Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl What to use on Canada Goose

We have many of them around here and we may hunt them (there is a Canada Goose season for three years only, so it is unusual game to us).

Last W-E I had my first opportunities to try to get some of them.

Large and small squadrons flew just over us as we were hunting hares. Their flight was slow and not very high, three times I tried to shoot one with my duck loads (556 grains high velocity loads of nickel coated number 4 pellets). I obviously hitted my targets (shots were quite easy 'cause flights were slow and low) each time, with two shots ... NO EFFECT.

What do you use on them ?

We aren't allowed to use more than 3,5 mm in diameter pellets.

I use 3.5 or 3 inch loads in BB size. I use that on just about everything and it seems to ruin their day rather nicely...

What do you mean by "BB size" ? Buckshot ? Brigitte Bardot ?

Can you use lead shot or do you have to use non-toxic and steel?

Bb

Closer than 60 yards from water I have to use lead free shot or at least nickel coated lead (what I always have with me for duck encounters). Elsewhere I can use lead shot.

It should be listed on the box - (note lower right corner)

Dang - I guess that's too big huh?

The 3.5mm restriction is a dickens as it translates to #3 shot American. In lead shot #2 (3.81mm) had always been my minimum for decoying geese with those shots generally being under 25 yards. I would guess that barring bigger pellets a guy would have to send more of them, therefore increasing pellet hit count. Pass shooting geese with #4 shot would be futile for someone with my modest skills.

Looking at the chart it appears you are limited to a max of #4 shot. I normally use #2 shot for Canada's. If you use the best quality shot you can find and don't try and reach out too far you will be fine. Basically wait till the birds are committed to landing. If you can find Hevi-Shot or Black Cloud etc you should be good to go, just no sky busting.

Thanks guys.

Aaaargh I used good quality shells (RC4) at low range and had no effets. One goose had to land after my shots but landed hundred yards away and was able to take off before I could get it ... How can we kill those birds if we aren't allowed to use proper size pellets ????

Aiming the head ???? In pellet shooting ???

Looks like we are allowed to hunt them just to pay the field damages to the farmers.

If your limited to #4's try to find some heavy shot. A fast load of lead might work as well. We used to drop geese with #4 lead loads if they were not too far up. In closer a heavy load of lead 4's (like a 1&7/8 ounce 3" mag) did wonders on geese because the high # of pellets usually broke wings, heads, and necks. Further out a fast load of #4 lead seemed better, like a 1&1/4 ounce load at around 1400 fps. Your best bet is still probably heavyshot, then you don't have to worry about being too close to the water.

My little brother was trying to shoot geese out past 40 yards with Black Cloud #3 the other day and I think the shot just bounced off the feathers. I dropped a few at that range but I was shooting BBB which is way bigger than you can use.

Bb

Ain't good news. None around here owns a more than 2'3/4 12 gauge shotgun. 36 grams (556 grains) is probably the heavier load we can access with out usual shotguns.

Law should be changed or we should break it.

Grand Veneur, I have shot many Canada geese with the same load you were using. In Canada it would be called #4 shot, nickel plated lead, 1-1/4 oz. 2-3/4". I believe that is the same as your 3.3 MM 36 gram 70mm load. The shells I used were called Legia, made in Belgium, imported here by Browning in the 1980's. They were some of my favourite loads for geese before lead shot ( including nickel plated) was banned for all waterfowl shooting here a few years ago. I found the smooth nickel plated lead shot penetrated much better than plain lead, it did not seem to stick in the feathers but slipped between. I have shot completely through the bodies of Greater Canadas, the large sub species that weighs 5 Kg. or so. I found these shells effective out to about 40 meters when shot out of full or modified choke guns.
Please do not let one experience discourage you. You may be trying to shoot at longer range than your shells will allow, but within 40 meters I know from personal experience that they will kill very cleanly. One other tip, those big birds are flying much faster than you think! You may be hitting them in the rear end, increase your lead and you should be killing more geese without wounding. Happy hunting!

Thanks for the advice.

In fact I was using my sxs field shotgun, it is only a cylinder & 1/2. Maybe I should take my O/U when I have opportunities on such big birds (invector + removable choke tubes could allow me to get 3/4 and full choke).

It really all depends on range. The first Canadas I shot were with 2 3/4" #6 lead shot. Yea....it was a while ago when lead shot was still legal on waterfowl.

I would rathe hazard that if you're shooting #4 lead or #3 steel and they're not coming down then either they are too far away or you're shooting behind them.....you did say they were slow flying......they might be deceiving you. Try another 18" of lead and see what happens.

Even with #4 lead or #3 steel the 40 yard rule isn't a bad rule.

I suggest that you shoot your guns with the 3.3 MM 36g load on paper. I would predict that the pattern is much too thin with cylinder and 1/2 choke. 3/4 choke is the minimum for pass shooting geese with lead shot in my opinion. You need to predictably place 3 pellets in the vital area, or 5 pellets total in the bird, to ensure a clean kill. If your gun/load does not deliver that, you will not get clean kills, especially with small pellets.
Another suggestion, that you try Hevi shot has some merit. But I'm not sure if those shells are available in your country. The pellets made from tungsten - iron are very effective, (and very expensive!) They are heavier than lead, pattern more tightly than lead, and kill large birds very well. Last week I killed two blue geese with two consecutive shots from a 16 ga. loaded with one ounce of #6 Heavi shot. Range was between 50 and 55 yards. That is extreme range for such a light load, but the small, dense tungsten - iron pellets kill better than anything else that I have used. If available, 3.5 MM tungsten-iron pellets from 3/4 choke should be a very deadly combination for large geese at any reasonable range.

C&B is right, patterning your shotgun is really important.
Tom Roster developed the CONSEP system for waterfowl hunting, then upland birds. It's basically patterning your shotgun at different yardages and seeing what percentage of the load is delivered to a 30 inch circle. Roster did a lot of research on what it took to kill ducks and geese with different loads at different ranges, using nontoxic shot. You might try #4 tungsten matrix for what you are trying to do, but first pattern your gun say a 30 yards then at 40 yards using those loads and figure out the percentage of hits in the 30 inch circle as opposed to the number of pellets that flew out the end of your barrel.

Decoy them in close. Then you could use 2-3/4" 20 ga with #4 steel and IC choke.

"Squadrons"
You crack me up!
Lots of good advice in the previous posts. Pass-shooting is not the ideal way to kill geese, especially with small shot you're forced to use. A tight pattern is good, and you have to lead these birds - they're faster than you might think.
It would be way more effective and fun to decoy those birds. If not too many people do that there, you can be successful with a dozen shells and a simple goose flute.
If you can't get that in Belgium, I may be able to figure out a way to get you some.

Thanks all.

I've found RC4 high speed number 2 shots shells at my gunsmith, they just reach the 3.5 mm legal limitation, but aren't nickel plated, so I'm not supposed to use them close to water. Unfortunately, I should not use those 1370 bars shells in my usual field gun, I'd have to take my Browning ultra.

I know the patterns of my field gun, it is not ideal for waterfowl but as pheasants, woodcocks & hares, ... are our main goals, I use to favor that gun (and he can shoot slugs very good up to 35 yards, which is very useful in cas we'd meet roe deers or boars). By the way, that old gun can clean kill rocket roosters at 50 yards with simple number 6 pellets in the cyl. barrel. When I used it on geese, we clearly eared the smack of the pellets on the feathers, so I believe I was on my targets and the gear failed.

I'll try to make some special geese hunt with the ultra XS.