The day after the goose hunt...10 gauge

[MCgunner]

Okay, I bought this NEF for goose hunting. Everyone seemed to think if I fired it, I'd be in intensive care for the next 3 weeks. Well, we had a decent goose hunt yesterday and I fired up about 20 rounds out of the 10. It was not much worse than 3" out of my Mossberg, frankly. There is a little soreness in my shoulder this morning, but not anything I haven't had before. The gun shot well. No, for those that brag about 80 yard shots, much over 50-55 or so and even T shot seems to run out of gas. I connected solid on one goose at 60 yards + and made it skip a wing beat, but it didn't fall. However, we had most of our geese insde BB steel, 12 gauge range, 35 and closer. They were decoying great yesterday and good weather for it, overcast and foggy.

At 30 yards, T shot shoots completely through a snow goose. That was rather impressive. The entry hole in the breast looks like a .22 LR, too. Pretty amazing. I like it, as effective as 12 gauge with BB hevi shot and reloading will keep ammo costs down to about 10 bucks a box. It's the only gauge I have that saves you money by reloading. Reloading 12s is a waste of time.

The three of us wound up with 23 geese yesterday, not a bad morning. I shot 9 of 'em with the H&R and I even got a second shot on stragglers a few times by keeping my second round in my off hand. It's a special purpose gun, goose hunting being my special purpose. I wouldn't shoot doves with it, but for geese, it's hard to beat. Yeah, so long as the birds are working well, 12 is plenty and I probably would have been just as well off with a 3 1/2" 12 for goose hunting, but I just wanted a 10. I never owned one and, well, I'm a guy that likes variety. I'm sorta glad I didn't spend 700 bucks on a Browning, though. The H&R works just fine for the purpose and I don't feel the urge to use it for ducks or anything, just the occasional goose hunt. My shoulder is fine for my next hunt, in the meantime. I'll probably take the mossberg out Thursday after ducks.

I'm not much on naming guns, but this one I call "the reaper". Don't fear the reaper. It ain't the shoulder breaker some make it out to be. Heck, if I did more than a few goose hunts a season, I might get a Browning, but mostly I shoot ducks, public land.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Thanks,MC. Real world info is well worth gold.

 

[chas08]

for those that brag about 80 yard shots, much over 50-55 or so and even T shot seems to run out of gas.

MC, it don't run out of gas, it runs out of pattern density and tends to cut a lot of feathers that don't have meat behind them. At that range you got to get the "Golden BB" up front or break a wing . I've seen plenty of geese fall at 70 - 80 yards, with exit wounds, with T-shot. I'm glad to hear you had a great hunt. 23 birds, thats a good day by any measure.

 

[MCgunner]

Well, whatever it runs out of, I ain't shootin' past 60 yards with it. I was sorta testing it yesterday on a few high fliers I knew we wouldn't get down. I determined it was a sub 60 yard gun in my hands and my bud with his BPS 10 wasn't doing any better. But, that still gives me 20 yards more than a steel BB 3" 12 and THAT is what I was looking for, all I was looking for. On days not quite as perfect as yesterday, the damned things seem to just KNOW if they hang up there at 50 yards, they're safe. It gets frustrating. They ain't safe at 50 from the reaper.

The gun patterns 90+ percent at 40 yards on a 30" pattern board. The pattern ain't gonna get any better. I'm pretty happy with it for the purpose and I'm getting some 00 buck loads for that hog hunt they're having at Guadelupe Delta WMA's Heinz Bay unit in Feb and Mar. It's "buckshot only", so I'm thinkin' why take a 12 when I can have 18 of those 00s out of the reaper with ONE shot?

 

[chas08]

The gun patterns 90+ percent at 40 yards on a 30" pattern board.

What choke are you using? Where did ya'll hunt?

 

[MCgunner]

I'm using the modified lead/full steel choke that comes in the H&R "waterfowler" 32" barrel gun. I couldn't find that gun anywhere, so bought the turkey model with 24" barrel and X full choke and ordered the other choke for it. One of the bummers of the gun so far is the lack of decent variety of choke tubes. That's ALL that's available from H&R for the gun. It's an external choke (extends out of the muzzle), probably helps patterns. With pattern like that, I reckon I don't need a large choke variety, though, LOL.

We were hunting out of Port Lavaca off the Seadrift highway (238) in a rice field. My buddy's favorite hunting is for geese, don't care much for ducks. I go up to Waco and hunt dove with him first weekend of north zone and he comes down here and I put together a goose hunt, usually, for him. I have public places to hunt geese, but it's a little physical. We usually go down to my place to hunt deer/hog, too, when he's down. He doesn't have any deer or hog on his or his dad's farms, but lots and lots of doves. We've been best buds since our freshman year at A&M in 1971.

 

[Virginian]

You need to stoke that baby up with some 2-1/4 ounce lead loads or the heaviest non-tox you can find to really appreciate it! Since the better non-tox stuff has come along I have gone back to a 3" 12 gauge, but with steel I think the 10 was really in a class by itself on swan and big geese. Glad you had a good christening with yours.

 

[MCgunner]

Well, when hevi shot (which I was using in 3" 12 happily) reached 3.50+ a SHOT , I decided to go with steel Ts and try a 10. Buck 30 a shot wasn't bad, but THREE FIFTY? Gimme a break! Hevi shot has come down and there is 3" 1550 fps versions of the BB steel loads in 3" 12 now, but I figure, like you say, the 10 is the one for T steel. I can't afford to burn money with those tungsten loads, let alone bismuth. The hevi shot has dropped a bit, $2.50 a round. Still only for the rich and famous. Us country boys find alternatives.

I posted this in the hunting forum, but for those who don't go there.....

 

[DaleCooper51]

That looks like a fine day.

 

[Gordon]

Looks good! I have been loading mostly steel BBs in my BPSfor the last 15 yearsor so. Yes I tried T shot. BBs work to 50- 60 yards and have better Patern density.

 

[Virginian]

If you do not already have Ballistics products 10 gauge catalog you need to get that. Lots of good dope and components.

 

[MCgunner]

Thanks, I'll order that, don't have it. Think I bookmarked that site the other day. Believe Dave mentioned it. Can probably get a catalog from the site.

 

[Dave McCracken]

Thanks for posting and for the pic. A couple things.....

Call me an old fogie, but even 60 yards is too darn far even with Hevi shot for consistently humane and quick kills. 50 is more like it.

If I had a 10, 16 or 28 gauge,I'd be shooting divers reloads most of the time. One can go broke quick with factory stuff in those gauges. BP is a good source for components.

And, thanks for showing it doesn't take a $1K shotgun to make memories.....

 

[MCgunner]

Call me an old fogie, but even 60 yards is too darn far even with Hevi shot for consistently humane and quick kills. 50 is more like it.

I agree. Even the 10 ain't instant death much beyond 50 yards. It does seem to be quite an an improvement over 3" 12 gauge BB steel, though.

And now that I have a few empty hulls, all I need is some primers and shot to fire up that MEC sitting in the back room. I have wads for it and some Blue Dot. Gonna have to bulk order the shot, though, as I've not found a locak shop that carries it down here in podunkville. I have a site that will ship 40 lbs for 11 bucks, though, seems reasonable.

 

[Virginian]

Back in the late 70s, early 80's, I built some gun/load combinations that were highly effective at 80 yards. Nickel plated shot, buffers, special wads, mica rolled wads, overbored barrel, lengthened forcing cone, special chokes. I clocked velocity on loads, I patterned at all ranges, I practiced at all ranges. And, I would pick some shots. And I dropped stuff that dropped other people's jaws. Which was of course at least a part of what I was after. And I am all for conservation; if I had been getting cripples I would have quit - cold.
With the advent of steel shot, and advancing years, I have never even attempted to return to those days. Lack the energy to do the work to get there, and I know what is required, is the biggest deal. The range on a 90 degree afternoon after a long day at work does not hold the allure it once did.
But, with the right - extremely non-cheap - non-steel loads, and the right targets, in the right circumstances, today I can still reliably drop stuff at 60 yards.

 

[chas08]

Where I hunt is a small place with a large roost about a half mile away. It's mostly pass shooting we've tried decoys, but the geese are going where the food is so they aren't stopping anyway. On days when the weather and flight pattern is right you can have a day with 30 - 50 yard shots and when that happens we usually clean up. On most days the average shot is 60 - 80 yards. I'm going to shoot, until my guns empty, at every goose that comes into that range. Regardless of cost of ammo or shell count. Because it's fun, and I'm not getting any younger. Typically on a less than perfect day I'll shoot about a box of shells and kill 3-5 geese. I really don't care to clean more than that. Or for that matter, carry more than that out of the field. Long range shots are mostly luck and a lot of lead. As for the concern for cripples. It happens, even with the best of intentions. Nothing goes to waste in nature. And with Snow Geese teetering on a cataclysmic die off due to overpopulation, so much that egg collecting and clubbing during the molt are being considered as management tools. I don't feel very guilty if I provide a coyote with an easy meal. So set your limits to whatever makes you comfortable and have fun.

 

[MCgunner]

When I was a kid, we had permission to hunt on a chunk of land what is now part of Justin Hurst WMA. The geese came off a huge roost what is now San Bernard NWR and headed out right over this chunk of land on the way to eat. We pass shot 'em. On low overcast days with maybe a little fog, it was perfect, would keep 'em down low. Otherwise, it was frustrating. I shot a 16 gauge single shot Iver Johnson built shotgun with a broken ejector which I later had fixed and I was danged proud to have that, frankly. LOL Still have that gun, more for memories than anything else. I didn't know about rags back then, but they were Veed up by the time they were coming over us and I doubt rags would have worked out in the middle of a salt grass pasture.

My bud, at the time, had a Marlin 12 gauge goose gun, 36" barrel, but he didn't do a LOT better than me, LOL. Of course, we shot lead back then.

After San Bernard WMA got public hunting, I started hunting out there. We made full bodies out of news paper tins. I swear 400 of 'em must have weighed 200 lbs. We'd stumble over the marsh grass totin' 'em. When the geese get up out there, they circle around for a while before they leave out and they will decoy. We used to do pretty decent for public land. You would get squatters on the edge of your spread, though, used to miff me off big time.

Anyway, I know the frustration of pass shooting and haven't had the occasion to do it in my later years. I had a lease a few years ago that I let go, grain fields, that was pretty good and the dove hunting was good. Was only 300 a year, might get back into that, don't know. But, for a GOOD hunt, I book an outfitter. They keep an eye on their fields, know where the geese are feeding, and set up for 'em. The guy we've used last few years has a lot of land his family farms rice on here, so we were hunting over full bodies on a large rice field Sunday. At a hundred fifty a day, I only do it once or twice a season when my buddy comes down. We have set up a hunt with these guys last two years. There's a lot of rice still being farmed out that way and a lot of geese in that area. I tell ya what, we throughly enjoyed Sunday, was worth every dime. I have to hunt Heinz Bay or Mad Island or San Bernard NWR to hunt geese for free and normally don't tag that many. But, once or twice a year, I like to do it right. I mean, what the hell is retirement for, anyway, and I can't take it with me. LOL

One neat thing about Sunday, it was warm, all we had to do is cross a fence and sit on some buckets along the fence. Didn't have to wear waders, either. We set up a blind with some cedar branches, well concealed. It was like shooting really big doves. The weather felt like dove season.....only in the south.

 

[chas08]

Yeah MC, hunts like that are few in a lifetime. A memory to be treasured. Nothing more exciting than to be in a spread that the geese are working well. Two good friends and I used to hunt some farmland between Placedo and Bloomington. The Farmer was related by marriage to one of my hunting partners. He never asked for a dime, though we did all chip in and buy him a brand new 870 after the first season. We had some great hunts over decoys there in the late 80's to late 90's. The farmer would call my bud and tell him what field to set up in the next day, when the Geese were in. Between the three of us we had 500 rags and seven dozen shells. Way more work than I'm willing to do now. (LOL) I had my best season ever there, one year, I personally killed 56 geese on six or seven outings. The limit back then was 10 snows 1 canada 1 speck per day. When the Farmer passed away that place went away, as most do. The last time I booked a guided hunt the weather and the Geese didn't cooperate and I felt like I flushed a $125 down the toilet. Now, with most guides requiring a four man minimum for a hunt. It's hard to get people to commit. Great hunt, great picture, best wishes.