I got my first squirrel(two actually) on Saturday with my 12 guage.

I was actually rabbit/bird hunting but the dog jumped some deer and took off to god knows where so we sat down for awhile to wait for it to come back. Never came back that day though, but the next day we were able to find the dog.

I dunno what to say about the shot gun. The first one I shot at about 30-35 yards and it fell down but got back up and was going nuts trying to climb a little tree for a good 30 seconds so I walked up to it and it fell on the ground so I stepped on its head. The second one was about 20 yards and it died instantly. Not sure how the pellets affect the meat though as my buddy took the squirrels. If your a shakey shot like me, shotgun might be best, who knows it seemed to get the job done.