens into gaps and cripples. Stay with #6 and keep it under ~40 yards.

Knowledge check

Why is #6 the go-to squirrel shot size?

It balances pellet weight (enough punch up through canopy) with pellet count (a dense pattern) It's the biggest shot you can buy, so it hits hardest

Show answer

Correct: It balances pellet weight (enough punch up through canopy) with pellet count (a dense pattern) — Right. #6 threads the needle: heavy enough to penetrate at treetop range, numerous enough to fill the pattern.
Not quite: It's the biggest shot you can buy, so it hits hardest — #6 isn't the biggest — #4 and larger exist. Going bigger thins the pattern and risks gaps. #6 is chosen for balance, not raw size.

Take it to the woods

Pattern your squirrel shotgun before the season

0/5

Safety Treat the gun as loaded, muzzle safe, finger off the trigger until you're on target.
Tape up a large sheet of paper with a squirrel-sized circle in the center.
Shoot it with #6 and your chosen choke at 30 yards; check the pattern fills the squirrel circle with no gaps.
Repeat at 40 yards and watch the pattern open — find the range where gaps appear. That's your honest cap.
Set and remember your max range, then refuse every shot past it in the woods.

Sources

Field & Stream — Shotgun vs. .22LR for Squirrel Hunting. https://www.fieldandstream.com/hunting/shotgun-vs-22lr-squirrel-hunting/
Outdoor Life — The Ultimate Guide to Hunting Squirrels. https://www.outdoorlife.com/story/hunting/the-ultimate-guide-to-hunting-squirrels/
Dive Bomb Industries — Best Shot Sizes for Squirrel Hunting in Timber. https://www.divebombindustries.com/blogs/news/best-shot-sizes-for-squirrel-hunting-in-timber

Legal shot sizes, methods, and seasons can vary — verify current SCDNR regulations before you hunt: https://www.dnr.sc.gov/regs/index.html

If you remember nothing else

The shotgun's edge is its forgiving pattern — it lets you connect on a moving squirrel or one half-hidden in thick canopy that a rifle can't.
#6 shot is the squirrel standard: pellets heavy enough to penetrate the canopy and the animal, with enough count for a dense pattern.
A tighter choke (modified or full) holds the pattern together for those long, straight-up treetop shots.
Keep it inside about 40 yards — past that the pattern thins and you start crippling instead of killing.
The trade-off is meat: shot peppers the body, so you'll dig out pellets and lose more meat than with a clean head shot.

How ready do you feel?

How ready are you to decide when a shotgun is the right squirrel tool and load it correctly for it?

Before you go — a quick look back

Distributed practice: one fast recall from an earlier lesson keeps it from fading.

Quick recall

From the .22 Rimfire lesson — what does a rifle demand of the squirrel that a shotgun does not?

Show me the answer

Show answer

Correct: Show me the answer — A rifle demands a still target and a steady rest, because one bullet only hits its exact aim point. The shotgun's whole advantage is that it removes that demand: a spreading pattern can catch a moving or partly hidden squirrel. That's the core trade you weigh when you pick a gun.

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