Is 3.5" required for geese?

[FlareKing]

As the title says. With the technology in shot shells now a days is a 3.5" required for geese or can you get by with 3"?



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[Smoky buck]

3s are plenty and tons of geese have been take with 2 3/4s as well

[hal53]

I daresay that since the 3 1/2" shells hit the market they have likely accounted for more wounded birds than they have made the difference in a killing shot between them and a 3"

[elkhunter11]

We kill limits of geese with 3" loads, but we actually wait for them to get into range.

[Dick284]

I’ve seen plenty of honkers taken with 2-3/4” shells.

So, realistically the need for 3” shells are even pretty slim, other than now a days finding a decent selection of 2-3/4” shells is pretty tough.

All the payload in the world, does squat for your bird count when:
A. You can’t shoot worth a lick.
B. Your choice of shell and or choke gives poor patterns.

[catnthehat]

We bring them in on the deck - Partner shoots2 3/4” 12
And I shoot a 20 gauge more often than not .
No issues at all
Cat

[marky_mark]

3” good
3 1/2” better

[Dubious]

2-3/4 the working mans shot. To poor to afford the fancy 3 or 3-1/2 stuff ducks and geese don’t know the difference but my debit card does.

[north american hunter]

3" work great for geese.

[marky_mark]

2 3/4” lead 👍
2 3/4” steel 👎

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by marky_mark

2 3/4” lead 👍
2 3/4” steel 👎

I used to use 2-3/4" #3 for ducks, and 3" #2 for geese, but if I had the duck loads loaded, the geese came in, if I had the goose load, the ducks came in. I did kill quite a few geese with the 2-3/4" #3 loads, but to simplify things, I settled on the 3" #2 loads for all waterfowl. However, some people will use the largest amount of shot that they can buy, if there was a 4" chamber gun and loads, they would buy them. They wouldn't kill any more geese, the cost and recoil would be more, but some people would buy them.

[tool]

Every time I get the itch to buy a new shot gun I go and shoulder those that are chambered in 3.5” thinking that must be “more better”.

Then I remember that my 3” chambered gun seems to kill all the geese that fly in anyway and I leave the store empty handed.

[marky_mark]

Are we talking about killing birds or just making noise?
3 1/2 has a definite advantage
Shooting a high quality semi like a benelli or beretta also has a definite advantage
Its $5 a box difference in price not the end of the world
I prefer the heavy shot 3 1/2's
They crumple big honkers
One and done
Not 3 shots at the same bird

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by marky_mark

Are we talking about killing birds or just making noise?
3 1/2 has a definite advantage
Shooting a high quality semi like a benelli or beretta also has a definite advantage
Its $5 a box difference in price not the end of the world
I prefer the heavy shot 3 1/2's
They crumple big honkers
One and done
Not 3 shots at the same bird

If you can shoot, 3" loads kill the big Canadas just fine with one shot. As to shotguns, I owned both an A400, and a SBE2, and I sold both, and kept my SX-3, because I shot it better. The better you shoot the gun, the more birds you kill, as long as the gun is reliable, spending more on the gun, doesn't kill any more birds.

[schleprock]

I have had great success using 2 3/4 inch loads with #4 shot (lead or steel) for close to forty years but was taught to lead the birds so that the shot pattern hits the head and neck. It sure makes processing the bird easy when there aren't a bunch of holes in the breasts.

[MooseRiverTrapper]

Shoot 3.5” until they start making a 4”

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by marky_mark

3” good
3 1/2” better

So, what did people do before these came along ?

Grizz

[tikka250]

if you need 3.5 shells to kill geese then your not a good enough goose hunter. 3 inch bb or 2s is all you need as long as the geese are in proper range. if you plan to blast at high passing birds then the 3.5 may help a little bit but will still end up in barely hit birds and a lot of shot wasted.

[CNP]

Is 3.5" required for geese?

No

[Redneck 7]

Last couple years I’ve shot 2 3/4” and loaned out my 3” shotgun and I still drop more geese then the other hunter. My 2 3/4” is sentimental to me so I don’t let anyone else use it.

[58thecat]

2 3/4 seem to do well.....

[calgarychef]

Originally Posted by Grizzly Adams

So, what did people do before these came along ?

Grizz

They used 10 gauge and lead shot

[marky_mark]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

They used 10 gauge and lead shot

Exactly

[Grizzly Adams]

Originally Posted by marky_mark

Exactly

Actually, the 10 gauge almost became extinct , before making a very limited recovery.

Grizz

[graybeard]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

They used 10 gauge and lead shot

X 100....add a Cooey single shot to the 10 gauge; oh and a ice pack......hahaha

In the lead days, 2 3/4" downed a lot of birds. Then the 3" was the round because 2 3/4" was no longer good enough then 3 1/2"......

2 3/4" or 3" is plenty....

Good luck.

[marky_mark]

The 3 1/2” was made to deal with the short comings of the non toxic steel ammo
Ammo has gotten better but it’s still not as good as lead.
I guarantee you, that if 4 guys go out on a goose hunt
All have the same shooting ability
2 are shooting 2 3/4”
2 are shooting 3 1/2”
The 3 1/2” guys will get the vast majority of the birds

[boomstick]

all good steel loads are doing 1550 fps , 2 3/4 3 or 3 1/2 , the only difference is shot load . if you need to shoot the same goose 3 times with #2s then its back to the skeet range with you lol.

[elkhunter11]

Originally Posted by marky_mark

The 3 1/2” was made to deal with the short comings of the non toxic steel ammo
Ammo has gotten better but it’s still not as good as lead.
I guarantee you, that if 4 guys go out on a goose hunt
All have the same shooting ability
2 are shooting 2 3/4”
2 are shooting 3 1/2”
The 3 1/2” guys will get the vast majority of the birds

Actually, while the first steel shotshells were very poor, recent steel loads are greatly improved. With modern wads and chokes, patterns are now much better, and the velocities have increased, which makes the lighter pellets much more effective than they used to be. While still not as effective as lead, it is adequate if the shooter restricts the shooting ranges to ranges where the steel shot is effective. If you shoot at distances where the steel shot doesn't penetrate to the vitals, then throwing an extra 1/4 ounce of shot , is still going to produce cripples.
As to the four shooters, if they only shoot at reasonable ranges, and they place the pattern on the birds, they will kill birds no matter which load they use. If they are poor shots, placing only the outer fringe of the pattern on the birds , then the extra pellets will result in a few more kills, but it will also result in cripples that would have been clean misses with slightly less shot.
The OP didn't ask which load we prefer, he asked if 3-1/2" loads were required to kill geese, and the vast majority of posters have stated, that they don't require 3-1/2" loads to kill geese.

all good steel loads are doing 1550 fps , 2 3/4 3 or 3 1/2 , the only difference is shot load . if you need to shoot the same goose 3 times with #2s then its back to the skeet range with you lol.

If every hunter shot a couple of flats of shells at skeet or sporting clays during the summer, there would be far more geese killed, and far fewer cripples. We have had a few people show up to shoot skeet, because they were doing poorly shooting geese, and after one summer of skeet, they are killing far more geese.

[ruffy71]

Steel loads have improved but as Elkhunter has said, they don't, and likely never will, match lead.

It's all about range. You could blow the head off of a goose with 7 1/2 target load 20 gauge....if it flew 10 feet over your head.

The further out the range the more power and load you need. I don't like shooting 3 1/2 so I just wait for closer range shots. No matter what, you have to adjust your range expectations with steel.

I've just gotten fussier and fussier with what distance I will shoot at, especially since steel replaced lead.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by ruffy71

Steel loads have improved but as Elkhunter has said, they don't, and likely never will, match lead.

It's all about range. You could blow the head off of a goose with 7 1/2 target load 20 gauge....if it flew 10 feet over your head.

The further out the range the more power and load you need. I don't like shooting 3 1/2 so I just wait for closer range shots. No matter what, you have to adjust your range expectations with steel.

I've just gotten fussier and fussier with what distance I will shoot at, especially since steel replaced lead.

Exactly.

I shoot a lot of BP guns I do because I like them , not because they kill any better, but I usually have a pretty good kill to shell used ratio, because we wait until the birds are within reasonable killing range.
Some days they don't decoy well, but that is just the way it is.
It's not a major crisis if don't fill a limit every time I go out.
It sure is great though when you can put some birds on the ground with a black powder cartridge shotgun or a muzzle loader even if you don't kill a limit every time!
Cat