# Pass shooting geese need help



## ksfowler166 (Oct 2, 2011)

I have a place where I can pass shoot canada geese. Was wondering what choke and shot size to use. Range will probabley be 40+ yd. I have a 1187 3" 12ga. with i.c. , mod., and full chokes. I have remington nitro T shot, Win. experts BB, Kent faststeel #1, and Federal Heavey Weight #2. HW is the 15.2 g/cc load.


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## BodyCount (Jun 11, 2010)

You might be undergunned here dude, and in danger of being labled a skybuster. 40 plus yards is a long shot for a 3 inch gun. You need to get to a range and pattern the loads you are considering. If you kill a goose or can get one from a friend, stretch it's wings out and trace it's outline from tip to tail. Use cardboard and make several copies. I would recommend starting with a modified choke or something more open, and large shot like BBB or your T. You need to put 2 or 3 pellets into your tracing at 40 yards, and hits on the wing feathers don't count. If you are going to pass shoot a lot in the future upgrade to a 3.5 inch chamber, or a 10 gauge. The other thing is a 40 or 50 yard overhead pass shot requires a very long lead, if you hit them in the *** it is a wasted bird. If they are flying with a strong wind you might need an 8 foot lead.Otherwise hold at least 1 foot in front of the tip of the bill.


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## KurtR (May 3, 2008)

Damn wish i would have known i needed a 3.5" i dont know why all those geese died shooting at 50-60 yards with 3" and even 2.75" with bb steel and 2 heavy shot. patern it is good, practice in off season is better and more birds are wounded with t shot than all others false sense of being able to shoot farther with big bbs and poor pattern. Me i role with the 1978 wingmaster 28" bbl and full choke but i only hunted waterfowl about 50 days this year i might just be plain *** guessing to.


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## Csquared (Sep 5, 2006)

Kurt. you're probably not old enough to have used lead shot, but 1 5/8 oz of 3" lead #2's thru a full choke would knock em for a loop MUCH higher than 40 yards....and I think #2 Remington Heavy Shot thru a mod might be even better. I don't even own a 3.5" gun, and my 10 ga never comes out of the safe.


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## southdakbearfan (Oct 11, 2004)

All of those will work. Move up to larger shot sizes the longer the range or the high density/heavishot. I would suggest some patterning to select choke, but if i had to go out on a limb I would stick with modified.

Leads with steel go very long the longer the range.

BBB's and T's are my fav when I go to pass shoot. But I know what patterns best in my gun and how far to lead.

Back in the original days of steel, CONSEP listed what sizes of shot were effective to what ranges. F shot was listed as the highest crippling rate. But, that was the original days when everyone wanted to shove the same weight of shot in a steel shell (1 7/8 oz in a 3" shell) instead of looking at pellet count. BBB's and T's were listed as the best for large geese.

Today, with the higher velocities and heavier density shot available I would say the shot sizes have shifted, dependent on range.

One thing to note, when looking at steel pellet ballistics, once you break about 1450-1500 fps, any further velocity improvements don't really affect maximum range. A T shot pellet started at 1400 fps will be going 572 at 70 yds. A T shot pellet started at 1800 fps will be going 646 fps at 70 yds. 575 fps is considered the benchmark for lethality, give or take. So to get that pellet going 400 fps faster out of the barrel it has to be a smaller overall payload, decreasing pattern density. Which pattern density becomes ever so important when you are reaching out there and you really only gained about 5 yards in lethal range. Also, in my experience with patterning probably hundreds of steel shot loads, once you break 1500 fps with larger than #1 steel you start getting large holes in the pattern (knuckleball effect?).


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## KurtR (May 3, 2008)

Csquared said:


> Kurt. you're probably not old enough to have used lead shot, but 1 5/8 oz of 3" lead #2's thru a full choke would knock em for a loop MUCH higher than 40 yards....and I think #2 Remington Heavy Shot thru a mod might be even better. I don't even own a 3.5" gun, and my 10 ga never comes out of the safe.


No i am not but did get the pleasure of shooting some of my dads reloads with that exact charge over top of i think herco at pheasants when i was 12 for my dad and his friends entertainment after i did some tough talking.


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