You can kill squirrels with a pellet gun in most U.S. states, but only if the species isn’t protected, you hold a valid small game hunting license, the season is open, your pellet gun meets your state’s minimum caliber and velocity rules, and local ordinances allow you to discharge it where you’re standing. Miss any one of those and the same shot can turn into a fine, a misdemeanor, or a federal case.
How Your State Classifies the Squirrel
The first question isn’t about the gun. It’s about the animal. Wildlife agencies generally sort squirrels into three categories, and each one carries different rules.
- Game animal. Gray squirrels and fox squirrels are game animals in most states. That means a defined hunting season, a daily bag limit, and a license requirement.
- Nuisance wildlife. Squirrels causing genuine property damage may be removable outside the regular season, sometimes without a license, depending on the state’s process.
- Protected species. A small number of squirrels are protected by state or federal law and cannot be killed under any circumstances without a special permit.
Classification can vary even between species in the same state. A gray squirrel in your backyard oak may be legal quarry in the fall while a flying squirrel in the same tree is off-limits year-round. Check with your state wildlife agency before you assume all squirrels are treated the same.
The Species You Cannot Shoot
Two squirrel subspecies are listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. The Mount Graham red squirrel lives only in Arizona’s Pinaleño Mountains, with a population of roughly 232 animals in the most recent survey.1U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The Mount Graham Red Squirrel’s Fight for Survival The Carolina northern flying squirrel lives in high-elevation forests of the southern Appalachians.2U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Listed Animals – ECOS
Killing either one is a serious federal matter. A knowing violation can bring criminal fines up to $50,000, up to a year in prison, or both, and civil penalties reach $25,000 per violation. Federal agents can also seize the equipment involved, including the pellet gun and your vehicle.3U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Section 11 – Penalties and Enforcement “I didn’t know” doesn’t clear civil liability. If you hunt anywhere near the range of either subspecies, be certain of what you’re aiming at.
License, Season, and Bag Limit
When squirrels are game animals, you need a valid small game hunting license before you take one. Resident fees vary widely by state. Most states also require first-time hunters to complete a hunter education course before they can buy a license. All 50 states honor IHEA-approved certificates from other states, so a course you took elsewhere still counts if you move.
Squirrel seasons generally run from early fall into late winter, with exact dates set by each state and sometimes split into segments. Bag limits commonly fall between four and eight squirrels per day, with separate possession limits for multi-day trips. Shooting outside the open season, before or after legal shooting hours, or past your daily limit is a violation that can bring fines, jail time, and loss of hunting privileges.
What Your Pellet Gun Has to Do
States that allow airgun hunting set minimum standards. The most common floor is .177 caliber with a muzzle velocity of at least 600 feet per second. Some states require .22 caliber for small game, and some set higher velocity thresholds.
Those numbers are the legal minimum, not what actually works well on a squirrel. A .177 pellet at the minimum legal velocity produces roughly 5 to 8 foot-pounds of energy. That can kill a squirrel with a precise head shot at close range, but a body shot or a longer distance can leave the animal wounded rather than dead. A .22 caliber pellet gun putting out 12 or more foot-pounds gives a much larger margin for a clean kill, which is why experienced airgun hunters lean toward .22 for squirrels.
Underpowering the shot is not just an ethical issue. Most states have animal cruelty statutes that can reach hunters using equipment they know is inadequate, and some states’ wanton waste laws require you to retrieve and use game you kill. An underpowered pellet gun creates legal exposure on top of a poor outcome for the animal.
Squirrels Damaging Your Property
If squirrels are chewing through your attic, nesting in your walls, or destroying a garden, you may have options outside the regular season. Most states have nuisance wildlife provisions that let landowners deal with animals causing real property damage, and the process varies.
Some states let property owners kill nuisance squirrels without written permission from the wildlife agency. Others require a nuisance wildlife permit first. A few require you to hire a licensed commercial nuisance wildlife control operator instead of handling it yourself. The common requirement is documented damage, not just the presence of squirrels being annoying.
Nuisance rights do not override local discharge rules. If your city bans firing a pellet gun in residential zones, that ban still applies when the squirrel is on your own roof. In that situation, live trapping and relocation or a licensed wildlife control professional may be your only lawful path.
City and County Discharge Rules
This is where most plans fall apart. Even if your state allows airgun hunting for squirrels and you hold a valid license, your city or county may flatly prohibit discharging a pellet gun within its limits. Many municipalities treat pellet guns like firearms for discharge purposes, banning them in residential zones, inside city limits, or within a set distance of occupied buildings.
A common ordinance form prohibits discharging any device that fires a projectile above a set velocity, often 300 feet per second. That threshold catches essentially every pellet gun powerful enough to kill a squirrel. Fines usually run from $100 to $500, and repeat offenses can bring higher penalties, misdemeanor charges, or confiscation of the weapon.
Rural areas tend to be more permissive, with many counties allowing discharge on tracts of 10 acres or more and beyond a minimum distance from neighboring homes. Don’t assume, though. Check your municipal code or call local code enforcement before you fire.
What You Face if You Get It Wrong
The penalties for wildlife and discharge violations stack, because different authorities enforce different rules.
- Hunting without a license or out of season: fines commonly from $50 to $500, with jail time up to 90 days in some states for repeat offenders.
- Local discharge violations: fines generally from $100 to $500, possible misdemeanor charges, and confiscation of the pellet gun.
- License suspension: multiple wildlife convictions within a five-year window can trigger a suspension of all hunting privileges for two to five years in many states, with lifetime revocation possible for certain repeat offenses.
- Equipment seizure: law enforcement can confiscate pellet guns, traps, and other gear used in illegal hunting.
- Killing a protected species: civil penalties up to $25,000 and criminal penalties up to $50,000 plus imprisonment under the Endangered Species Act.3U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Section 11 – Penalties and Enforcement
These charges often compound. A single shot at a squirrel with a pellet gun inside city limits, without a license, during closed season, can produce three separate violations from three different authorities. The combined fines can easily clear $1,000, and your hunting privileges may go with them.