I'm a rookie goose hunter. Got my stamps, liscense & have a Winchester 1300, 24" smoothbore w/modified choke that will accept steel shot, 2 3/4" or 3" rounds. Hundreds of Canadian geese within 50 yard range of my house.
Question, 2 3/4" or 3" rounds?
Question, what size steel shot?
Question, where to find rookie recipes for consumption?
All advice appreciated. I'm a veteran; deer, wild boar, bear, predator & varmit hunter so gun handling is easy for me. Unfamiliar with goose hunting.
Diodeman

I hope I can be of some help, just off what others say and not experience... Im a rookie too.

sounds like the gun will be great'
I shoot for goose, 3" BB , I have been told you can use BBB,BB,#2's for goose.

I have tried two ways to cook goose, one is to cut into strips, dip in egg and bread with potato chips(crums), then fry

I also took the same strips and fried them in butter and onions, with garlic and onion.. good luck..dont over cook or it gets tough, make fairly small strips and keep it pink.

I have to agree with AR. For geese I always stagger my rounds. First shot is a 3"#2. And 2nd and3rdBB or BBB. I like to make jerkey out of my birds. mmm.mmmm

It appears as if you have the equipment, I would consider a blind to shoot from, but if this is your first season, experience will teach you what you need.

Initially, hunters need plenty of clay bird practice prior to the season, however, a "honey hole" where geese go is also necessary. I have been hunting geese for over 20 years, and have learned that the first quality a hunter should have is patience. Being able to innovate and adapt certainly helps.

Marinating the birds helps, I usually breast and leg them, can use just about anything for marinades. I usually grill goose, or if you have the penchant, I slice goose breast thinly and cook it with sauerkraut in a crock pot.

You have the gun, if you're shooting over decoys, say about 25 yds or so, 2 3/4 12 ga. should work if you use steel 2 or BB. I personally use a Remington SP-10 10 ga. for goose work, but that is for all instances. If you can get them close, you don't need a cannon.

Good luck and have fun. I just love it (especially buying new equipment every so often)

PS: you may need a shed after a season or two to store your waterfowl gear!!!!

DetSgt14[8D]

I would say without hesitation with those choices I'd go with 3" BB at least 1 1/4 oz. steel shot and 1500 - 1550 ft/sec.
Shot them within 40 yds or less a good pattern on their front of body with drop even Canada Giants consistently.

to answer those questions if your gun cannot handle 3 1/2 inch shells, use the 3 inch. i personally use bbb shot, you can search the net for recipies or your can go to walmart or and sporting goods store and puchase a game recipie book.

Thank you for the advice.I will have no problem hitting geese as we counted over two hundred and thirty of them this morning in the yard along theshore of the Osage River here in the Ozarks. The Canadian Goose problem in Lake of the Ozarks resort areasis out of control and will soon be legally rectified.
Diodeman

You are gonna be very surprised how hard it is to kill geese at 50 yards. You are also gonna be surprised at how fast they are out of there and won't come back!!! Try not to kill all of them the first morning!

I have to disagree. Personally I have found that goose feathers act quite well as kevlar for them against steel shot. Try to go for head/neck shots. They dont run that way either. Also whatever your instinct for lead is.... double it and go from there. They look big but they are deceiving. Also to fix the first problem, if your wallets up to it try using hevi-shot or tungsten. I use tungsten and it rips geese apart from a long freaking way. I used to shoot steel and got tired of listening to it hit and bounce off their feathers. 3 inch all the way no matter what. BBs would be the smallest I would use too...

id deffinalty go with 3 inch, i shoot a benelli nova and use 3 to 3 1/2 inch shells shooting bb to bbb. 50 yards seems to be a bit long. the shot likes to bounce off there feathers. the closer the better. i use to use a remington 870 that only accepted 2 3/4 inch rounds and that did just fine. but the 3 and 3 1/2 got alittle more range and bring down power. hope that helps.