Who goose hunts?
- Thread starter Axis II
- Start date
.308 Norma
Member
Thanks for the laugh!! That story reminded me of the story a couple of my buddies in high school told me. It seems they'd been out pheasant hunting, shot a few roosters and put them in the trunk of the car. When they got home and opened the trunk, one of those danged roosters had woken up, and when he came flying out, both of my buddies nearly crapped their pants.
The unlucky rooster pheasant didn't get away though. He flew across the road and straight into a power pole.
Random 8
Member
I've hunted a lot of geese, but mostly on the water. The field game is a bit too gear/money intensive for my taste here when I can get plenty on public waters. I have hunted a few field hunts as a guest of others who have all the junk though, and done some pass shooting along picked fields where they would come in low (my backyard after work). Never from layout blinds though. My friend owned a backhoe and cornfields before the divorce, so we hunted pit blinds. Can't wrap my head around shooting from my back. I guess I'd have to practice in the yard if the opportunity for layout blinds arose.
For close decoyed geese, I'm a big fan of #1 or #2 steel moving really fast. Bis or Tungsten are likely better, but I'm too cheap for that. I shoot strictly #1 for pass shooting. Not a fan of BBs or bigger. You need hits in the head/neck to bring them down, and BB doesn't have the pattern density. You will not penetrate the body on a frontal shot with steel, but you can break a wing with a lucky hit. Ignore the charge weight, find one with a velocity above 1500 fps. Speed kills. I shoot a dedicated "pass" waterfowl choke when geese are on the menu, although I have killed plenty incidentally to duck hunting with IC or Skeet in the gun. I think mine is marketed by Primos, and likely made by Carlsons. It throws a very tight patter to 40 yards. They seem to fold up better with the pass choke. I'm of the opinion, you cannot have too tight a pattern with geese. That is not to say too tight a choke! In my experience, a full choke tends to do weird things to large steel shot, created a ragged pattern with lots of holes and a wide fringe. Modified is a mixed bag. I've had best luck with dedicated steel chokes that have a longer constricting section and the more open chokes for shorter range. You also need to center them forward of the wings unless they are flying up with their backs to you when you've been really good at crawling through the marsh.
Geese are faster than you think, their size is decieving. On a pass, they're moving as fast as a mallard. With a tail wind, they can approach canvasback speed. Before season, get the fastest target load you can find and shoot some skeet with a modified choke to really dial in your aim. The harder crossing stations are moving at crossing goose speed. If you're hitting those with a mod, you'll hit geese in the head and neck.
For close decoyed geese, I'm a big fan of #1 or #2 steel moving really fast. Bis or Tungsten are likely better, but I'm too cheap for that. I shoot strictly #1 for pass shooting. Not a fan of BBs or bigger. You need hits in the head/neck to bring them down, and BB doesn't have the pattern density. You will not penetrate the body on a frontal shot with steel, but you can break a wing with a lucky hit. Ignore the charge weight, find one with a velocity above 1500 fps. Speed kills. I shoot a dedicated "pass" waterfowl choke when geese are on the menu, although I have killed plenty incidentally to duck hunting with IC or Skeet in the gun. I think mine is marketed by Primos, and likely made by Carlsons. It throws a very tight patter to 40 yards. They seem to fold up better with the pass choke. I'm of the opinion, you cannot have too tight a pattern with geese. That is not to say too tight a choke! In my experience, a full choke tends to do weird things to large steel shot, created a ragged pattern with lots of holes and a wide fringe. Modified is a mixed bag. I've had best luck with dedicated steel chokes that have a longer constricting section and the more open chokes for shorter range. You also need to center them forward of the wings unless they are flying up with their backs to you when you've been really good at crawling through the marsh.
Geese are faster than you think, their size is decieving. On a pass, they're moving as fast as a mallard. With a tail wind, they can approach canvasback speed. Before season, get the fastest target load you can find and shoot some skeet with a modified choke to really dial in your aim. The harder crossing stations are moving at crossing goose speed. If you're hitting those with a mod, you'll hit geese in the head and neck.
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