2018 Dove

[Flysmallie]

I haven't hunted dove in many years. Yesterday I grabbed the drone and went out to the local conservation area to just goof around. That's when I remembered it was dove season and got to thinking about doing a little. I never got the drone out because there were a few empty trucks sitting around and I don't want to be accidently buzzing somebody that is trying to hunt. But I might join them in the field.

When I was a kid by mom would cover the breasts with BBQ sauce and bake them in the oven. I don't know if they were medium, medium-rare, medium- well, or what but I do know they were delicious. 

[BilletHead]

                 Still some doves here and there in BilletHeadVille,

      Get a few here and a few there. Like they are in for a day or two and disappear. Have a friend down. Brad who hunts waterfowl with us between Christmas and New Years. Well he is retired now and can get away more often. We wanted to hunt teal but it has been bad for us. Pat one and myself three and it ends Sunday. So we opted for a dove hunt. Yesterday morning we shot 7. Field we were on they flat vanished. We scouted another field for the next morning. I called the farmer for permission and told which field we wanted to hunt. He said knock yourself out and then said hey you need to hunt another field it might be better. Nice to have friendly farmers . We drove by it to see many birds in trees, power lines and flying through the field. So a plan was hatched and this morning we were there for a hunt. We set up not in a hurry and did not take a shot until after seven. Brad brought his two chocolate labs and we both got to see their first retrieves.  Pretty neat to have dogs. The field was cut corn with lots of weeds. We never lost a bird! The male dog still needs work but the female was doing well. it would hunt dead until bird was found. Brad sent her once on a bird. Bird flushed low over the ground and dog on bird tail. Dog actually snatched bird out of air. It was a hoot. We each had our limits by eight thirty. Best hunt I have been on in awhile. My shot ratio was 22 fired for 15 birds and Brad about the same. Brad leaves in the AM and I will rest. Been a circus in the house with his big chocolate labs and our 13 year old Sadie dog. Fun times with a fine friend,

          BilletHead

[ness]

Sounds like fun!

To me, dogs make all the difference. In fact, it’s much more about the dogs and the hunt than the quarry for me. 

[Terrierman]

43 minutes ago, ness said:

Sounds like fun!

To me, dogs make all the difference. In fact, it’s much more about the dogs and the hunt than the quarry for me. 

True to a point.  Though a hunt without quarry is like NFL preseason football.  Not very satisfying and mostly meaningless.

[ness]

38 minutes ago, Terrierman said:

True to a point.  Though a hunt without quarry is like NFL preseason football.  Not very satisfying and mostly meaningless.

Yeah, if they don’t get the reward of a retrieve it’s less satisfying. But...they sure enjoy the hunt, even if there’s not much to brag about. Better to hunt than sit on the couch. For all of us 😄