as far as I know its Illegal in most places to shoot geese, so double check your rules on that!
most places its illegal to shoot even with a shotgun UNLESS your using steel shot too, so heads up there, as geese tend to be federally controlled and NOT just your local state game laws here!
MOST all shot gun work is done under 40 yards, flying or not
, so its not always easy to get that close to things,
and DON"T waste your time buying a .410 shotgun, all the more so on geese and like sized game
a 28 gauge is 100 times better option, has more power and not a lot more recoil
if you BUY shotgun and are worried about recoil, stick to a semi auto gun, they help reduce recoil by design
BUT when your with a 28 gauge, finding shells can be tricky, all the more so in waterfowl loads
a 20 guage will open a LOT mroe options from gun selections to shells
you will find VERY few geese hunters that would want to be going after geese with a NON magnum (3 inch) shell, due to steel shot and like loads, loose velocity and power pretty fast as to LEAD loaded shells
Hevi shot is best of the bunch, but again when your not in a 12-20 gauge, odds of finding them get harder and harder and prices might be higher when you do, as a 28 gauge is not very popular, as to 12 and 20's are by a BIG difference in access to rounds and types offered for it
I personally am a big fan of 28 gauges, own a few and love them
but admit there not near as easy to find shells for them for all things(target, hunting waterfowl) as 12- and 20's are
a semi auto 20 gauge in a lighter load will recoil about as much as a 28 gauge will too
so food for thought for you!
also key to being able to handle recoil is have a gun FIT you, and learning good shooting /holding gun right when firing!
be surprised how much recoil you can handle without pain or? when a gun fits you and you hold it right!
I have taught tons of females of very small frames to shoot 12 gauges with NO issue's*( better than a lot of guys I tried to teach over the yrs, found too many guys THINK they know it all, where women were more willing to take instructions and NO pre mind made up on HOW THEY were going to shoot things LOL)
easier to teach from scratch than break bad habits !