I give up!

[Britsmoothy]

My life long dream of getting under some close geese with a muzzleloader and getting a bird has failed this season! I got the flintlock out today to try and am totally confused as to where I am going wrong!
I will give them a rest for a week and re think it!
http://youtu.be/fKQY-lG8gQM

B.

 

[wayne terry]

What size shot are you using?

 

[agill]

How far away are those geese? Seems a bit too far as I can't make out their bills. Flying past overhead is a tough shot for leading them. Hope you get some geese. Thanks for posting! :hatsoff:

 

[BrownBear]

How tall are those trees?

From the limited view of the video, I have to guess the geese are fly about that much higher. And unless those are small geese, their relative size sezz they're as much as 40 yards up.

I've shot a fair number of Canada geese well inside 20 yards, and as close at 10 yards. The shots weren't with muzzleloaders, but at such ranges I'd have complete confidence in clean kills. But from my guns and patterns, things would get iffy fast past 25 or 30 yards.

BTW- Those 10 yard kills were while hunting a small river bottom for pheasants and ducks using 3/4 oz of #6 bismuth with SKI and SKII chokes in a modern 28 gauge. A pair of Canadas jumped up and were trying to climb out over the trees and I killed them stone dead with a shot apiece. Pretty easy shooting (like shooting apples hanging on strings) compared to your passing overhead shots, though.

 

[rushlake1]

Get closer.
30 yards or under.
#2 or #4 Hevi-shot.
head shots only.
Concentrate on the head.
Get closer.
Geese can take a lot.

 

[rodwha]

It sure sounded like that goose was hit and went through the tree tops.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Decades of trap shooting and shooting at clay targets and all I can say is that I have found the incoming overhead shot to be the most difficult. If you lead an incoming overhead target and you can see it, you’re probably going to shoot behind it. In order to get enough lead on the target it should disappear well beneath the barrel.

 

[Thing]

I have to agree. From whit I see it looks like your shooting behind them. Plus they look to high .
Sky busting is something we all do now and then.
Never seems to work ..

 

[Britsmoothy]

Consider the lenses! Under 30yds.
Bismuth #5,leading for heads. Gun flicked well forward. You here sprocket running in. Expecting one to come down!
I am puzzled, never do this bad!

B.

 

[necchi]

I am puzzled,

That's the beauty of it :wink: Sport!
We still call it hunting here stateside,
We haven't changed the name to "harvesting" although that is the goal,, it is sometimes a sporting challenge :thumbsup:

 

[Britsmoothy]

Yes you are correct. Need to persevere.

B.

 

[Alden]

...where I am going wrong!

Missing!

Geese 1, Brit 0

Now if they were Canada Geese I think, wish, you'd have gotten some.

Answer, usually, by the way is short-leading them but your sight picture at those extreme elevated overhead angles may be too far gone to salvage. Otherewise, one barrel width for each 10-meters distance the way you shoot (try to be more consistent and NOT follow them -- doesn't seem natural to you -- lead, lock, slap).

 

[Britsmoothy]

Personally I think Iwas in front.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Don't give up Brit,
My dad went through 3 boxes (75 rounds) once trying to hit one.

 

[Alden]

Personally I think Iwas in front.

Exactly, see how wrong you can be!?

:haha:

Sporting Clays range available to ya?

 

[Alden]

My dad went through 3 boxes (75 rounds) once trying to hit one.

Only THEN did he give up! The moral of the story is...

...you've got a long way to go and a short time to get there trying to do what we know can't be done.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Actually he did give up goose hunting after that and was awarded the nickname Goose for about a decade.One of lifes more colorful moments. :grin:

 

[coloradoclyde]

I'm not sure how big #5 bismuth is but it sounds small to me for geese.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Consider the lenses! Under 30yds.
Bismuth #5,leading for heads. Gun flicked well forward. You here sprocket running in. Expecting one to come down!
I am puzzled, never do this bad!

B.

Oh no...now I've got you calling her Sproket! :shocked2: :haha:

It's tough to tell from the camera angle but I'd toss out an experience I had at first with geese. Long history of hunting dove and quail which always seemed to go well. Started trying for geese and it became a long, dry spell. Finally figured out the body size and speed of geese was optically throwing off my lead. They're traveling faster than they appear and if you've hunted a lot of smaller sized birds, your mind computes lead visually and misjudges the correct. Finally had luck when I increased the lead over what "looked right". Just a thought from a frustrating past! :wink:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I have to agree. From whit I see it looks like your shooting behind them.

and

Personally I think Iwas in front.

It's tough to tell from the low light, but it looked to me that you shouldered, sighted, and fired quite fast....looks to me as though you are "stopping the gun", instead of starting the swing behind the bird, drawing the bead through the bird and firing with the bead in front. At that severe angle and shooting that quick, it's also possible that you're not getting your head fully down on the stock... which will make you shoot "high" (personally, I have to really be careful of this when I shoot geese.)

LD