The idea of hunting squirrels with a pellet gun on purpose may sound silly, but it is a real hobby. Using an air rifle to shoot at small game can be a difficult and enjoyable scenario. The fact that you are picking off very small targets with a weapon that works only on compressed air can be rather validating. The challenge of it, compared to using firearms make the experience fun all by itself. Plus the skill to master the art of shooting a squirrel with a rifle is not as easy as you’d expect. The use of a scope is almost a requirement for trying to take down the small game due to their size. Shooting a small squirrel with just the basic sights on an air rifle is almost impossible to do from any real distance. Preferably you want to look into getting a variable scope, so that you can hunt at different distances with ease, because trying to pick out a squirrel that is trying to remain camouflaged against a tree is already tough enough. You don’t need your scope giving you too close or too far a view of the situation. Air rifles come primarily in four different calibers and even the smallest pellet is able to dispatch a squirrel if the bullet is in the kill zone; it is just a matter of whether or not the pellet is traveling fast enough. A shot has to deliver at least three fpe in order to bring down most squirrels. If you are firing the smaller .177 caliber pellet than it will need to be traveling at around 415 feet per second, while the heavier .22 caliber pellet only has to go around 300 fps to achieve a deadly result. These speeds are easily obtainable by any well made air rifle. The other less common caliber rifles of .20 and .25 also have plenty enough killing power to take down any squirrels or other small prey you intend to hunt. Making sure you have the right equipment will go a long way in your pellet gun hunting adventures. The joy of picking off the tiny target that a squirrel makes will bring a great sense of satisfaction. The skill involved in successful squirrel hunting is nothing to sneeze at. Plus if you go with a smaller caliber air rifle, you will be able to hunt various birds as well without having to purchase an additional weapon.