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FeedAs a native Northeasterner, I was raised in an environment that considered the mourning dove to be a songbird, not a gamebird. I remember my tenth Christmas when my aunt and uncle gave me a Peterson field guide to birds, hoping that I would join them on bird-watching expeditions. That’s not quite the way it turned out. Dad gave me a Daisy Red Ryder carbine. He understood that the bird book might come in handy for post-mortem identification.
When I grew up, I moved to New York City. The Big Apple is short on doves. My only bird hunting opportunities were fruitless attempts to punt pigeons off of the sidewalk. So when I got invited on my first dove hunt, I jumped at it. It was a chance to get even with birds in general.
My pal placed me on a revolving piano stool in the middle of a Georgia field on opening day of dove season. I got dizzy spinning this way and that. I utterly failed to make any dove mourn but did provide some amusement for the real hunters. Later I took trips to Colombia, Argentina and Honduras. There are so many dove there that even I could hit some. Still, shooting in Latin American doesn’t have much to do with the way things are done in the States.
Now that I’ve moved to Florida, I participate in local dove hunts on a regular basis. I imagine that our hunts are pretty much like everyone else’s: a bunch of pickup trucks along a millet field, entire families in camo, lots of shots, happy Labs bounding off to collect the occasional success, a cool beverage or two when things are over.
One thing’s for sure. The shotshell companies love dove hunters. One of the ammo reps told me that dove hunters accounted for by far the largest chunk of all the shotshells made. US Fish and Wildlife says that America’s dove population is around 400 million. I’ve read estimates of from 23 to 70 million birds taken each hunting season. Split the difference and say 40 million. It is generally accepted that five to eight shots are expended per bird taken. Say it’s six; six times 40 million is 240 million shells! Almost a quarter of a billion! No wonder the ammo companies love the mourning dove.
Clearly, more Americans shoot at doves than at any other gamebird. While I would never say that one type of bird hunting is better than another, dove hunting is certainly one of the most accessible forms. There are a lot of places to partake and it doesn’t cost much. It also lends itself to groups, which makes for camaraderie.
Do you hunt doves where you live? Any good stories or hints for the rest of us?
That’s it for now. Boots off. Beer open.
Posted on Thursday, October 30, 2008 in Permalink
Shooting Sportsman’s Technoid Talk is a place where SSM readers can share their opinions with Gun Review Editor Bruce Buck. Bruce has been writing for SSM for more than 10 years, starting with book reviews and then gun reviews along with travel articles and product reviews. In addition to writing for SSM he currently has a column in ClayShooting USA. Before that he wrote for Clay Pigeon and Reload! His 35 years of shotgunning have included four trials for the US Olympic International Skeet team, numerous state championships in International Skeet and sporting clays plus a quarter-century of coaching experience, including two summers coaching at the US Olympic Training Center. An avid wingshooter, he has hunted birds in North, Central and South America; Europe and Africa. In this blog he will discuss technical shotgunning issues, shooting techniques and the latest developments in the world of fine shotguns & wingshooting.
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Reader Comments:
I hunted a few when I used to live in PA but it was pass shooting and we'd only see 30 or 40 a hunt, either a morning/evening. I had the closest thing to a real shoot this year. I now live in MN and was out on opener for the early season goose hunt. When scouting for geese we saw a bunch of doves in the field as well. There weren't many geese coming our way so at lunch I went and grabbed my decoys, MOJO dove, etc. Three of us got 20 in 1.5 - 2 hours. It took us just over three boxes to bag them, 12 ga semi-auots with a little too much choke. We all agreed it was probably the funnest hunt we'd ever been on.
I went back the next day with my Arrieta 20ga SxS and got my limit of 15 in just over two hours. It took me about 65 shells but I shot at and bagged a few pigeons also. That was without a doubt the most fun I've had with a shotgun. I can understand why people hunt them and why it takes so many shells to bag them.
I also live in Florida and thoroughly enjoy dove hunting. A good dove hunt is very hard to beat; actually probably unbeatable!
I hunt public land in addition to private property. My favorite gun to use is a Beretta 391 12ga (love that 3rd shot and it never jams). My load of choice is the Remington Nitro 27 with an 1 1/8 of 7.5's. I am also a big fan of the Mojo Dove: it usually adds a couple birds to the bag.
Quick story: I was recently in Georgia and decided to drive around trying to find a place to hunt dove. I saw couple of people that were harvesting a peanut field and decided to ask them if they knew of a field I could hunt. The man replied with "no" so I continued on my way. later the next week I ran into the same gentleman and come to find out he is my land owner's son. He remembered me from the previous week and commented that he had never heard of anyone just asking randomly seeking out dove property. He then invited me to hunt with him on one of his private fields.
I read Nash Buckingham's "The Dove" and agree with you. The ammunition companies love the dove hunters. Many years ago I went out in North Carolina for my first baptism on doves. Many of the gentlemen were AA skeet shooters, 100 straight skeet targets, even on windy days, were not uncommon. If my memory hasn't failed, you were allowed 15 doves daily limit. Many shot 3 boxes of reloads, 75 shells, to get 15 birds.
Like many things viewed from a distance, it might look easy at first blush. I enjoy pass shooting, and the biggest benefit from the Buckingham article was his comment: "For a right handed shooter, when you swing a shotgun from left to right, the muzzles drop, just the reverse when you swing from right to left, the muzzles tend to climb.
I like a 12, although most of the hunters I went with back then shot 20 or even 28 gauge skeet bored guns. Most likely would use my older Powell sidelock ejector, 30 inch barrels mod. and imp. mod.