I grew up calling them "wolves"' too, and to this day my dad will not shoot a squirrel until after the first frost. That rule was fine when I was younger, but now the first frost is sometimes in deer season. So the last few years years I have been waiting until the weather "cools" down a little from the summer heat before I go out. I think I might out earlier this year in the name of deer scouting.
Nothing beat frying up a mess of squirrels and then making some gravy. God that is eating. As far as getting any "cuts of meat" off a squirrel, we usually just have the four legs and the backs or whatever is left from those parts after shooting one to close with a shotgun.
I like go use a shotgun for early season hunting (while leaves are still on the tress) and a .22 for late season hunting (bare trees). Black powder would definitely be interesting.