outdoors kid 1 Posted September 17, 2008 Report Share Posted September 17, 2008 recently i have been walking the boundaries of the land i shoot and i have made a great discovery. one of my fields is over run with geese in the late evening. i have recently purchased a 12g shotgun and i wondered do you need a specific license to shoot them ? and if not what type of cartridge and shot would you use to take one of these big birds ? also is there any techniques to shooting them ? cheers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tom1cameron 1 Posted September 17, 2008 Report Share Posted September 17, 2008 Hi outdoors kid Get there before they do. Keep hidden and still within 30yrds of their landing areas. Use decoys if you can, if they have been feeding there you probably wont need calls. You cannot shoot at geese with lead shot. you must use non-toxics. Your gun is a 12g, but is it magnum proofed. If so then you may be able to use a better quality non-toxic shell. My recommendations to you depend on the range you can make your shots at. If you can shoot them up to 30yds then you can probably use a good quality steel shot cartridge, try lyalvale express, hull or remington in 2's or BB's. Alternatively if you have the cash you could try Hevishot (1.90/shell) or Rington Wingmasterd HD (5.00/shot), this also requires that your gun is suitably proofed. However, if your gun's proofing is not suitable for good quality steel shot or hevishot then your choices are to use Tin, Bismuth or Impact Tungsten Matrix (not sure about how suitable these are), heavy loads of either of these metals are fine for most standard proofed weapons. The safest but not the cheapest bet for you if your range is 30-40yds but you are not sure about the suitability of steel is Bismuth. The best bet is to speak to "your" trusted gunsmith, they should know what the best cartridge for you gun will be, but ome of them are so ignorant of these issues it is unreal. Look at the information that you can download from the BASC website. And if your a BASC member, you can phone their firearms dept for help. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wag 13 Posted September 17, 2008 Report Share Posted September 17, 2008 recently i have been walking the boundaries of the land i shoot and i have made a great discovery. one of my fields is over run with geese in the late evening. i have recently purchased a 12g shotgun and i wondered do you need a specific license to shoot them ? and if not what type of cartridge and shot would you use to take one of these big birds ? also is there any techniques to shooting them ? cheers hi outdoor kid, just a few more things mate (1) what geese are they ? (2)are they legal to shoot ? (3) what choke is in your gun, if its over half choke you may be putting yourself at risk by using steel through a tight choke gun if its a modern gun it will say proofed for steel on it .but still check the chokes . (4)if you have not shot geese before ,i would proberly ask around your friends and family to see if they have, they might be able to give you some advice, also come along with you to show you how to go on . (5)i would not just go and shoot them , i would do some field craft first go and watch them for a couple of nights flighting in, watch what they do and where there flighting from, watch which part of the field there landing on, if you have no decoys you would proberly do better on the flight line. just watch what part of the field they are coming over to land in on then get under them there , if they are coming from all directions then just try your best . but if you have decoys then set them out where the geese are feeding, get a hide up, natural cover is the best, if you dont have much natural cover to work with then use a hide, try not to make it stand out to much as it could put the geese off . when your in the hide and there are geese coming to your decoys or your flighting them dont move until the last moment because they will see your movement and flare off you where to shoot geese, i would say get well up front of them because they can take alot of shot in the body and still carry on flying . cartridges, i always use heavy shot on geese on the foreshore but inland i use winchester drylock 3" shot size 3s this is just some of the things you can do, just have a look on the basc website just click on the link and it will take you to the wildfowling section. if you ask basc thet wil send you a booklet out on wildfowling . good luck, i hope this is of help to you . http://www.basc.org.uk/content/wildfowlingdept Quote Link to post Share on other sites
outdoors kid 1 Posted September 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 cheers for the help guys, i think i am going to spend a little more time studying them before i even take the gun up there. as i am new to shotgun hunting i will proberly wait till next year and just gain some more advice from THL and some good books cheers for the link to the website really helped cheers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
robgriff1 4 Posted September 19, 2008 Report Share Posted September 19, 2008 cheers for the help guys, i think i am going to spend a little more time studying them before i even take the gun up there. as i am new to shotgun hunting i will proberly wait till next year and just gain some more advice from THL and some good books cheers for the link to the website really helped cheers Mate, nice to hear a sensible attitude, but don't wait till next year. Try & get out with an experienced friend. I'm in a similar position to you, new to wildfowling, so I go with the seasoned lads & watch/learn. Left at 2am last Saturday, drove 3 hours, walked over a mile & sat up to my knees in mud for another 8 hours without even having a shot Worse still my more experienced mate suggested a move & within 10 mins a flight of about 15 Canadas came over exactly above where we had been and 2 other shooters had 3 of them!! But I know when I shoot my first Canada it'll all have been worth it! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
v-max 2 Posted September 19, 2008 Report Share Posted September 19, 2008 cheers for the help guys, i think i am going to spend a little more time studying them before i even take the gun up there. as i am new to shotgun hunting i will proberly wait till next year and just gain some more advice from THL and some good books cheers for the link to the website really helped cheers Mate, nice to hear a sensible attitude, but don't wait till next year. Try & get out with an experienced friend. I'm in a similar position to you, new to wildfowling, so I go with the seasoned lads & watch/learn. Left at 2am last Saturday, drove 3 hours, walked over a mile & sat up to my knees in mud for another 8 hours without even having a shot Worse still my more experienced mate suggested a move & within 10 mins a flight of about 15 Canadas came over exactly above where we had been and 2 other shooters had 3 of them!! But I know when I shoot my first Canada it'll all have been worth it! You learn so much doing what your doing. I started shooting at 10yrs old & my first year no carts for gun just going through the motions. I then went ito keepering at 16yrs & saw so many things & learnt so much & now have a wealth of knowledge & seen some stuff in my times. I now have my older brother & a couple mates under me & keep kinda right in my eyes. I now just love the crack with friends & not all about killing i get more pleasure from seeing others have a good time & learn. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.