marsh man Posted October 4, 2014 Report Share Posted October 4, 2014 I would say 50 yards is a normal kind of range to shoot at, especially for pinkfeet. I would be happy indeed to have pinks coming over regularly at 50 yards. What I am trying to say" motty " is a lot of people can hit geese at 50yds , but only a percentage of them can kill geese at 50yds . When Boyd used the term ( nut them ) meaning treat them as a partridge and ignore the body I don't know many people who can hit a partridge with big shot kneeling in a gutter at 50yds , but then your a very good shot and I am only a average shot and have to rely on trying to get them in my comfort zone , if there above that or to far to one side I leave alone . I still get ones that are not dead but not as many as I would get if I took them on at a range I thought was beyond my skill , perhaps I am out of date with all these different speeds of cartridges and the guns that can take bigger cartridges that we once used in a 10bore , but I am still happy with the ones I get each year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted October 6, 2014 Report Share Posted October 6, 2014 What I am trying to say" motty " is a lot of people can hit geese at 50yds , but only a percentage of them can kill geese at 50yds . When Boyd used the term ( nut them ) meaning treat them as a partridge and ignore the body I don't know many people who can hit a partridge with big shot kneeling in a gutter at 50yds , but then your a very good shot and I am only a average shot and have to rely on trying to get them in my comfort zone , if there above that or to far to one side I leave alone . I still get ones that are not dead but not as many as I would get if I took them on at a range I thought was beyond my skill , perhaps I am out of date with all these different speeds of cartridges and the guns that can take bigger cartridges that we once used in a 10bore , but I am still happy with the ones I get each year. Being fair, take you gun out and pattern it at 50 yards and often enough that aint there either with goose shells Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsh man Posted October 7, 2014 Report Share Posted October 7, 2014 Being fair, take you gun out and pattern it at 50 yards and often enough that aint there either with goose shells Kent .....I don't think it would make to much difference as 50yds for me and the cartridges I use are to far for what little skill I have with a shotgun. I was looking at the guttering on my terrace house which is around 20ft from ground level add around 10ft to the ridge that means my house to the ridge is 10yds high , multiply that by five is 50yds which is my house stacked on top of each other five times and believe you me you would have to be at the top of your form to hit Partridges at that height . I know some people can but I am not one of them and never will be , that is why I stick to around 40yds at a maximum . Hitting a goose , say a Greylag with a wingspan of around 4ft and about 3ft long is a big target and most people can manage to hit them and how many times do we hear , cor I hit that hard and I could hear the shot hitting it , no one can kill them all the time even if you shoot them well in range but it do reduce the risk of them carrying on after you hit them hard or heard the shot hitting them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted October 7, 2014 Report Share Posted October 7, 2014 (edited) You are right Marsh man how few people can kill cleanly geese at 50 yards though personaly i do not find them much of a problem. I am a very slow shooter , taking time to estimate the hight , speed and angle of a high bird and then estimating how much lead it will need. Friends often tell me they think I am never going to pull the trigger when they are waiting for the shot. But low head on greylag can run rings around me. For some reason I let them come too close before riseing for the shot only to find they are over me and past before I shoot. For some reason I never have the same problem with low pink feet , but then how often do you get many chances at low pink feet on a flightline. In recent years my shooting at low greys has improved and I have found the answer for me is to rise to take the shot while they are still 50 yards out . By the time I have swung through them they are usually 30 yards out , in comfortable range and there is a good chance they will swing across your front giving a simple shot, if they keep comming my second shot is usually up their backside and often I do not have time for the second shot. Before anyone says snap shoot them , for me snap shooting has one result, miss after miss after miss. I need time to calcuate where to shoot at the bird. My shooting buddy is exactly the reverse , he is not good at shooting a bird he can see comming from a long way off , but give him a shaddow apearing out of the darkness for a split second he can hit it. Its a bit of a problem when we share shooting at dusk over a flash.His duck in bouncing on the turf before my gun has even reached my shoulder. Edited October 7, 2014 by anser2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6.5x55SE Posted October 7, 2014 Report Share Posted October 7, 2014 Well Sunday morning I took Motty for a crack at some local geese. I'm sure Motty will admit we had a cracking morning Both scoring on the Geese. No 50yrd Geese shot but some very cleanly killed Canada and Greylag killed with 4 and 3 shot Steel. Mind you Motty gave me 2 of his Home Loads HW 13 resulting in me getting a double on Canada WOW that stuff is in a totally different league to Steel and full credit in Motty for his reloading Skills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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