Your Gun for Dove Opener?

Seriously? Here in Texas opening day is almost a religious holiday.
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Well, that use to be that way with opening day of pheasant season but that is now going away as our the numbers are down. There are parts of Iowa that are still good but you have to go west or LapLand, ( That's where Missouri laps over into Iowa.

My understanding is that Dove in Iowa, are considered song birds and that is why you can't hunt them. Sportsman have tried but to no avail. I have also hunted Doves in Texas but I guess they don't sing as well as Iowa Doves.. :eek:


Be Safe !!!
 
It will be the first time I get the Browning Maxus out that I am getting next week. 3.5 inch 7.5s, just kidding. I will be shooting 2 3/4 7.5s in it.
 
Zippy, a little tight, but if I pick my shots it should work.

IIRC, last shoot I used LM/Mod, the one before LM in an 870. The tapered style choke gauge says the bottom barrel is on the open end of Mod in the SKB while the top is right on the line marked Full.

And I predate choke tubes. I know how to open a pattern by load selection, using cheap, soft, small shot.

I'll use 8 shot "dove" loads in the bottom and 7.5 shot target AAs up top. That's one for fairly close and one for WOD.
 
Remington 20 gauge 11-87 with a LM choke. 1 oz of 7.5's.

Weve got a 45 acre field planted in sunflowers and millet just for doves. I watched hundreds of birds come in to feed Sunday afternoon. Cant wait for Sept 4th!!!

We shot 3 limits in about an hour on opening day last year.

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I'll be using the same shotgun opening day I have opened with for the last fifty years--a 20 gauge Parker Bros Trojan Model with 26 inch barrels. Later in the season I'll move on to a 20 gauge Browning BSS Sporter with the same length barrels, but tighter chokes. I use low pressure 2.5" shells in the Parker. It's pushing 100 years old.
 
An empty gun. Although there is no shortage of mourning doves, hunting them isn't permitted where I live. I console myself with thought that ruffed grouse hunting is 5 weeks away and I've flushed a few in the woodlot adjacent to the house.

How do doves taste? Is there a preferred way to cook them?
 
PJR, the "bird supper" is about as much a tradition in South Georgia as is the opening day shoot.

When I was a kid, we picked every bird, singed them, split them down the back and cleaned them. Then, this being the South, we salted and peppered, drenched in flour, and fried in hot grease. Now, very few people do this. Most folks pop the breast out, pull what little skin or feathers is left off, and wash the breast. Usually some kind of marinate is used. I use the cheapest kind of Italian salad dressing for a few hours. Then, wrap with a piece of bacon held with a toothpick and throw on a grill. Doesn't take long to cook. The breast meat is dark, moist, tasty, and tender. One of my favorite game meats.
 
Around here, we place a generous slice of fresh Jalapeno in the center, sometime with a piece of cheddar or blue cheese and roll the meat around it. That is wrapped with a piece of bacon, pinned with a toothpick and placed on the grill until the bacon is crispy. Man, is that good.

I experimented with about a dozen breasts quartered and dropped into a nice pot of gumbo last year. It sounded good, but didn't turn out quite as I expected. All it did was screw up a nice gumbo.

This year it will be the Jalapeno roll and bacon routine.
 
What I shoot depends on the conditions... I will miss the opener by a couple of days due to a commitment I cannot break... I was hoping to use a .410 870 but will probably end up using a model 12, 12 gauge with a 28" barrel with briley chokes... Normally with a couple of days education the birds will be flying higher and faster... So the .410 becomes a less than ideal..
 
Starting out this year with my 20 gauge 870 Wingmaster. I may or may not switch to a 12 gauge later in the season, depending on how much time I have to hunt and how I do with the 20.
 
Two years ago developers put up a mini strip mall, condo complex, and AM/PM gas station where our shootin', fishin', huntin' and ridin' spot was.. :mad:

Running out of places to hunt, shoot and off-road around here.. Be very thankful for the locations you've got!
 
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