I need help with squirrels!
 

This is a Parker question before it's a hunting question (as far as I'm concerned). I know there are a few of you out there that will admit to hunting bushytails. Our Missouri season opened at Memorial Day and we are in a spate of cool "morning-ed" days that make me long to carry a Parker in the squirrel woods. I'm interested in taking enough to populate a Brunswick Stew (that's Brunswick, Virginia, thank you very much!) -- without butterbeans, I might add.

Here's the question: What Parker would you carry? You can base your answer on your experiences (probably as a kid, no doubt, like me) or, if you're a real connoisseur, what your current experience suggests.

Gauge, barrel length, chokes (grade??)...?

me, i would use a 20 ga with 3/4 oz of 6s mod and imp/cly. they should be young and close. good luck
scott

I think that new to you 410 needs to be blooded.

Ah-ha! I have one now, Jeff, inspired by you and Stan Hillis (although nowhere equal to a certain beautifully engraved .410 I was privileged to hold not long ago).

Scott, I’ll have to check the chokes, but I may have what you recommend—thanks!

Sorry; it was a .22 back in my squirrel days.

Mine, too, Phil, but times they are a-changin’

410 ga with 7 1/2 oz shot.

.410 are harmless to squirrels in the top of Tennessee hickory trees. Use a long barrel 20 of course!:cool::cool: oh and full choke is an asset.

Any particular choke?

SQ.
 

.22 with a pup to bark um an keep them moving

Know anyone with such a gun? Our hickories are pretty tall here, too. Maybe we could work a guided hunt out. :)

I wish I had a squirrel dog, but it would corrupt my bird dogs:rotf::rotf:

What you describe, Gary, is what I grew up with. Oh, for those days again.

The 10 gauge with #4s is a pretty good combo on squirrels for me.
It was almost like a jungle where I used to squirrel hunt, I think the #4s had a much easier time going through leaves and such than the #7.5s.

I like 4s and 6s for squirrels. Never used a 10 gauge—hmmm…

7 1/2s is a lot of pellets to spit out :shock:

I went for the first time in thirty years this February. Took a 20 gauge Parker and thought I would have my limit in an hour. Four hours later I had two. Most of the time they saw me first. Out of range. The twenty was not enough. Wished I had taken my Parker trap gun with high powered shells.

A 12 gauge double, one ounce of 6s in a right I.C. bore, high powered 1 1/4 ounces of 6s in the left full choke. Only a 20 or .410 on a rainy day where you can hear them shaking water off the leaves and they can't hear you walking up.

Used to squirrel hunt every morning before and afternoon after quail hunting.

I took care of a whole lot of squirrels with a Thompson Center Contender with a .410 barrel and 3" #6 shot. Seemed to pattern very well. If I had to choose a Parker would go with a my 28 ga repro mod/imp and #6.

Squirrel hunting for me as a teen was an exercise in practicing to be a sniper. I had an old Mossberg .22 bolt gun with a 2-6x scope that made it relative easy to make head shots at over 50yds. My best shot ever was taken from at least 60yds and when I picked the squirrel up I couldn't find a hole in it.... until a drop of blood and some small bone frags came out of one of his ears. That shot went in one ear and out the other. That's the kind of shot you never forget. I still have that Mossberg in the basement. It was my first gun and cost me just $35. It went well with the pristine 20ga Mod 12 we got for $40!!! Those were the days..... I think I only ever shot one squirrel with a shotgun as a kid. Used grandpa's 12ga full-choked mod 37 Ithaca.

I ain't a believer in shooting squirrels with toy guns, I take the 12 bore with full choke and 1 1/8 ounces of #6. I hunt in tall timber, so you need a little ommph to get the down.

I would take the .410 with 3" no. 6s, based on years of squirreling. No. 6 shot will transfer more energy to the squirrel and penetrate to the vitals well. Any of the bigger gauges will surely get the job done, but having lots of fun while "making meat" is why I like the lil' guns so much.

Pattern density is the key with the .410s. The pellet energy is exactly the same as the same size pellet fired out of a 12, or 10, gauge (at the same velocity). They aren't toys. Putting plenty pellet strikes on the game is vital, and done with dense patterns. Full chokes all the way for me with the .410s.

if I was hunting for meat it would be a 12 ga 30 inch full choke and high brass no 4 s or 5 s.....shooting thru leaves you need that extra power.....charlie

Tight choked 20ga with 6's would be my choice........ At least of the guns I own.

But, my perfect squirrel gun my 50yr old newfangled Remington 1100 .410 with full choke....

Shoot em in the head, and don't waste any of that good rib meat. :D

I've had a lot of success with a 28ga. reproduction M/F with Win AA #8

I think this is being over-thought. You can kill a squirrel with anything, but I'd be partial to my F/F 26" Trojan in 16g and #5's.

ALL I CAN SAY IS TOO BAD PARKER BROS. NEVER MADE A DRILLING : )

Garry, the only solution to this is to take ALL of your Parkers squirrel hunting and by careful note taking report back your findings. This may be a long and arduous task but the results will be worth it to the group.

Why has nobody suggested a scoped .22 ?

Oh wait, I see... it is a "Which Parker" thread.



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4s with the 10 gauge hits them hard. I don't believe you can use too much shotgun really. Worst damage I've seen on a squirrel was a 17 hmr, blew it into literal pieces. Normally when I recover squirrels there's only a few pellets in the head. I've shot them with everything from
1 1/8oz loads to 2 1/4oz loads. Any shotgun load really will anchor them I say use whatever gun you enjoy carrying the most. If you don't like the heavy guns it's hard to go wrong with a 16 or 28 gauge for your small game hunting.

410 all day long

I ve squirl hunted with my 8 ga several times with no 6 lead its a little over kill but hey what a blast it is....it aint a parker but the little steven 410 and 22 over and under is the best squirl gun I ever used......charlie

Sika 6-Point would tell you to use the 8g with 1 1/2 oz of 7 1/2 shot! Shoots them right off his roof. Never mentions how he has some water dripping through his roof in a steady rain though. :whistle:

Back when I was knee high to a grasshopper (you gettin' this Garry?) the tool of choice was a Winchester 67 with iron sights. Used to sit on the side-hill at my Pappy's in the oak stand and pick off half a dozen in a sit. :) Pappy's farm is long gone but I still have that rifle.

I agree Mike. I've had my Win 67 since 1952 and its still going strong on squirrels and chipmunk's plus several other vermin.

Okay, Mike, I'm taking notes! So...this was back when we had all original parts, yes? Just checkin' for an acquaintance. :)

(What the heck is a Win. 67? A bolt action?)

67 is a single shot bolt action Winchester 22. I had the youth model which was also loaned to my Dad's best friend to carry on his raccoon hunts.

Winchester Model 67
 

I'm another who got my Winchester Model 67 in 1951 or 1952, bought mine used from the neighbor for $9. Still have it minus the little stamped safety flipper. My Dad said if you didn't know you pulled the Hammer back you shouldn't be using the gun. Still iron sights on it. Fun gun for a farm boy at the time.

Come to think of it, my older brother used a single shot bolt action .22 for squirrels when we were kids. I had a youth Sears .410 with the side button opener. My brother's bolt action was probably a Sears model, too. We could not afford much beyond the Sears guns when I was a kid. They worked just fine.

My Pop used a J. C. Higgins .22 automatic, the one with the wood wrap around stock (whatever that's called). He was deadly on squirrels. Before I could carry a gun (up to about age 6), I was his "dog" and made the squirrels move to his side of the tree so he could head shoot them. He would only use short hollow point ammo. Try and get that today!

Rifle that my dad taught me to shoot in the early 60's - Winchester mod 67 ! Remember it like yesterday. Target shooting mostly, no squirrels. Remember my first deer hunt with the grown-ups at a very young age I was allowed to carry it- empty, no bullets (Barney Fife style). That was a great day and likely ruined me for life. (:

What a “gift of ruination” from your father.

All this talk of 22 Squirrel rifles reminding me that I had picked this one up a year or two back, put a vortex scope on it, sighted in, then forgot it was in a gun sock in my secondary gun safe.....

Might have to take it up to my place later this summer and shoot some bushy tails with it. I normally take my ugly little Nylon 66 when I go up there.

High Standard Sport King Special Deluxe model. No serial number....

I do remember it being quite the shooter last time I had it at the gun club.

Now, that's a nice looking gun.