Dove hunting - What gun are you taking?

[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by Kevin McCormack

Didn't seem to matter much what gun I took either day for doves so far - the incessant off & on again rainstorms have disoriented the birds so much that I believe they have left our immediate hunting farm(s) area.

Opening day (1 SEP) I was one of the high guns with 2 birds for 2 shells; Labor Day I couldn't go but thankfully so since upper 70s per cent humidity and high temp of 89; heard that a total of 10 doves were shot off our 800+ acre lease. Went back today, not bad weather at all; humid but not excessive, high in the upper 70s, but literally saw NO BIRDS at all - none on the wires, sitting in trees, jumped in the fields, shown in people's hands, nothing flying at all - a real first for us this time of year hereabouts (central MD and NO VA).

Some of our best fields adjacent to rivers (Potomac, Monocacy, Shenandoah) and sizeable creeks (Antietam in MD, Goose Creek in VA, were obviously over-flooded during the last 2 nights (Thurs. & Fri.) by the outer orbital rainstorms of Florence. The two fields we closely examined immediately adjacent to the river(s) showed signs of a 6"-1 ft. overwash flooding; not a single kernel of corn or other grain crop visible on the ground, only animal tracks visible this AM (deer, coon, fox, etc. - one set could have been a coyote) showed that all other surface impressions in the earth had been scoured away, not unlike a hosed off driveway.

Areas mentioned above are usually very good for dove - but Mother Nature rules!!

Kevin,

It's tough when things like the weather take days, and even seasons, away. It's not like we have an unending number of seasons to hunt. Good luck to you.