Mills, that picture of your son smiling so wide with your dog on the tailgate is worth 3 limits!! Our dove opener was 'hexed'; 2-300 acres of freshly cut corn (first in the county) and great strips to hide in left for the hunters, but the birds may not be here in numbers yet. Very few flying; Sept. 1 opener here in MD featured very high heat and humidity, almost no breeze, and I doubt we saw a dozen birds all afternoon (2-6PM). Second (Labor Day) hunt I was unable to make. Today (Sat. 8 AUG) it rained off and on all day so no joy.
My moments of glory on opening day consisted of two very awkward over-the-wrong shoulder shots at 2 passers that had been shot at 3-4 times already; swung my butt around on my dove stool like a sinkbox shooter and killed both dead in the air. The new-this-year 32" AE Fox 20 ga.swung itself and the "harmonic motion" of the long barrels kept me from falling off my dove bucket onto my keister (follow THROUGH!!). Two birds with 2 shots put me into the high guns for the afternoon.
Thinking about some dove breast h'ord'eurves on the way home, had to stop for a bottle of red Zinfandel to offset the tangy taste. My current favorite is "1000 Stories", its a bourbon-barrel aged Zin with the image of an American Bison on the label.. I take the meats off each breast, toothpick a tiny sliver of jalapeno pepper between them, and saute in hot oil for only a few seconds each (till the meat goes grey), then drain and serve. This leaves the insides of the breast still pink but cooked and yet not overdone.
Years ago served 2 limits (24) that way taken as appetizers for an outdoor end-of-summer party; most people thought they were chicken livers but couldn't place the mild flavor. They gobbled them in about 12 minutes; guests ate everything except the metal cookie sheet I served them up on.
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