Ya treat yer gun like ya treat yer woman: ya keeps her clean and hugs her tight, and she'll treat ya right. Or so my old Basic Training Sergeant said.

Actually, muzzleloaders have less recoil than a modern firearm. That's cause the black powder burns more slowly than nitrocellulose, so you have more of a push than a whack. You do have to hold either one tight, though.

It's possible to "bark" a squirrel when hunting it, shooting at the branch and making the squirrel fall, but you gotta be awfully good to do it. I suspect that your chain was being yanked.