And they're only $42.34 MSRP for a box of 10

Winchester Xtended Rangeâ„¢ Hi-Density Waterfowl Loads

Can't say that I'm enthusiastic about $4+ a shot, I really don't like eating geese that much.

And Remingtons new Wingmaster HD ain't any cheaper.

And Hevi-Shot is now $130 for a 7lb. jar so I doubt I'll be using it much anymore.

Skinner:

However, look at it this way. How much is domestic goose selling for per pound in your area? Surely you're good enough to only need what, one shot? Heck! if you need two shots, you're still ahead!

Gerry, I've never bought a domestic goose I suppose I should someday just to compare em'.

The Canadas I shoot get made into jerky or gumbo, these coastal birds aren't the best eating.

I do believe I'll just stick with my steel handloads and decoy/call em' in close and forget the long shots.

Not sure what Dealer is on those , I saw the price , but my memory fails me .
But 3" 1 3/8 oz loads , they were $24 - 25 a box of 10 .
So $2.5 a shot .

I woud guess $2.8 each dealer cost

Johnch

And I thought my Bismuth was expensive. However with the hard, hi-density shot you don't really need a 3.5" 12 ga. Would think about 1.25 oz in a 2.75" shell would work about as well. The fun in goose shooting is seeing them in front of you, wings set, feet down at about 25Y. They really are too nice to waste. Don't get me going, but my state (Colorado) really encourages sky blasting with their stupid firing lines etc.
C.G.B.

What happened to Hevi-shot? 2 3/4 inch #4s put a bunch of geese and ducks on the ground for me.

At those prices, reloading bismuth starts looking pretty darn good..... JMO, Dutch.

You might as well buy loaded bismuth shotshells since bismuth is now $96 for a 7 lb. jar (before shipping !!) . And I can only get 81 of my fast 1 3/8 oz. loads out of a 7 lb. jar so that works out to almost $1.20 just for the damn shot.

I've bought factory bismuth ammo for $15 a box.

The Federal tungsten-iron worked pretty well too and I've found it for $12 a box.

I'm just amazed that Remington and Winchester have a market for $3 and up shotshells.

Skinner:

I liked your reference to skipping the long shots. All my life (and I was shooting at ducks and geese when I was 14) I avoided trying to stretch 12 ga. loads. (I'm 76) I tried 3" shells and just didn't trust them.(recoil didn't bother me. I just didn't trust myself to gauge how "many more yards" I could reach out with them. I mean, honestly, can anyone really gauge in a hunting situation the difference of 10 yards?) You mentioned about Canadas in your area not being such great eating. Because we have the anonymity of the internet (and I had no women in the family who were such great cooks) I can tell you that I always thought that the only wild duck worth eating was a canvasback -and no Canada remotely tasted as good as a domestic goose -and I shot Canadas over 40 miles away from a coast in very chilly weather! Fact. Too bad I never thought of a gumbo! But then I would have needed the expertise of the people who know how to cook gumbo - and like I said, there weren't anybody like that in my family.

quote:

But then I would have needed the expertise of the people who know how to cook gumbo

My dad is a Coonass direct from the bayous so I do know how to make gumbo and a bunch of other things from scratch. But that's time consuming.

So what you do is cheat

Just use a package of gumbo gravy mix like this,

Cajun Gumbo Mix

Add to 2 quarts of water or 1 quart water and 2 cans chicken stock and simmer till nice and thick.

And I'll simmer a goose in a separate pot till it's cooked through, cool it, pick off the meat and dice it up. I roast em' too but simmering seems to tenderize em' a bit.

Then add that to the gravy mix that's been simmering along with a couple diced up Andouille (or whatever kind) sausages and let is simmer a while.

Add in a package of frozen gumbo vegetables or cut okra and whatever else.

You can add oysters just for fun.

Serve it over white rice.

Everybody likes this and it's a good way to eat those nastier birds.

Skinner:

Like a lot of things in my life - your recipe arrived too late! ( I'm now retired from being able to furnish the goose) Lord, it sounded good!

I only visited your great state once - and gained 5 lbs in a week on that Creole and Cajun cooking! Fact.

I'm actually in NorCal, not Louisiana. Much as I like the bayou country I don't like 102 degree heat and 100% humidity. So I stay in the nice, cool PNW.

That due to my Irish blood on moms side.

Speaking of which my cousins over there are 'wildfowlers' and I need to go join in sometime soon.

If you wanna shoot Canadas , the Ten bore with fast steel sure looks good ; and one hell of a lot cheaper..........

Skinner:

My apologies for too quickly assuming that I knew where you were from. You live where my father (an Irishman) used to call "God's country". (He hated Southern California). I hope you'll comment though, on just why Canadas don't taste so good along your coast. I'm thinking of our own Long Island (NY) goose hunters and I just don't remember any complaints about the taste. Is it that the Canadas are eating something along the shore? (I heard many years ago that a merganser tasted fishy as well as darn near smelling like a fish! Same problem?)

I'd say it's related to them feeding in the estuaries, skimming bottom silt for mollusks, crustaceans, etc, eating eelgrass and other marine plants. The waterfowl that do that seem to be less palatable than the birds who're grazing in pastures or eating leftover grains.

I've found that to be true of fish too, the leopard sharks I catch in the estuaries are nowhere near as good to eat as those I caught offshore. Same with Dungeness crabs.

Interestingly though, Pacific brant are pretty good eating and they're largely marine feeders.

In Iceland I ate Atlantic puffins and black guillemots, who're fish eaters, and I thought they were quite good eating.