Daniel, I am guessing that your dove opener is a big affair, as it is in much of the South. We were too poor to get invitations to the big opening day events in Virginia when I was a kid, but I recall hearing shots from one of the bigger ones when we lived in Hanover County. Here in Missouri it's more of a "blue collar" affair with guys showing up sometimes at 3:00 am to stake out a spot on one of the managed fields at a local WMA -- still fun and generally a more social affair than most public land hunting.

I hope your season starts well.

The doves are starting to bunch up into loose flocks instead of the pairs seen during summer. A sure sign of good things to come. The bucks are also bunched up into age groups and are friendly. That will all stop once the velvet comes off around Labor Day.

As soon as we get some reasonably cool weather it will be time to start running dogs in preparation for October.

I've become tuned into what birds are doing.

At my feeders lots of species are molting, growing in new feathers to take them on their journeys south. Some species, like Rose-breasted Grosbeak are already gone.

My last ruby-throated hummingbird banding session in the Adirondacks turned up only two adult males out of 25 birds caught. The adult males are the first to go.

The newly fledged songbirds are no longer begging for food from their parents and actively finding food on their own.

Species that don't breed in my area start to show up at the feeders, a good indication that they are migrants heading south.

I still haven't seen immature American Goldfinches as they are late breeders in my area. They'll show up anytime now at my feeders.

All migratory species are actively feeding on what is usually a peak in food availability at this time of the year to build up reserves for migration.

Flocks of Canada and Snow geese heading south high overhead.

But then there are other local signs...apple orchards opening up for pick-your-own business. White-tailed deer fawns with mostly faded spots. Those huge ears of white corn-on-the-cob that have had all Summer to grow. The crispness of the air in early morning. As has been mentioned already, some leaves are beginning to turn color.

Something always tells me to take stock of my ammo supply and get what is lacking. Setting aside a day to go to the range to check rifles. I am shooting my bow every day now. Then there is the scheduling juggle for time to hunt vs. other commitments. I mean, who schedules a wedding in October??? Really??? I am going to give up a weekend in October to go to a wedding???

At my place in Maine on Sunday early morning we had several times more hummingbirds than normal. Many were pushing and shoving and chasing each other at the feeders and sitting on branches nearby waiting their turn. there were also a few males.
To me, these were signs that they are feeding up and attempting to boost energy reserves for the long flight to Central and South America.





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It's interesting to read these observations, especially concerning birds. I know that upstate NY is far enough north to make a difference in the timing of bird migrations, but we still have doves nesting (they seem to want to nest continuously until they begin to move south). We also are seeing male hummingbirds, and the Grosbeaks are still "in town." Our prairie restoration plot is filled with Gold Finches, and they are constant companions in the sunflower fields during the first week of the dove season. I guess a few degrees of latitude make a significant difference...

A good sign of the upcoming fall season is sorghum that has the seed heads well developed. We got a late start this year so none of mine have seed heads yet. But they will come and provide great feed for the pheasants, deer and turkeys. The turkey hatch was expecially good this year. We should have some fine fall shooting.

That stir that's telling me I need to work the boys every cool morning possible. The wood stacks never seem to be large enough. Almost nightly just at the edge of sleep, I question will that grouse I call Houdini, the one that beat us twice in the same week last year still be there.

I heard that a 10-year-old kid was in there with a .22 just after you left last year.....:eek:





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Maybe, but at least he couldn't have rode an atv! The Tamarack swamp he would need to cross is daunting. The lone deer and wolf trail through this almost mile long bottom of 13 year Aspen makes my hips sore before I get near the end. Watching the setter pup work it reminds me of a Border Collie doing the poles on a agility course. Houdini doesn't live alone but has neighbors of the little russet fellas that make the bell stop fairly regularly and their tweeting rise provide warning before we get to his block of hawthorns. I can't wait to catch his next show.

Yes, the locust leaves are starting to rain down. They mowed the hay fields that butt up against my back yard today, so I will soon have acess to a bunch of connecting hay fields to condition my dogs in the mornings. Ed, the gent who cuts the hay there has a littermate to my Fancy, who many of you met at Hausmann's. Unfortunately, that dog doesn't get hunted, but is a sweet dog.