Dove Hunting?

[CL3]

I thought maybe you guys might like to comment / critique / observe my 1st dove hunt attempts... I've attached a birds-eye aerial of the 3 fields I have never hunted and am currently attempting to hunt for dove in & around.

I have scouted these fields since the 9/1 opener and last night I finally took my shotgun for a walk for a couple of hours after work. I posted in two spots in the shadows of Field #3 for about an hour and saw nothing. I then walked through the standing corn of Field #2 and there was only a flock of small-medium blackish birds at a distance I couldn't identify them. Finally, I strolled up into Field #1 and saw a couple of doves at the leftmost edge of the field in the tree line out of range. I hunkered down at the highpoint for a while and waited but saw nothing more.

I keep thinking once that corn in Field #2 comes down, the doves might come out and then I work Field #2 mainly. Take a look and let me know your thoughts... like I said, I have zero dove hunting experience and may even be wasting my time in this spot.

On the plus side, I did sneak up on a doe in Field #3 and a couple in Field #1. Field #2 had plenty of evidence of deer too, so maybe I found another place to think about a deer hunt.

[Chazman321]

Birds on a wire usually works... lol


-Chaz

[CL3]

Birds on a wire usually works... lol


-Chaz

Agreed... So far, I saw one dove on the roadside wires just outside of where I can hunt, one red tail hawk, and a whole bunch of those small-medium black birds on the high-lines outside of where I can hunt.

It's like they know...!

[Chazman321]

Run your own lines... Thin cable isn't too expensive. All you need is some cable clamps and a come along. Climb a tree, make a loop inside a piece of garden hose. Reel out the cable to another tree and make another loop. Use a come along to tighten it real tight, and attach the other clamps. Best part, you can attach the wires anywhere and using the garden hose will minimize damage to the tree...


-Chaz

[87th PVI]

Got out in the field today & saw just one dove... flying between me & the sporting clays clubhouse where I couldn't shoot.

Got home & quickly counted several day's limit on the wires & neighbor's rooves while walking the dog in my neighborhood.

[MARINE DIVISION TWO]

Dove & Quail make for some great breast medallions,Now I got to go hunting.

[CL3]

Run your own lines... Thin cable isn't too expensive. All you need is some cable clamps and a come along. Climb a tree, make a loop inside a piece of garden hose. Reel out the cable to another tree and make another loop. Use a come along to tighten it real tight, and attach the other clamps. Best part, you can attach the wires anywhere and using the garden hose will minimize damage to the tree...


-Chaz

Would love to, but this is public land. It's not realistic for a number of reasons. Corn is still up. I'll keep scouting it, but am preparing to be disappointed in my efforts on this one. On the plus side, it has been nice to get out and I may have found a deer spot (don't know how much pressure it gets though).

The 12-18 doves in my yard are laughing at me. They look delicious, since they hit the scraps under my feeder hard. Punks!

[87th PVI]

Well here we are at a break in the season... My numbers have improved.
I'm starting to get the hang of it now & have figured out more of when & where to be to increase my odds.

I've got 10 birds down & 6 of those were recovered. Thanks to a friend giving me the two he shot when he went out with me one evening, I have 8 in the freezer.

My first bird is pictured earlier in the thread, here's the others so far this year.


Sept 24
1 dove seen in my hunting area that day
+1 shot fired
+1 dove dropped & recovered
----------------------------------------
Good day in the field



Nov 12
3 birds shot down, 2 recovered.


Nov 16
Two down & two recovered each for both me & my hunting buddy that evening.

[87th PVI]

Two more down & recovered today.
If I can get out of work on time tomorrow I can get in one more day of dove hunting before the season ends on Saturday.

[87th PVI]

Well, it's less than a month before the season opens again!

I just noticed that I never updated the last couple days of last year's season.

The two noted in my last post:


Three more dropped & recovered on the next day:


& then that last Saturday I should've just stayed home... knocked one out of the sky which fell into tall grass & vanished. I searched & searched for it until I couldn't see anymore & I missed several shot opportunities at other birds because I was looking for that first one I hit.
I really need to get a hunting buddy with a bird dog!

So my grand totals for last season were 16 down, recovered 11, lost 5 as unrecovered, ended up with 13 in the freezer (11 of mine & 2 thanks to a friend)