Early Goose Loads

[Bowfin]

Been duck hunting for years. My shell of choice is 3" mag Kent Fasteel #2 shot. I'm going goose hunting for the first time during the early September hunt. Anyone want to share their favorite goose loads?

[Farley]

Black Cloud 3.5" BB.

[TylerS]

The only load I use all season, ducks or geese, is Kent Fasteel #2, so you should be just fine.

[Koepper08]

I shoot 3" Black Cloud BB. Works pretty well!

[waterfowler85]

i used to only shoot 3 inch BB....have had good luck since switching to 1's and 2's

[bobbymalone]

a lot of it is dependent on how you plan on shooting these geese.

Pass shooting?

Decoys?

I use BB most of the time, but #2's will kill decoying geese all day.

[NR]

It all depends on the range you will shoot. If you restrict your shooting to close shots over decoys, #2s are fine. Otherwise, medium range BB or long range BBB or T.

#2s aren't going to fold geese at long range, so either use big shot or don't take long shots.

[stifler51]

kent fasteel is a WORTHLESS load. tons of speed no knocked down power. powder puff ducks with them and watch them hit the water. send the dog just to watch them dive and swim for 20 mins.

[slabchaser]

3.5 inch 2's for pass shooting. 3 inch 2's or 3inch bb's for decoying birds. I used kent for a long time and had good luck. I will be patterning my gun and trying some remy's

[TylerS]

kent fasteel is a WORTHLESS load. tons of speed no knocked down power. powder puff ducks with them and watch them hit the water. send the dog just to watch them dive and swim for 20 mins.

I'll beg to differ. All I've used for the past 4-5 years is Kent Faststeel. I see no difference in my number of cripples compared with other loads. If anything, I've seen a drop. That may be due to the load, but it may also be due to better shooting.

Besides, if you decoy a bird within 20 yards, you could fold it with 2 3/4 inch No. 7 steel...it's all about shot placement. My dad has an old Wingmaster that is chambered in 2 3/4, and he outshoots me all the time. The only thing a large shell does is either add more pellets or more powder. But in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to shoot, it doesn't matter what he has...he's not going to kill birds effectively.

[Sergio M]

Kent fasteel 3.5 #2 great shell and patterns well with my gun and a kicks extra full choke tube

[Fins-n-feathers]

kent fasteel is a WORTHLESS load. tons of speed no knocked down power. powder puff ducks with them and watch them hit the water. send the dog just to watch them dive and swim for 20 mins.

One fine day in the duck boat I had 1 box of Black Cloud and one box of Kent Faststeel. I shot the whole box of black cloud first and even knocked the feathers off one but couldn't get any to fall. Tried The Kent for the first time and within the first couple rounds I had folded one. kent just seemed the best load I had tried so far. Now there is always the chance that this was a coincidence, but I don't think so. Kent has got me many a duck.

[Finlander]

Blackcloud, especially BBB and T's are for 40+ yard shots like the last shell out of three when it is just about to get out of range! The pattern is too tight when shooting 20-30 yards above your decoys. Either you totally miss or turn the goose into hamurger. I seen a hole thru a goose you could put your fist thru when it was shot at 15 yards with Blackcloud!

[carpshooterdeluxe]

3" 2's @ 1400 fps or faster have enough energy to bring down a goose out to 40 yards no problem. the key with any goose load is pattern density and knowing where to put the shot on the bird. too many guys pull up on a goose and put the bead on the chest of the bird, only to rock it in the @ss. nice even patterns of 2's or 1's and putting the lead infront of the bird to allow for head and neck hits will bring a goose down harder than a poorly patterning load of BB in the butt anyday. the only time i ever shoot BB anymore is 3.5" 1 1/2 oz loads for the occasional pass shoot or migrator snows that hang up at that 45-60 yard range.

[Musky Buck]

lead them well and you'll be fine, hit their flippers and you won't be. 3.5 remington T's and say goodnite.

[charliepete]

I always think it's weird when people talk about hull length like it tells you something about the shell. How many ounces of shot? What is the muzzle speed or dram equivilant? What is the shot size? What choke are you using? These the questions that you need to answer in order to compare effectivness of different shells. Hull length is an indicator (longer usually means heavier payload and more powder), but certainly isn't definitive.

[stifler51]

@TylerS: from my hunting partys experience, we all have had problems Kents and cripples. It seems like 30-40% of our boxes were going to clean up cripples and in my book 3-4 out of 10 shells isnt a good ratio.

@F-n-F: We saw the complete opposite of that, Black Cloud was meat grinding geese at 40 yards. We were afraid to shoot them any closer with the way they were coming down.

As for me i usually shoot Federal Premiums 2# all year long, from early season all the way thru duck season. If your looking for a cheap load to shoot, check out Remington Sportman shells. I believe they are like 13$ a box for 3 inch shells. Ive shot many many ducks with that load.

[Fins-n-feathers]

Maybe it just depends on the shotgun you use.

[Gordie]

pattern your gun and pic the best shot then stick with it. its that easy

[RumRiverRat]

3" #4 Black Cloud.

But when the geese are feet down and less than 10 yards almost anything works.

[rattlem'up]

Federal Blue box BB with a Drake Killer choke is what i shoot all year long for geese. Ducks its Federal Blue box #3's with the Drake Killer.

[DREZLER]

Now those federal blue loads..

Aren't those the ones that are much cheaper than most?

I have always wanted to start trying them, if I'm not mistaken you can pick those up for $10/box right?

If they kill ducks it's almost a no-brainer.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

Now those federal blue loads..

Aren't those the ones that are much cheaper than most?

I have always wanted to start trying them, if I'm not mistaken you can pick those up for $10/box right?

If they kill ducks it's almost a no-brainer.

It's the federal speedshok line in the blue box. many online retailers and some (usually sale price) sporting goods stores carry the 3" 1 1/4 oz loads at $10 a box, with the 3.5" 1 3/8 oz loads around $13.

[rattlem'up]

yep carpshooter is right. $100.00 a case cant go wrong there. Buy a box and pattern it with your choke you have and see how they perform for you. Once you have the right load/choke combo practice shooting with that same set up and then you will be effective on killing geese/ducks.

[walleyemaster08]

What distance would you recommened shooting geese at with 3" 1 1/4 t shot?