Squirrel hunting

I'm going squirrel hunting this year with a friend of mine, I have a .177 air rifle, a .22 LR and a 12 gauge.  Which of these would you recommend using?  I also have a bow but am nowhere near accurate enough with it yet.

I grew up as a boy in the country and had access to about 60 acres of oak and walnut woods.  I loved squirrel hunting.  I used a bolt action 22 rifle with shorts to keep the noise to a minimum.  I learned to move quietly and very slowly through the woods with my eyes and ears wide open.   I feel this made me an overall better hunter.  By learning how to not disturb the woods,  I became very aware of all the wildlife that occupied those same woods.  Using a 22 rifle with open sites on a squirrels head quickly improved my markmanship.  It made me learn to plan and pick my shots and make a good clean 1 shot kill.   Best was, if I cleaned the squirrels and cut them up, my mother slow simmered them with gravy.  Great on rice.

They were awesome. 

Shellfish

.22LR with 40 grain LRN or CPLRN (CCI MiniMag, Federal 710, CCI Blazer, etc) works great for squirrels. As said, go for head shots, but the LRN is a little more forgiving if you miss the head and hit body. Hollow points outside of the head make a mess. LRN just like a .22 caliber hole and still kill the squirrel. I've also found the LRN to be more accurate in my rifles. 12 gauge is a bit much for squirrel, but if you must, use large shot (#4 lead or #2 steel) in the lightest load you can find. 20 gauge 7/8 oz. #4 is a great load for rabbits and squirrels. Plenty of pellets, but at 25 to 30 yards with a modified choke, there is still something left to eat! Still hunting or sitting in a grove of oak or hickory trees is still my favorite way to hunt bushy tails.

Agreed with the head shot only use the the rifle of your choice. If you are near homes I would use the .177 call, at close range of course they are very thick skind.

I’ve never specifically targeted squirrels but did tons of rabbit hunting growing up and would take an occasional squirrel here and there. I’ve always used a 20ga shotgun and it worked great on squirrels. A 12ga may be a little much. If I was going strictly for squirrels I’d go with the .177 or .22LR myself. Years back i annihilated a whole herd of squirrels with my crossman .177 that were destroying my neighbors garage. 

Haven't hunted squirrels in years, but when I did only hunted fox squirrels, use a very old Stevens "favorite" single shot, made my own hollow points, using 22 shots, quiet and deadly at 20 yards. Tried for head shots only. 

 Never used a shotgun for squirrels, always thought it would be too messy. My go to has always been a 22 LR sited in at fifty yards. I have a Leupold 3.5 X 10 and with a little practice, making head shots allows for minimal damage.

I use my 410 (with larger shot size) in early season.  I switch to a .22 when the leaves are mostly off of the trees and I am mostly sitting.

22 or .177 and try for the head shot.  It's really fun plus the 22 and .177 doesn't scare everything away.  If you go shotgun I agree with prior poster use bigger shot like 4s.  if you use 6s or 7.5s you will have pellets everywhere.  A 4 will pass through a lot on a squirrel or rabbit plus there are less of them.  You don't need a ton of pellets to kill a squirrel.  I use a 410 for squirrel and rabbit with 4s a lot of the time but I don't think you need to buy a new gun based on what you already have.

If I am walking I will use a shotgun.  12ga will work but a 410 would be ideal.  If I'm sitting then I'll use a .22

I put out corn in my backyard , use my pop up blind and a thumper tip on my arrows great fun at 15yds ! My wife likes to put them in the slow cooker !