When I lived in LA (16 years total), I never went out without a firearm. I could hunt something year round, though the heat of summer was the equivalent of January in Alaska, and I didn't go out much between June and August.
In the canoe, where water mocs were an issue, and if not actively hunting squirrels, I carried a .357 revolver loaded with snakeshot. I had a Ruger 10/22 for squirrels, with a collapsible stock that made getting through thick brush with it a breeze. Both were easy/light. A shotgun with a slug barrel was heavier but still portable. A longer deer rifle was a pain.
Squirrels taste like what they've been eating... if they're in a pine forest, they aren't very good. If they've been eating acorns or corn, they're delicious... my favorite way to eat them is to cut every shred of meat off them until you have a fist-sized ball of it, and then just chop that into sausage. Divided into 2-4 portions, depending on the size of the squirrel, placed in a cheap plastic sandwich bag, and thrown in the freeezer, I liked to pull one out to defrost overnight, quickly stir-fried it in bacon grease in the morning, and added a couple whisked eggs right on top, for "squirrel-scrambled eggs". Delicious.