Spent last weekend hunting doves in Kansas. Being from Massachusetts it was my first dove hunt. OHMIGOD what a blast! They're not as hard to hit as I was afraid they'd be, but when they have a tailwind going they can really move. Didn't get any triples, but managed several doubles. My shoulder is sore from all the shooting.
Noticed a couple things that interested me. For one thing, you get conditioned to the game you hunt. I'm used to sneaking through the woods hunting partridge in New England, and doves are illegal. I jump to high ready by instinct when I hear the beat of partridge wings, but have gotten used to standing down when I hear the cooing of a dove going up. Took me a couple times to speed my reflexes up when we were pushing the cedars along the edge of the field cuz I'm used to ignoring doves. Kinda pavlovian huh?
It was great to be able to track them coming in across the pond and then open up when they were in the right spot. Also, it was strange to be able to shoot three times at the same bird (yeah, there were a few that were wearing flack jackets ) Again, two shots at a partridge is not too common for me in Vermont, and if I fire three times I'm just making noise.
Speaking of the pond, I learned not to shoot them over the water. My first double went into the water and both birds went down to catfish before I could collect them.
Anyway, dove hunting is just a ton of fun. Thanks for reading.
Noticed a couple things that interested me. For one thing, you get conditioned to the game you hunt. I'm used to sneaking through the woods hunting partridge in New England, and doves are illegal. I jump to high ready by instinct when I hear the beat of partridge wings, but have gotten used to standing down when I hear the cooing of a dove going up. Took me a couple times to speed my reflexes up when we were pushing the cedars along the edge of the field cuz I'm used to ignoring doves. Kinda pavlovian huh?
It was great to be able to track them coming in across the pond and then open up when they were in the right spot. Also, it was strange to be able to shoot three times at the same bird (yeah, there were a few that were wearing flack jackets ) Again, two shots at a partridge is not too common for me in Vermont, and if I fire three times I'm just making noise.
Speaking of the pond, I learned not to shoot them over the water. My first double went into the water and both birds went down to catfish before I could collect them.
Anyway, dove hunting is just a ton of fun. Thanks for reading.