Tips on straightaway goose shots

yorgi

yorgi

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Toronto, Ontario
Usually the third shot on straight and level, flying-away birds, I admit that I suck on those, quartering-away not so much.

Don't seem to have that problem on the #3 station at trap, give me a live target and the story changes... So what's your tip? Do you aim at centre of mass, just below the belly or lots of daylight below the belly?

Are geese inherently difficult to drop from this angle? Any hints would be appreciated.
 
With skeet you need to lead for the drop or rise of the bird. With geese they normally are not dropping, but sometimes rising. I aim at the bird if they are not gaining elevation.
 
For rising skeet shots I aim for the front (heading away from me) of the disk.
Geese flying at Mach II I'm putting my bead on their beak iffen they are flying away from me and my shotgun.
Challenging shot none the less.
Rob
 
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The trouble with straightaways is that they often aren't really straightaways. A swing-through or pull ahead technique will expose these "almost straightaways" and self correct them. For lead, I seldom give more than what I visualize as the width of the pattern. At least that's how I see it in my mind's eye.
 
In my experience by the time most people shoot a third shot the goose is out of range. The target ( vital area) is much smaller from the rear. They may be flying in-between the pellets, or you may be putting a couple up the belly and into the guts, which is worse than missing. A pellet would need to travel through about 4" of guts to hit the vitals, quite a lot to expect of a steel pellet at extended range.
 
Longwalker said:
In my experience by the time most people shoot a third shot the goose is out of range. The target ( vital area) is much smaller from the rear. They may be flying in-between the pellets, or you may be putting a couple up the belly and into the guts, which is worse than missing. A pellet would need to travel through about 4" of guts to hit the vitals, quite a lot to expect of a steel pellet at extended range.
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This is accurate. It is difficult to drop a goose with a shot to the @ss from a distance. The bird will likely be wounded, but not enough to stop it from flying away. This past saturday I took this exact very shot on a drake mallard and it flew away with ease. Luckily when I went out to recover the first duck I dropped in the pair, I noticed second mallard floating in the water in the distance. In fact, I didnt even know if what I saw floating was actually a duck. But since I was out in the boat anyway, I figure I'd go check it out. To my surprise, it was actually that drake mallard. That bird flew quite a distance before it dropped dead. Had it been a goose, I wouldnt have attempted the shot as I doubt it would have been a recovered bird. I like shooting waterfowl in the head so if a head isnt visible, I usually refrain from taking the shot. I but in the instance that I think a bird has already been hit, I finish the sequence until the gun is empty.
 
All points taken folks, I appreciate your experienced opinions.

Just for the record, I do restrict myself to shooting fleeing geese within reasonable and proven shooting distances. I see the reasoning against the "Texas heartshot" and in the future will restrain myself to shots where the head and neck present a target.
 
Longwalker & 1963 beretta make some very valid points.

Trap with lead vs: steel with geese is two very different propositions.

If you've missed with shots 1 & 2, shot 3 going away will be a very low-percentage deal. I wouldn't do it.
If you've scored a hit with 1 &/or 2, well do your best with 3, but don't get your hopes up too high ... and keep that bird in sight to make sure
it doesn't waver and come down a long ways out. Stranger things have happened.

I've made what I though were two good shots with a SxS on a goose last year. It really didn't show any visible signs of being hit.
Kept an eye on it ... folded-up about 300 yards from the blind. Nothing in the wings, but several pellets in the breast. Dead in the sky, just didn't know it.
 
Longwalker said:
In my experience by the time most people shoot a third shot the goose is out of range. The target ( vital area) is much smaller from the rear. They may be flying in-between the pellets, or you may be putting a couple up the belly and into the guts, which is worse than missing. A pellet would need to travel through about 4" of guts to hit the vitals, quite a lot to expect of a steel pellet at extended range.
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I have to say I tend to disagree to some degree. To get good at going away shots on geese my advice is practice handicap trap. Shoot from the 25-27 yard lines. A goose from the rear has next to nothing on its back for feathers and no meat for pellets to penetrate. The vitals are tight up on the back with a very lightweight rib cage to go through. Maybe its just me being a long yardage trapshooter but I find going away shots on geese easy as hell and the birds very easy to kill. Stay on your gun as you pull the trigger making sure your bead is on the bird and they will fold every time.
 
the spank said:
I have to say I tend to disagree to some degree. To get good at going away shots on geese my advice is practice handicap trap. Shoot from the 25-27 yard lines. A goose from the rear has next to nothing on its back for feathers and no meat for pellets to penetrate. The vitals are tight up on the back with a very lightweight rib cage to go through. Maybe its just me being a long yardage trapshooter but I find going away shots on geese easy as hell and the birds very easy to kill. Stay on your gun as you pull the trigger making sure your bead is on the bird and they will fold every time.
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The geese around here have a tendency to not fly upside down. ;)

Myself, I have more trouble with birds flying straight at me when the barrel covers them.
 
In some cases I can shoot three birds out of a flock before they are headed away from me. If my only shot is a longer shot from the rear, I generally pass.
 
I've made a few "pure triples" too ... but straight going away shots at geese out at 45 yards+ with steel 2's or larger... a pretty thin pattern without the energy of lead. Penetration through to the vitals I believe is more luck than shooting skill. Even in-closer, a lot of feathers can be visibly torn out without the bird going down (barring a broken wing). Geese are a tough bird compared to a clay target, & Giant Canada's are tougher to knock down than prairie geese... jusy my experience.

The OP was talking third shot on a bird going level & straight away. Geese are tough enough, and that's not an easy shot to pull off at potential third shot distance. And Dogleg's point is very valid ... is the bird really going straight away level, or is it quartering slightly one way or the other and rising or not. (Unless you've hit it, it shouldn't be falling !)
 
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