Help me out with dove hunting, please

1KPerDay said:

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Should have been "behind" instead of "ahead". The image in my head had the right stuff in it.

you can eat sky rats?

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OF COURSE, just a giant dove...AKA "rock doves". I ate some last year breasted. We picked these for Larry's soup he wants to make. My wife don't like doves any other way than the breast halves kabobed over a grill wrapped in bacon. She LOVES 'em that way, so that's how I do 'em.

Ever hear of "squab"?

I always shoot 1 for 1. 1 dove per case of shotgun shells.

I'm competent (but not good) at birds coming at me and going away. But crossing shots give me fits. I may have better odds just throwing a handful of shot.

1KPerDay said:

you can eat sky rats?

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What species do you think Doves are?
Wood Pigeon is said to be some of the best eaten game.
Now "city pigeon" or Rock Dove on the other hand...

Not sure if Skeet or trap would help. We had a guy in our group that was shooting skeet and trap in a club for months and got to be pretty good. We took him dove hunting with us and he shoot 5 boxes of shells and had 1 bird to show for it. we gave him grief over that. What we found out was that the ones who taught him to so shoot just taught him how to hit the clays with a particular sight view. They did not teach him how to lead. So we dug out the thrower and started to teach him the right way to lead. That after noon he stated to hit some birds. But he did make a comment like " these birds must see the shot the way the move after a gun shot". We all laughed and said yes, they do to some extent. My weakest shot is the one going away from me. The side swing has always been easy for me.

I started with a 20ga Full choke single shot Stevens. So I was handicaped by choke and smaller pattern. It took some practice but I got to be a fair wing hunter. I got to where I could limit out (10) with 1 box of shells. Then I bought a new shotgun Rem 1100 in 20ga and shot 3' under every thing I shot at. After a year of frustration I replace it with a Citori and every thing was right on the fit. I tested it with a round of skeet and trap to get an idea on how the gun shot. Fit is very important and is something that is over looked when it comes to shot guns. My dad never said anything about fit. I just happen to discover it when I changed guns.

But there is nothing that really simulates bird shooting except more bird shooting. Don't give up just embrace the sport and learn from it. You will become a better shooter from it when it all comes together.

Field Tester said:

What species do you think Doves are?
Wood Pigeon is said to be some of the best eaten game.
Now "city pigeon" or Rock Dove on the other hand...

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So... yes or no? How do I tell a flying city rat from a flying country rat?

1KPerDay said:

So... yes or no? How do I tell a flying city rat from a flying country rat?

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Pretty shiny feathers? Were they shot in a McDonald's parking lot? Did you feel funny after eating them?

Freeway overpass next to the refinery... feeling a bit woozy...

1KPerDay said:

So... yes or no? How do I tell a flying city rat from a flying country rat?

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by their accent.

lol

Youse guys wanna go down and check out dat pile o' gahbage?

1KPerDay said:

lol

Youse guys wanna go down and check out dat pile o' gahbage?

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My youth and episodes of Animaniacs are rushing through my head.

Lots of advice for how to shoot. But what are you shooting?
I would recommend a imp cylinder choke, and 1 oz or 1-1/8 oz of lead # 8 or 9 shot.
If you are using steel #6 shot, good luck. They need tone with in 20 yards max.

Honestly, and I'm being completely honest here. The best I ever do is when I'm using my 20 ga. Stoeger single shot with the mod. choke in it. And when the birds start flying high I switch to the full choke. That Stoeger .20 ga. that feels like an extension of my arm, I just love that SG. One of my Son's just called me about 20 minutes ago to confirm for tomorrow morning, and I'm going to bring that Stoeger, it always increases my bird count, and decreases my shell usage.

GS

toiville2feathers said:

Lots of advice for how to shoot. But what are you shooting?
I would recommend a imp cylinder choke, and 1 oz or 1-1/8 oz of lead # 8 or 9 shot.
If you are using steel #6 shot, good luck. They need tone with in 20 yards max.

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I was just reading through this thread to see if anyone asked this question. I'm a HUGE fan of the IC choke now. I have been shooting dove and quail with a 870 WM 16 ga. with a fixed mod choke for about 30 years. I picked up a Stoeger 12 ga M3000 this year and screwed in the IC. I didn't pattern it, (never have patterned one) and I can tell my shot ring is way more forgiving. It may be due to the upping in gauge too, but I like the choke for the quick, early season dove.
I do believe though, that trap and skeet will improve and hone your skills, but wing shooting is learned in the field and nowhere else.

Stoegers, Mossbergs, Huglus and such, you guys are such a refreshing change from the Pirazzi/Purdey shooters on the shotgun board. My favorite shotgun for doves is a Remington Spartan 20 gauge SxS coach gun with I/C and Mod chokes installed. If I get into a pass shooting situation where shots are long, I may switch to my 12 gauge Winchester 1400 gas gun with mod choke installed, but 90 percent of the time, and if I don't know the area I'll be hunting, I will default to the little SxS 20. It is very quick and with concentration, I can hit those passers with the modified barrel. I have shot 1 for 2 with it on many occasions where i was getting mostly I/C range shots and high percentage targets over a tank or the mojo. This past week was windy and the doves were aerobatic, I was more like 1 for 4, but hey, I took plenty of ammo and there were plenty of birds. We hunt private land, grain fields and tanks. It was dry up north of Waco and the tanks were where they were at.

If you get into it and decide you like this dove hunting thing, get yourself a mojo decoy. It's a friggin' dove magnet.

Congrats! I still remember my first ones, had hunted the whole season with a .410 pump with my grandpa and uncle at age 10 with no success. Then, one day when I was 11 the following season, I scored 3 in one afternoon. I was the hero.

OP, If you can get to a local club that offers 5- stand, I would shoot a few rounds. The folks at our club give great advice. To your specific question, once you find the groove for a killing shot on birds or clays, it is very difficult to describe the sight picture or lead. It just becomes a natural understanding of where the thing needs to be pointed and how it needs to be swung in order to connect. For me, any attempts to "aim" for any particular point invariably have me stopping my swing, and that is always a miss. When I think about it, I am probably more focused on the bird and where it will be than I am about the sight picture.

Keep a consistent, proper shoulder / cheek-weld for every shot (this can be really difficult to remember when you are surprised by birds) and follow through. Keep increasing your lead until they start falling, and then your brain will start connecting the dots for the the next bird. If you vary your hold on the gun from shot to shot, then your brain can't apply the last equation that worked.

Use 8-shot. Anything larger and my numbers fall dramatically. I will take a few boxes of 71/2 just in case they are flying higher, but I don't know why. I never hit them at longer range. The best success I have had is when you can surprise low-flyers. If you can be out of sight behind a tank berm, then birds coming low over that berm will see you late, and will many times pause a bit when they see you. It is easier to hit them when they are slow.

I had a good spot as I described awhile back, and the birds flying over that berm literally saw me as they crested, and nearly stopped as they opened-up their wings after seeing me, and by then it was too late for them. I limited in 10 minutes that afternoon. In fact, I was having so much fun, I limited and then some. Like REALLY then-some. The land owner that was not hunting that day came over and asked if I had been keeping count. After dumping the bag and finding 24 birds, he immediately exclaimed that he apparently had a pretty good day shooting. Saved my bacon.

Go to the skeet club and shoot some rounds. Most folks not only miss behind but they also miss over because they tend to lift their heads when shooting high birds thus missing over

I had the best hunt I have ever had this morning. 3 hunters limited out in about an hour and a half. We could have had a dozen hunters and done well. We would shoot empty then watch birds fly as we were reloading or picking up dead birds. We needed a few kids to chase birds and a few more adults to knock them down.

Bragging aside, the setup this morning was great. 3 mojo doves on pvc trees with stationary decoys on the treelimbs. Birds would flutter about 10 feet away from the mojo decoys and we were spanking them right there. I shot 57 shells and probably 10 were at cripples that we were trying to recover. Even on passing shots the birds were low and slow looking at those mojo birds. They are well worth the money...and will save money in the long run as your wasting less shells.

Doves are a pain generally to figure out. The algorithm with a dove is much larger than with other wing shooting. In our environment if their altitude is tree top height they generally fly slower. They seem to be on a mission to get somewhere (flying straighter). Harder to reach at 30 yards and flying high.

If they are 16 feet up they are shucking and diving and moving at warp speed. Been on the farm for 21 years and been after those fast flyers for 50 years. Lots of practice and know your birds.

Look at the bright side... It is never as boring as deer hunting.

Look at the bright side... It is never as boring as deer hunting.

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This is why I'd rather go bird hunting (dove, waterfowl, whatever) than deer hunting, though deer hunting has a better volume of meat reward. Oh, I like going and sitting in my box blind. I love walking the ridge lines of the Guadalupes spot and stalking mulies (when I was quite a bit younger), but birds are where the action is. And, it is quite the marksmanship challenge to hit a dove on the wing.

The one bird I've hunted that is harder to hit than dove is snipe. Man, those little farts NEVER fly in a straight line! And, no, I'm not taking about a burlap bag in the middle of the night.