There's More to Dove Hunting...

[mobirdhunter]

...than just the birds at your feet on opening day (if fortune smiles). I've enjoyed reading of the preparations some of our dedicated dove hunters have and are making for the upcoming season. Our hunting will be a very modest affair in comparison to what Charlie, Mills, and Stan, for example, are anticipating. Elaine and I scouted some of the local WMA sunflower fields this morning and saw decent numbers of birds.

In addition to the scouting for dove, we also surveyed some of our harbingers of Fall -- late blooming sunflower varieties, native thistle, prematurely reddening blackberry canes, and, my favorite, goldenrod, its color set off by the rich purple of ironweed. The goldfinches have gathered and are feasting in the sunflower fields. All is ready and decent weather predicted. We'll give the early morning flights a try, but the real treat will be to have a fine old bird gun in hand on a day afield. The older I get, the more I cherish these days.

Good luck to my fellow dove hunters.

[Mills]

Looks good! Like most other sporting pursuits, the birds are just part of the overall experience.

[charlie cleveland]

good looking field I hope every one has time to get out and bust a few caps this weekend...be safe and shoot straight.....charlie

[Stan Hillis]

Nice pictures! How I wish we had the native sunflower that grew naturally in GA, like it does in TX. Those are beautiful. I tried, unsuccessfully, to introduce them to some of my land several years ago. I ordered the seed from Turner Seed Co. in TX, after speaking with Jay Mercer there about them. He told me I had a tough row to hoe to get them to grow here and he was right. Planting them was a bust. I only got a few plants up on several acres. It seems they do not do well in sandy soil types.

Good luck to all of you who will be trying to run down some of those little grey rockets Saturday afternoon.

[mobirdhunter]

We scouted another WMA today on a very pleasant (54 degrees) morning. Found a couple hens with brood(s). I'll look them up come the Fall opener on Oct. 1. Not too many dove at this WMA, but we were a little late getting there.

After Stan's post, I looked to document some of the various sunflowers we normally see here on the edge of the prairie. Compass plant (if you know Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac, then you are familiar with this regal member of the sunflower family) blooms in mid-Summer and is pretty much gone to seed by this time of year. It's cousin, the Cup Flower is almost past its prime also (first photo). Tickseed Sunflower (photo 2) is just now coming on, and come Mid-Sept., on an overcast day, it will dazzle you with its rich color and colonizing growth habit. We also find Jerusalem Artichokes (photo 3), a tall sentinel that is often found in good quail and pheasant cover come December. Some folks swear by the nut-flavored root that gives the plant its name. We've tried growing them without success. I can take or leave the roots as table fare.

So much going on this time of year. The dove hunting sometimes gets lost in the season, but come tomorrow morning -- our opener at sunrise -- all eyes are to the sky, and the guns will sound again for the beginning of another season of hunting -- hallelujah!

Again, good shooting and good luck to all.

[Stan Hillis]

I hope for you a day, tomorrow, that will be "one for the books".

Please bring a report!

[Dean Weber]

I have had the pleasure of being invited on a multi-day group hunt for a few years now. It is a family event. The patriarch is 92 and he "manages" the dove fields from spring to harvest. He carves his own decoys, which most of us use. He shoots a 410 and is good with it.

Today, I shot next to him (I used a 28 gauge)....so he walks very slowly to my hay bale hide after I missed a bird. He looks at me and asked why I needed such a big gun. I told him to go ahead and give it a try. He took 2 birds with 2 shots. Hands the gun back and said, I guess it will do. That interaction will stick with me for a while. It is not about the doves.....

[charlie cleveland]

really nice big field and that's got to be a parker gun a nice one....charlie

[todd allen]

This has been a really good thread to get me in the mood for dove season.
I remember back in my younger days, growing up in Las Vegas, we got invited to a family farm shoot in Pahrump NV.
The patriarch of the family managed the food and guest list, and it was really a lot of fun!

[Mills]

I'm pretty much in final countdown mode now. I seem to be more excited about the opening day than usual and, yes, I think it is these few threads on this forum.

A few more pics from seasons past to set the tone