canada geese loads..

[gunshow56]

What yall using for canada geese loads. I'm shoting 3 1/2 rem hypersonic #2 looking for some advice was thinking maybe going bb but also looking for a better value brand if there is one thanks in advance!!!

[Pixel Shooter]

3.5" overkill IMO. guess depends if your pass shooting or over decoys. 3" BB will do it for me no problem. I personally like size#1 shot for everything from dux to geese. don't like changing shot out all the time.

IM all about value as I refuse to spend $25 a box for shooting birds with a brain the size of a pea LOL!!! Winchester xperts kill birds at $13 a box and does me just fine.

[gunshow56]

Kills birds at what range??? Clean kills or wounding lots?? 13 bucks a box seems cheap to me

[Pixel Shooter]

40 yards comfortably. $13 was sale price................. ummmmm dead. shot a bird to two LOL!, works for me

[gloszz]

Originally Posted by gunshow56

Kills birds at what range??? Clean kills or wounding lots?? 13 bucks a box seems cheap to me

When Cabela's had their sale on ammo, I loaded up on their $6 Challenger ammo in BB and BBB as well as #2. I have killed everything I have laid my sights on. Only once had a goose wounded and drop and had to twist its neck...

[Ithaca Dog]

I shoot all kinds of shells and shot sizes depending on the situation. I avoid
3-1/2 inch shells due to cost. I use them if I am pass shooting or for days the geese won't commit. I shoot 3" shells for every situation. I've killed many birds with 2-3/4 but find that 3" is best all around. I usually shoot an improved cylinder choke with larger shot, no 1's and up. I shoot modified choke with 2's and 3's for ducks.

Geese just seem to die when I shoot no 1's. I also shoot BB's for geese and have had good success when I did my part. I currently am working my way through half a case of Score Steel in BB from wholesale sports. I bought 5 boxes of 3" BB's at 14 bucks a box.

In the past I spent 17-18 bucks a box for Kent Faststeel. This year the price was around 25 bucks, maybe a bit more. I couldn't justify that and went with the score.

I've also killed lots of birds with Winchester Xperts. I cut quite a few open and the shot was always black, dusty, occasionally misshapen and often not uniform. They still killed birds.

Most of my waterfowling is over decoys and jump shooting. Shots within 30 yards.

Growing up I spent many Saturday mornings pass shooting as birds would leave the roost and fly over a ridge. I had lots of practice at 40-65 yards and did well with 12 gauge 3" shells shooting BBB or T shot.

Best advice I was ever given for shooting geese was to shoot for the white cheek patch. If you can hit a mallard consistently you can hit a gooses head consistently.

Many people who shot a lot if lead will advocate for 2's for geese and 4's for ducks. It has been my experience that this is too light unless you are good enough to consistently hit them in the head and you are shooting at less than 30 yards over decoys. My thought is that if it works for you then go for it.

There is a study out there somewhere that says you need between 4-7 pellets hitting a vital area striking at a certain force I can't remember to kill consistently.

Basically you need to hit the bird with multiple pellets with enough energy to penetrate and cause damage in vital areas to consistently kill. Energy comes from weight, increase pellet size, and speed, get closer. It's a balancing act between too few pellets, not enough hits, and too many pellets, not enough energy.

Sorry for the long answer. I'm sure someone will disagree and that's fine too. I just do what I have found to work.

[gunshow56]

Great response Ithaca!!! These are the very same questions and thoughts I'm having myself hence why I asked the question
Had a rough day out shooting yesterday and have to blame it on something haha!! Had plenty of birds within 50 yards comiting to our setup but just couldn't seem to knock em down.. back to the drawing board...

Is patern testing important or not?

[Pixel Shooter]

I would say yes so you know fully what your getting at distances. I moved over to a Skeet II aftermarket tube because the pattern was exceptional compared to my stock modified. took some testing but was worth the effort. As equally important is ensuring your gun is fitted properly, that can cause issues.

For geese I find many call the shoot a little too early, best advise I got 30 plus years ago was when you think you should shoot, count to 3 then have at er. only caveat is if birds flared. then that's your set up.

[elkhunter11]

I use 3" Kent Fasteel in #2 or BB shot size, usually #2. I can't see any reason to use 3-1/2" loads unless you actually enjoy more recoil, or you simply want to spend more money. If you can't bring geese down with 3" loads, you need to practice your shooting, rather than throw more shot at them.

[Ithaca Dog]

Originally Posted by Pixel Shooter

I would say yes so you know fully what your getting at distances. I moved over to a Skeet II aftermarket tube because the pattern was exceptional compared to my stock modified. took some testing but was worth the effort. As equally important is ensuring your gun is fitted properly, that can cause issues.

For geese I find many call the shoot a little too early, best advise I got 30 plus years ago was when you think you should shoot, count to 3 then have at er. only caveat is if birds flared. then that's your set up.

Absolutly agree with Pixel Shooter here. Pattern your gun with different loads and different brands. Especially if you are shooting 50 yards. Good patterns are essential at this range. In my gun federal bb's throw the pattern hard right. The right half of the pattern at 40 yards has twice the shot in it as the left side. Kent Faststeel through a good pattern in my gun with bb's. Kent silver steel patterned the best in my gun. It's the most expensive too. Ha! Go figure. One's patterned the best. Kent's again. I haven't patterned the score loads yet. To pattern I took a piece of wire and wrapped it around a nail. Then I wrapped a sharpie around the other end of the wire a measured 15" out. I stapled a big piece of paper to a pallet stuck the nail in the centre and drew a thirty inch circle. Wrote the gun, shell type, oz size, feet per second, and choke down. Then. I murdered the target in cold blood at 40 yards from a bench rest. I shot 3-5 patterns per load. I was just using up shells left over from the last year. I learned a lot about my gun. I need to do it again with the shotgun my son will use next year.

[shakeyleg02]

Originally Posted by Pixel Shooter

3.5" overkill IMO. guess depends if your pass shooting or over decoys. 3" BB will do it for me no problem. I personally like size#1 shot for everything from dux to geese. don't like changing shot out all the time.

IM all about value as I refuse to spend $25 a box for shooting birds with a brain the size of a pea LOL!!! Winchester xperts kill birds at $13 a box and does me just fine.

Im with pixel on this 3 inch #1 would be my preferred load ..i mostly use BB but its too much for quackers

[wwbirds]

2 3/4 # 3's died on the water before we could pick it up. I use 2 3/4 for ducks and geese decoying (30 yards max) I use 3 inch for geese out to about 40 yards.
I dont shoot at 50 or more yards as the chances of wounding and not recovering are greater. find a lot of people have trouble judging effective killing range which is much closer with steel shot than the lead of the old days.

[Andrzej]

I think that we should not leave velocity out of this Steel shot discussion.
IMO I think that payload ( more pellets per load ) takes second or third place to Velocity.
At one point I was shooting 23/4 inch handloads with 1oz of steel at 1500 ft/sec when factory loads were around 1300 ft/sec with great success.

Now there are 1700 ft/sec factory loads.

Momentum it is whats kills...#2 at 1700 ft/sec that's not #2 at 1300 ft/sec.
Now once we have fast steel I would pattern with different chockes.

I like #6 Steel for Teal hunting at about 1500-1550 ft /sec.

Speed kills when shooting Steel.

Andrew

[Diesel_wiesel]

I to have done my share of experiments
I have settled on BBB or T shot
Use an IC choke
It works consistently for me
Dead birds
No cripples
Through out the year I buy 2 boxes every payday
Usually federal or winchester brand
So the big hit isn't as painful at hunting season
I also pay a little more because I use a 10 gauge
Just my preference I prefer a 10 over a 12 gauge
It patterns way better I've found



Sent from my D5106 using Tapatalk

[elkhunter11]

Speed kills, if you can place the steel on the birds, and that is where most hunters fall short. Most hunters can hit geese at 20 yards with their legs out landing, but give them a goose flying by at speed, or worse yet a teal buzzing the decoys, and many birds get missed. Counting up the empty shot shell hulls after a shoot, and comparing that number to the number of dead birds gives a person a good idea of how well they shoot. If you only have 25% more empty hulls than dead birds, your shooting is good, but if you have two or three times as many empty hulls as dead birds, the issue isn't your choke or your ammunition, it's your shooting.

[pointer]

Originally Posted by Pixel Shooter

40 yards comfortably. $13 was sale price................. ummmmm dead. shot a bird to two LOL!, works for me

Just killed a couple eh? Kinda like my self

[tikka250]

i shoot score or winchester 2's out of a modified choke for pretty much everything except straight duck shoots where i will use 3's. i dont know how people can justify shooting $25 or more per box when the cheap stuff kills just as dead.

[dickthomson]

I shoot 3.5 #1's for field hunting and 3 #2 for over water duck hunting. As far as brand goes I spent some time at the range and figured what shot best out of what choke for the distances I like to shoot which is generally 35 yards or less. My Beretta will shot Challengers Remington Sportman Steel and Rio shells. As far as cost goes well I just buy a box or two when I can through out the year and by the time the season rolls around I have Plenty. I shoot only 3.5 #2 out of my 10 gauge. I can and have consistently rolled geese at 50 yards with my 10 not because it is ballistically superior to a 12 but it has more pellets. In short pattern density is your friend along with practice. By the shells you like and can afford and to H3!! with what other people have to say about unless you care or ask.

Recoil....My 870 used to buck me something furious with the 1 3.8 ounce #1 3.5 shells. So I bought an autoloader that was gas operated and has a recoil reduction feature in it called a kick off. Problem solved.

[Flight01]

Originally Posted by elkhunter11

I use 3" Kent Fasteel in #2 or BB shot size, usually #2. I can't see any reason to use 3-1/2" loads unless you actually enjoy more recoil, or you simply want to spend more money. If you can't bring geese down with 3" loads, you need to practice your shooting, rather than throw more shot at them.

I'm still figuring out what I want to shoot but do like Kent #2 so far. I just don't do it enough to establish a good base like you guys. The last 7 we took were 3" #3 and #2 Winchester steel. We had been going for puddle ducks but seemed to work fine on geese.

[snowman160]

Had one of the best shooters/feild instructors at beaverhill sporting clays rest every load on the market with all choked and ranges.kent #2 an bb 1 1/8 oz load patterned the best.Dont waste Yur $ on all that fast Crap it's just a selling. Gimmick.one camp I worked this fall had all Score ammo.saw plenty of birds fall dead to it.an it's cheap.dont get caught up with all the "faster" or "longer range" shells on the market.an 3.5" judt beat on your shoulder.not necessary at all.

[Pikebreath]

Originally Posted by snowman160

3.5" judt beat on your shoulder.not necessary at all.

And give you a head ache to boot if you ever get in on good snow goose shoot where the action is fast and furious!!!

[drake]

if you're not killing birds with #2 you aren't going to kill them much better with #BB......there are other issues at play. All other things being equal....brand of shell and size (provided you are shooting something between BB and #3) has very little to do with the number of birds in the bag.

[densa44]

Low and behind. If you hit them in the neck and head they will be dead in the air. I still shoot 2 3/4 hand loads and I'm using T size shot. Works just fine. Oh for those interested in the finer points, I use an over shot wad and Blue Dot. I get a bit more shot that way.

[Ray Ray]

3" Score BB works for me

[32-40win]

There was a ballistics chart around, a few yrs back, that showed what steel was doing out to 50yds at muzzle velocities up to 1700. Maybe around 2012 or 13, not too long after the Hypers came out It showed that #2 was actually the best balance between shot pattern and ballistics, #3 was close behind it. Nothing wrong with #1 or BB out to 40, but, they dropped off faster after 40 yds because of shot being round pellets. What was interesting about it, was that the velocities at 40 yds on the 1700fps loads were within about 50fps of the 1550 loads, and within about 25fps at 50yds. The discussion around it, was to do with leads on the birds, as well as lethality, and the 1700fps rounds beating up the autoloaders and the shooters. The general consensus of it was, there was no longer range advantage to the 1700fps loads, especially over the 1600-1650 stuff, the ballistics of a round pellet saw to that, and that the difference in lead was really negligible, it was a matter of inches, and under a foot, from 1550 to 1700.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by 32-40win

There was a ballistics chart around, a few yrs back, that showed what steel was doing out to 50yds at muzzle velocities up to 1700. Maybe around 2012 or 13, not too long after the Hypers came out It showed that #2 was actually the best balance between shot pattern and ballistics, #3 was close behind it. Nothing wrong with #1 or BB out to 40, but, they dropped off faster after 40 yds because of shot being round pellets. What was interesting about it, was that the velocities at 40 yds on the 1700fps loads were within about 50fps of the 1550 loads, and within about 25fps at 50yds. The discussion around it, was to do with leads on the birds, as well as lethality, and the 1700fps rounds beating up the autoloaders and the shooters. The general consensus of it was, there was no longer range advantage to the 1700fps loads, especially over the 1600-1650 stuff, the ballistics of a round pellet saw to that, and that the difference in lead was really negligible, it was a matter of inches, and under a foot, from 1550 to 1700.

The lead is irrelevant, unless you are shooting at the birds, and not leading at all. You simply learn to lead based on the velocity of the load that you shoot.

[ganderblaster]

My SBE2 loves Score BBs for geese and blue box Federal #4 for ducks and specks over decoys. Amazing how far even #4s can bring down birds if hit right. I wish Score would sell #4s in 3". I can not justify shooting American made ammo with the $ exchange the way it is anymore!

[Okotokian]

If I know it's just going to be geese, 3" Black Cloud BB... or Blindside in same size. My gun handles 3 1/2" inch but I don't see the need.

[tikka250]

Originally Posted by ganderblaster

My SBE2 loves Score BBs for geese and blue box Federal #4 for ducks and specks over decoys. Amazing how far even #4s can bring down birds if hit right. I wish Score would sell #4s in 3". I can not justify shooting American made ammo with the $ exchange the way it is anymore!

I agreem score should make some #4s i found the #3s that they make to work great on puddle ducks where i normaly wpuld use 4.

[Benelli1]

Originally Posted by tikka250

I agreem score should make some #4s i found the #3s that they make to work great on puddle ducks where i normaly wpuld use 4.

They do..........Ammo Supply in Calgary has them.

12 ga - 3" - #4 - 1 1/8oz Steel Hunting
SCORE, Prairie Shot
25 rounds
Learn More12 ga - 3" - #4 - 1 1/8oz Steel Hunting
$13.99
$0.56 per round
13
in stock
12 ga - 3" - #4 - 1 1/8oz Steel Hunting - Case
SCORE, Prairie Shot
250 rounds
Learn More12 ga - 3" - #4 - 1 1/8oz Steel Hunting - Case
$134.99
$0.54 per roun