Steel shot

[42drake]

When are we going to take action on the use of steel shot over land so we can kill geese quickly and stop the suffering and loss of a good 10% of the birds shot at.

Originally Posted by 42drake

When are we going to take action on the use of steel shot over land so we can kill geese quickly and stop the suffering and loss of a good 10% of the birds shot at.

There are other non-tox alternatives available that better mimic the performance of lead. If you are hinting at getting lead back.....I'm sorry but I think you are dreaming there. Steel definitely does require some pratice with and the hunter must change his shooting style but when used within its performance range, it is very deadly.

[Dick284]

After this falls goose and duck hunts, I see very little practical reason to revert back to lead. (I did'nt like the change to non tox when it came out too)
I've determined what patterns well in my shotgun, and was un relenting in that quest. Once it was determined what was required to get good patterns out of my shotgun, I was killing geese and ducks at reasonable ranges with little or no diffrence to the previous lead loadings at the same ranges.
The trick is evaluate, learn, and limit. It takes a bit more time, tinkering or shooting of patterns, learning how to call better, and how to manage your decoy spread better, and then keep the distances reasonable.(< 50yds) Birds die, and there you have it.
Gone are the days of fence lining and sky busting, and actually since those days are gone I've gotten better at this game of waterfowling, and started to really enjoy it a lot more.

[Bobby B.]

Dick, I remember the good old days of the Crusher McCoys. That was one seriously deadly load for geese.

Bobby B.

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by Bobby B.

Dick, I remember the good old days of the Crusher McCoys. That was one seriously deadly load for geese.

Bobby B.

That was back in my infancy as a waterfowler. We had no decoys and elected to pound those geese as they left Wavy Lake often to high and to dumb to realize that a good blind a few decoys were the way to go.
But ya that was a hideous loading were'nt they.
Heck I still think I have bruises from shooing them. What's it been 12 or 15 years?

[Versatile]

Hey 42 drake stop sky busting them and you wont have a problem. I have never put a goose down alive because of the steel. I have put them down alive because of a bad shot or I mis judged the distance but IMO steel is almost as good as lead these days. Try shooting them 5 yards off the ground isnstead of 50 and you may have a chance.

[ABDUKNUT]

I'm afraid the days of lead are long gone my son... Time to get with the program and learn to hunt and shoot a shotgun.

[BUD]

Lots of shotgunners sold their guns and quit waterfowl when steel came out , mainly because granpas gun would split with steel , me and my model 12 win as an ex:.
Altho this year l did buy a bird licence for the first time in 1o years and used a Win model 2200 full choke.
With the new 3 in /3/1/2 shells guys are thinking they now have bazookas and are blasting birds a half mile in the air , seenum , my nephew included , haaaa.
When l was shooting with my old model 12 pump with lead , never did l miss , now l cant hit bugger all.
We still lose tons of lead in our lakes and ponds from fishermans weights , dont make any sense does it.

[Versatile]

There are some lakes (I dont think in AB) where you can even use lead weights for fishing you have to use tungsten or some other non-toxic metal.

Originally Posted by RyanGSP

There are some lakes (I dont think in AB) where you can even use lead weights for fishing you have to use tungsten or some other non-toxic metal.

Yup...lots in Alberta...everything in National Parks

[Versatile]

I didnt know that. I dont fish national parks I will have to be more carful. Any ideas what ones.