Steel Shot for Geese

[HarcyPervin]

wait for them to set their wings and come to decoys. pass shooting geese, especially if you're new at it, is a tough task unless they're low. Once the wings are set, point and shoot. They'll look like 747's coming at you, and you'll be hooked right away. FWIW we have good luck with 2.75", 3" and 3.5" with BB, BBB, and T shot, but we hunt open fields and have the ability to chase down birds if we need to.

Good luck.

 

[chas08]

The most common mistake I've seen amongst folks new to the sport is raising up from their concealment too soon, and shooting at them when they are too far away. They are a large bird and always look closer than they really are. If you are hunting with a guide, or a member of your group has some experience, have them call the shots. As for what types of shooting opportunities you'll have, it could be anything, crossers right or left, straight in wings set,(the best) backpeddling climbers,(my most difficult) or anything in between. Have fun,take pictures, and let us know how it went.

 

[dak0ta]

I went to the store and bought 1 box each of Federal and Winchester steel.

Federal Speed Shok 12 Ga, 3'', 1 1/8 oz, BB - 1550 FPS
Winchester Xpert 12 Ga, 3'', 1400 FPS, 1 1/4 oz, BB

I'm going to guess that Federal may perform better.

So what I do is set up a target at 25, 35 and 45 yards? IC for 25 and 35 yards? and M for 35 and 45 yards?

How big does my target need to be? I was thinking of stapling 4 pieces of computer paper to make a giant square.

 

[ROCKFISH]

Try to aim for the head. The head and neck has a lot less covering than the body. And if possible, let them get close, they'll be a lot easier to kill.

 

[chas08]

I like to use a 30" diameter circle drawn on two sheets of white butcher paper with the circle drawn with a magic marker and a piece of string. blacken a 2" circle in the middle for an aiming point.

Don't be surprised if the looser choke gives you the best pattern. Steel does weird things, and just because it patterns one size shot really well, it may be completely different with another size shot. Especially if one is considerably larger or smaller. I've patterned several guns over the years and every one is different. I've had good luck with 12ga guns with modified chokes up to #2 and BB fairly consistently, and better luck with light modified and improved cylinder with BBB and T-shot. I pattern my 12ga guns at 40 yds and my 10ga guns at 50. My BPS 10 ga gives me the densest most even pattern at 50 yds with the I/C choke that came with it with T-shot. My SP-10 likes the Patternmaster long range version

 

[Tom Held]

It gets confusing

It all gets way too confusing. There was a similar post thread last year. I reminded my fellow goose shooters that these are birds with feathers, not flack jackets!

I agree that an IC choke with steel shot seems to pattern best in my 12 and 10 gauge guns, easily out to 50 yards.

I also bought a Pattern Master Choke for a Browning 10 ga auto and some Federal BlackClooud steel shot. Could not hit a moose with it. Was flat missing decoying geese at 25 yards. Finally read the small print on the box which said do not use with Pattern Master chokes.

On a few of geese I did kill the steel shot in that load penetrated but the black shot only penetrated under the skin. That was interesting. I gave the rest of that ammo away.

I bought a couple of boxes of the Winchester Blindside shells just to try them out later this year. May be just another gimmick. Manufacturers sure know how to market their products (Hypersteel, Blindside, Blackcloud).

Hope you all have a great waterfowl season this year.

Tom

 

[Gordon]

I load BB into 3.5" 10ga for Canadians up to 60 yards with a modified tube (Full steel).
I load 3" shells with BB also in the lesser guns with an IC tube usually
I tried T and don't like them personally, but they are good for TOO FAR shots.