Dove season opens here next Monday. Went to the skeet range to bone up a bit. Judging from my performance there, the critters in the field look to be pretty safe. I generally score mid twenties in trap but never really shot skeet before. It was not pretty. Hopefully I can get back and try again Sunday or just hope I scare them up from feeding on the ground.
Doves look to be pretty safe, from me anyway
- Thread starter AndABeer
- Start date
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
I never was worth much of a hoot with a shotgun. Dropped away from bothering with doves. I discovered after a couple of years of IPSC shooting that Lo! and Behold! I was suddenly pretty doggoned good!
Apparently the primary factor is "Front sight, press." and if your lead is anywhere near righteous, you'll do okay. Worked for me, anyway.
, Art
Apparently the primary factor is "Front sight, press." and if your lead is anywhere near righteous, you'll do okay. Worked for me, anyway.
, ArtOur season opens this coming Sunday. I just started dove hunting a couple of years ago, can't figure out why I waited so long! As I get older, anything you can hunt sitting down waiting for them to come to you has its advantages.
Got a new Benelli Nova to break in this year, did pretty good on the clays. One bonus to dove hunting, when you get to where you can hit them good, pheasant almost seem like slow moving blimps!
Got a new Benelli Nova to break in this year, did pretty good on the clays. One bonus to dove hunting, when you get to where you can hit them good, pheasant almost seem like slow moving blimps!
"I never was worth much of a hoot with a shotgun"
I wasn't either Art till my old man told me to compare it to throwing a rock............[like the rocks(or baseballs) I threw at my lil brother or other kids when they were riding their bikeD).]
After that it kinda came natural. I am still far from the worlds greatest but at least I wont starve if I had to use a shotgun on flying targets for food.
I wasn't either Art till my old man told me to compare it to throwing a rock............[like the rocks(or baseballs) I threw at my lil brother or other kids when they were riding their bike
D).]After that it kinda came natural. I am still far from the worlds greatest but at least I wont starve if I had to use a shotgun on flying targets for food.
"Some folks figure bout a box of shells per dove"
Sam, that reminds me of when I was 15 or 16 or so. I had (still have) a 16 gauge side by side double and was allowed one box of shells per week.
There was a mom and pop grocery store (hell that's the only kind of stores they had back then) in town that carried 22's and shotgun shells (again all stores carried them back then) and I was allowed to charge one box per week to my parents account BUT I had to earn 1/2 the cost of that box. The cost was about $2.50 to $3.00 back then.
One Saturday afternoon as always I walked through town carrying my double (not even a side glance back then) and crossed the Bayou Teche Bridge and headed to the cane fields and woods. That day was overcast with a 25 to 35 MPH south wind blowing.
There was one plot of plowed ground about 20 acres or so that was absolutely full of snipe. Now everyone knows that a snipe is even harder to hit than a dove, and with that wind added in they were really turning and burning. Anyway out of the box of 25 I got 24! (no one worried much about limits back then either.......including the game wardens).
When I ran out of shells I headed for home. My old man was amazed he almost swore I either sneaked up on em and "pot" shot a bunch on the ground or had extra shells. I did neither............just lucky that day that's all.
Anyway I talked him into letting me get one more box of shells, and believe it or not HE was gonna pay the full price. I got em, he paid, I went back and ended up with 25 snipe!
The 24 I got out of the first box plus 1 out of the second box!
Now 25 snipe out of 50 shells is good but 24 out of 25 was so much better!
Your mama had it right....................quit when you are ahead!
Sam, that reminds me of when I was 15 or 16 or so. I had (still have) a 16 gauge side by side double and was allowed one box of shells per week.
There was a mom and pop grocery store (hell that's the only kind of stores they had back then) in town that carried 22's and shotgun shells (again all stores carried them back then) and I was allowed to charge one box per week to my parents account BUT I had to earn 1/2 the cost of that box. The cost was about $2.50 to $3.00 back then.
One Saturday afternoon as always I walked through town carrying my double (not even a side glance back then) and crossed the Bayou Teche Bridge and headed to the cane fields and woods. That day was overcast with a 25 to 35 MPH south wind blowing.
There was one plot of plowed ground about 20 acres or so that was absolutely full of snipe. Now everyone knows that a snipe is even harder to hit than a dove, and with that wind added in they were really turning and burning. Anyway out of the box of 25 I got 24! (no one worried much about limits back then either.......including the game wardens).
When I ran out of shells I headed for home. My old man was amazed he almost swore I either sneaked up on em and "pot" shot a bunch on the ground or had extra shells. I did neither............just lucky that day that's all.
Anyway I talked him into letting me get one more box of shells, and believe it or not HE was gonna pay the full price. I got em, he paid, I went back and ended up with 25 snipe!
The 24 I got out of the first box plus 1 out of the second box!
Now 25 snipe out of 50 shells is good but 24 out of 25 was so much better!
Your mama had it right....................quit when you are ahead!
Larry Ashcraft
New member
I just read somewhere the other day that the national average is about 3 doves per box.
My best ever was 11 for 13, jump shooting out of fencerows and windbreaks. My worst was probably 2 doves for 2 boxes. In my younger days when I hunted more, I think I averaged about 1 out of 3 or 4 (shots).
My best ever was 11 for 13, jump shooting out of fencerows and windbreaks. My worst was probably 2 doves for 2 boxes. In my younger days when I hunted more, I think I averaged about 1 out of 3 or 4 (shots).
MitchSchaft
New member
AndABeer,
Do you have any idea why they decided to open it up on the 2nd instead of the traditional 1st? I can't figure it out.
Do you have any idea why they decided to open it up on the 2nd instead of the traditional 1st? I can't figure it out.
Art Eatman
Staff in Memoriam
Put hen-scratch grain on ground. Stick shotgun out window. Eat dove for breakfast.
Tasty.
, Art
Tasty.
, Art"Put hen-scratch grain on ground. Stick shotgun out window. Eat dove for breakfast."
That works!
Naw I ain't baiting them I am just feeding them!
Here I feed the horse and cow cracked corn...................they spill some..........................not baiting thats an agricultural use
That works!
Naw I ain't baiting them I am just feeding them!
Here I feed the horse and cow cracked corn...................they spill some..........................not baiting thats an agricultural use
MitchSchaft
New member
The passed couple years, my dad has been invited to a field up in Millington. We hit our limit (15) within 1.5-2 hours
. That was last year.
. That was last year.The State of Louisiana used to take about 80 acres of land at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola (they have 22,000 acres there) and plant it in corn in the spring. They never harvested it and about 1 week before dove season they brought in the bush-hogs and bush-hogged the entire field.............corn still on the plants. The ground was yellow with corn.
Nope that ain't baiting.............it's considered an agricultural operation even if the stuff is planted for the sole purpose of attracting doves. If it's planted somewhere else then brought there and scattered that's illegal.
Within a few days the skies were black with doves. On opening day those of us invited had a blast and sore shoulders.
Anyone that worked at the prison and their guests, all the game wardens in the area, plus a lot of state officials with the Dept of Corrections and other agencies were always there (I was always a guest of a very dear friend was a major in the security force there and who sadly passed away last spring............you will be missed Edgar!). There were always about 10 convicts nearby to clean all the birds.
There were about 6 of us that hunted together in our deer club that were always there and we would take all of the doves we killed (I wont say how many but there was more than 90 doves) after the convicts cleaned them and froze them and the day before deer season opened I would make a gumbo in an 80 quart pot to go along with the bar-b-que that was done on a pit so big it had to be towed with a truck.
We invited everyone in our hunting club plus other clubs in the area and damn near the general public. Just bring what you want to drink, bring your wife or your girlfriend.............hell bring both of them!
Nope that ain't baiting.............it's considered an agricultural operation even if the stuff is planted for the sole purpose of attracting doves. If it's planted somewhere else then brought there and scattered that's illegal.
Within a few days the skies were black with doves. On opening day those of us invited had a blast and sore shoulders.
Anyone that worked at the prison and their guests, all the game wardens in the area, plus a lot of state officials with the Dept of Corrections and other agencies were always there (I was always a guest of a very dear friend was a major in the security force there and who sadly passed away last spring............you will be missed Edgar!). There were always about 10 convicts nearby to clean all the birds.
There were about 6 of us that hunted together in our deer club that were always there and we would take all of the doves we killed (I wont say how many but there was more than 90 doves
) after the convicts cleaned them and froze them and the day before deer season opened I would make a gumbo in an 80 quart pot to go along with the bar-b-que that was done on a pit so big it had to be towed with a truck.We invited everyone in our hunting club plus other clubs in the area and damn near the general public. Just bring what you want to drink, bring your wife or your girlfriend.............hell bring both of them!
I suck at shooting doves! I am death on Quail though!
Only reliable way I have ever shot them is to find where they are eating and then drive them and wait for them to flush like Quail or Pheasant.
And dove is tough for bird meat! I prefer Bob White Quail 10,000 times more than dove.
Only reliable way I have ever shot them is to find where they are eating and then drive them and wait for them to flush like Quail or Pheasant.
And dove is tough for bird meat! I prefer Bob White Quail 10,000 times more than dove.
Dove season is nature's way of teaching humility.
Every time I get to thinking I'm hot stuff with an 870, dove season comes and I get a reality check. To drive the lesson home, there's early teal season right behind dove.
After a few lessons,tho, my game shooting is much improved,especially on stuff like Snow geese and Ringnecks.
Every time I get to thinking I'm hot stuff with an 870, dove season comes and I get a reality check. To drive the lesson home, there's early teal season right behind dove.
After a few lessons,tho, my game shooting is much improved,especially on stuff like Snow geese and Ringnecks.
Sunday will find me in central TX blazing away and shooting my shotgun too. Monday too.
I do not release information on the number of doves I get per box of shells fired. And, I no longer admit to hunting ducks what-so-ever.
I believe many of the birds I shoot at are actually in a parallel universe or just "appear" to be flying around in this time line.
Nothing else can explain shooting that appears that bad!!
And.....that 15 bird limit IS some kinda deal to help the shell companies, I just know it.
On a serious note I can't help but wonder if we peps could be at some risk cleaning and eating gamebirds we harvest this fall with the West Nile Virus thing out and about. I heard a report that birds can have many times higer levels of the virus in their systems, and still operate, than can humans.
Just wondering if any of you have seen any trustworthy comments on the subject.
Then again.....I would have to hit some of the doves wouldn't I.
Could not find much on the CDC site that speaks to this issue.
Good luck and have a safe holiday.
S-
I do not release information on the number of doves I get per box of shells fired. And, I no longer admit to hunting ducks what-so-ever.
I believe many of the birds I shoot at are actually in a parallel universe or just "appear" to be flying around in this time line.
Nothing else can explain shooting that appears that bad!!
And.....that 15 bird limit IS some kinda deal to help the shell companies, I just know it.
On a serious note I can't help but wonder if we peps could be at some risk cleaning and eating gamebirds we harvest this fall with the West Nile Virus thing out and about. I heard a report that birds can have many times higer levels of the virus in their systems, and still operate, than can humans.
Just wondering if any of you have seen any trustworthy comments on the subject.
Then again.....I would have to hit some of the doves wouldn't I.
Could not find much on the CDC site that speaks to this issue.
Good luck and have a safe holiday.
S-