The grey squirrel was very high in a very tall tree consuming Hickory nuts at a rapid pace when he ran onto a tiny branch leaving his underside completely exposed. I raised my single barreled shotgun and fired. The little bushy tail tumbled out without even twitching and I had harvested one of my first squirrels with the 28 gauge. To my surprise, only one number six pellet from the one ounce load had struck the little animal. Fortunately that one shot, however, had proven to be a hit in the vitals.
My association with the 28 bore had actually begun quite a few years before when I had a front porch gunsmith build me a 28 double. He could not have done a worse job with the little gun. It looked terrible and shot even worse. I did manage to kill a few doves with it. However, I permanently set it aside the day I fired the 28 at a rabbit. I downed the cottontail, but the portion of stock surrounding the left lock broke off and flew over my shoulder. For a time that ended my fascination with the 28 gauge! I did keep the gun as a wall hanger.
Then my son in law gave me the single shot 28 mentioned in the first paragraph of the story. It was a decided improvement over my first 28. The little gun came with a 26 inch barrel and fixed modified choke. I eagerly awaited the coming of the squirrel season the following autumn. I soon learned however, that shots on bushy tails with my new gun needed to be kept to a maximum range of 25 yards. It simply did produce the pattern density required to consistently score clean kills at longer distances. The reason for hitting the squirrel I shot from the tall hickory with only a single pellet was now apparent. I made several hunts with the 28 that season, always careful to limit my shots to extremely short ranges. I used both the three fourths ounce and the one ounce load, and noted very little difference in the performance of the two shells. On at least one outing, I limited out with the little gun. Although, I continued to shoot the 28, I eventually went back to my sixteen double for the greater part of my squirrel shooting.
However, while my 28s were largely out of sight, hidden away in my gun safe, the 28 gauge was never quite out of mind. So much so in fact, that I immediately purchased a neat spanking new little 28 double I came across in a gun shop in Columbus. The little gun was the one I’d always dreamed of, the 28 gauge l had always wanted. It was an over and under with screw in chokes ranging from cylinder to full. It weighed in at five pounds, one ounce unloaded, just what an aging hunter can comfortably carry. I took my first squirrel with it at a range consistent with shots I’d made many times with the heavier gauges. In fact, I made one of my most successful hunts of that year shooting the little 28 double and hunting with my son on his lease in Attala County. I easily limited out with the gun choked full and Improved modified. At some point though I plan to hunt with the gun choked full and cylinder, using the cylinder for those very close shots that often occur in still hunting for squirrels.
In this, my third 28, I still shoot both the three quarter and one ounce shot loads. The only noticeable difference between the two is the greater recoil of the heavier load. However, I’m not talking about a kick that loosens teeth, and sets the nose to dripping blood, but rather recoil sufficient to indicate something lethal is being hurled at the target. Nevertheless, some gunners believe the one ounce load is an unnecessary waste, and consider the three fours ounce 28 load the most nearly perfect shot shell ever designed. Under most shooting conditions, I would agree. It does pack a wallop for its weight.
I have fired two other loadings in my new 28, but only at targets. One of them is the seven eighth ounce load in number six shot. It patterns very poorly in my gun. I won’t hunt with it a great deal for that reason. The other load I have fired but not shot at game is probably the most extraordinary shot shell of my shooting experience. It is a one and three eights ounce load (That’s getting into twelve gauge territory.) designed for turkey hunting. The two rounds I test fired came with roll crimp and size eight and one half shot. At a measured 30 yards, the pattern is so dense from my full choke barrel the holes in the target simply cannot be readily counted. It is a truly amazing load! With a shot size appropriate for squirrels, it would truly be devastating on bushy tails. (It probably would leave very little of them for the frying pan!) However, I have no intention of squirrel hunting with this shell. Why? First of all, as indicated, it would be an over kill on any small game including squirrels. Secondly, there is the huge cost. A five pack of these bruisers sets a shooter back thirty-five dollars. Thus at seven dollars per round, shooting this powerful 28 gauge load is more expensive than shooting my .416 Rigby. In terms of ammunition cost, that, at least theoretically, would make the cost of shooting a grey squirrel more expensive than shooting an elephant. To use a good colloquial expression, “It just ain’t worth it.”
My grandson Hayes has well demonstrated that by still hunting with his 28 bore in mid-winter when the trees are completely bare. He has done well on squirrels at that time while shooting only traditional 28 gage loads, even though the shots are usually longer than in the fall. In addition, he has further proven the adequacy of the 28 by limiting out on wood ducks with the little gun. (He of course, uses nontoxic shot for water fowling with the little light weight.
I did not hunt squirrels after November of the 2020 season, but I began and ended the season with my 28 gauge at one of my favorite hunting spots, namely Downing Branch. The little stream runs through my property at French Camp. First light on opening day found me under a gigantic oak on its north bank. A cattle ford crosses the branch at that point, and I actually sat down in the ford itself. The high banks partially hid me from the view of any bushy tail approaching the big tree. I knew they would soon be feeding on its abundant acorns. I have no idea where they all came from, but suddenly several squirrels were scampering up and down its branches, moving from one feeding spot to another. It was sometime before I managed to get a shot, but my 28 dropped the squirrel like an anvil. The others fled without my getting another opportunity. Nevertheless I was off to a good start.
The season, however, proved to be a slow one for yours truly as I shot relatively few bushy tails, compared to other years. October was gone almost before I knew it and one afternoon in early November I set up near a huge pig nut tree, a few hundred yards upstream from where I’d taken my first squirrel on opening day. My father in law had first pointed out the food tree to me more than fifty years before, and I had often taken squirrels at that location. Now, well into autumn, many of the leaves had fallen, leaving the trees relatively bare. For quite a while I saw nothing. Then a squirrel appeared some distance away, only to vanish and reappear repeatedly. Eventually he stopped in the open long enough to give me a shot. Although the range was quite long for any shotgun, I lifted the little double to my shoulder and fired. The squirrel fell out without hesitating, removing all doubts as to the question of pursuing squirrels with the 28 gauge.
