Stupid Question (dove hunting)

[client32]

How does one go about hunting dove?

I have never done this before due to no place to go. However, I have two uncles that report dove in a coupld of places.

Should one just go in and flush the dove out or what?

I'm not new to hunting, just never been after dove.

 

[TrapperReady]

Limited experience here... but I'll let you know what's worked for me.

I'll drive around looking for doves in the sky or on nearby power lines (fortunately, there are some decent public lands around which I can do this). I then try to find an area with a small clearing... preferably with relatively short/sparse grasses. This last part is important since my dog is notoriously bad at finding dead doves. Just remember that like other critters, doves need food, water and a place to sleep. If you can position yourself between a couple of these spots, then they'll come by eventually.

I'll then set up a 5-gal bucket, sit down on it and wait. Most of the time, the best shooting I've found has been within the last hour of legal shooting time. If it's your first time out, spend a while carefully watching everything that's flying. Up here, we get lots of grackles and red-winged blackbirds. Dove are very distinctive, but it took me a couple of times to be completely confident at ID'ing the birds. Here's a hint: if you're not completely sure what it is, then it's out of range anyway.

Most of the time, I'll see either singles or small groups (2-3 birds) coming through. Shoot 'em, get 'em and stop when you hit a limit. It's easy.

If it's really hot outside, then I'll bring a cooler full of ice in my truck, so that I can cool the birds down quickly.

As far as gear... anything that kind of blends into the background will work. I've worn camo, and I've worn khaki slacks with a forest green polo shirt. Both worked fine.

Dove are small and don't require a whole lot of killing. I've been really pleased using 12ga 1 oz target loads at fairly high velocities (the type of shells usually marketed for sporting clays). Either #8 or #7.5 sized shot works great. Some folks like more open chokes, but I've had best success with modified.

Don't sweat it too much! It's not rocket science... and it sure isn't deer hunting. Just go out, give it a try and have fun!

BTW, if you get bored sitting around and see some doves sitting in a tree... there's no rule saying that you can't sneak up and flush 'em.

Oh yeah...

Since you're in Texas, you may want to try hunting naked on a windmill .

 

[Art Eatman]

Find a farmer who's recently harvested milo or other grain; or has a lot of sunflowers. A place with a dirt stock tank is good.

Hang out where you can watch the late-evening "last drink" at a tank and catch birds coming in.

The edge of a field where birds either feed or fly over in a flightpath toward a night time roosting area is good.

Homework. Check the gunshops for ads or business cards. Seed & feed stores in rural areas to brainpick for who knows what about available places...

Art

 

[Lennyjoe]

You can do either or. I prefer to hunt near water holes here in Az. Find a pond with alot of mesquite trees and take a seat. Usually by 0830 the doves are heading into the water hole.

As for field hunting, find a field like Art suggests. Watch and see what the birds flight patterns are and then take a seat on the end of the field to which the birds are flying to.

If you have never shot doves before then I would suggest finding a skeet/trap range and get some practice. Doves are a pretty hard target to hit if they are in warp mode. A dove will make you look silly when they are spooked and know your there.

It's a fun sport for sure. Sometimes I can't even load the shotgun fast enough.

 

[crt360]

After the corn harvest in Texas almost every field has abundant food, so the doves don't have to look too hard for something to eat. From a lifetime of dove hunting, I've come to believe that the only thing that will draw them to a specific area somewhat consistently is a nice sunflower patch, especially with some water not too far away. A good watering hole can be great, especially if it holds water when everything else is dry. To really attract doves it needs have flat unobstructed banks for easy access. If you can't find these, look for a flight path like Lenny and Art said. The end of a treeline where they have to break from cover to cross open field can be very productive.

I've shot them with everything from .410 to 12ga. #6-#9 shot. A 12ga. with #7-1/2 or #8 shot is the most common and cheapest choice. You can sit on a bucket in the sunflowers, stalk treelines, or hang out on the tailgate of your truck. I usually wear hunting boots, long pants and a t-shirt, either camo or some earthy looking color, but I've hunted with a guy who got his limit wearing a red guayabera and white pants, so I suspect the color thing is not that critical. Motion is. If you see birds, even at a distance, be still until you're ready to shoot them. Shiny things like watches, gold/silver glasses frames, rodeo champion belt buckles, etc., can be seen a mile away when the sun hits them right, and should be avoided.

Anything that takes your eyes off the sky or reduces your reaction time, such as reaching in the cooler for a drink, admiring the beauty of your stock, daydreaming, looking for a downed bird, picking up an interesting rock, swatting nats and mosquitos, grabbing a pinch of snuff, or taking a wiz will greatly increase the chance of birds flying right over your head. I think it's been scientifically proven.

One more thing you may have figured out by now: doves know when the season opens and 98% move into the city limits to ride it out. Seriously.

Get out there, be careful, and have fun.

 

[Scoupe]

Anything that takes your eyes off the sky or reduces your reaction time, such as reaching in the cooler for a drink, admiring the beauty of your stock, daydreaming, looking for a downed bird, picking up an interesting rock, swatting nats and mosquitos, grabbing a pinch of snuff, or taking a wiz will greatly increase the chance of birds flying right over your head. I think it's been scientifically proven.

My duck hunting buddy and I refer to that phenomena as "setting out the pee-coy".

 

[Bwana John]

The best dove hunting I have ever done involved shooting at dove as they flew to and from water in the morning and afternoon. What made it really good was there was lots of hunters shooting to keep the dove in the air. While usually I dont like hunting around other people, the shooting action was great because of the dove being pushed around so much.

The down-side of this was a "rain" of spent pellets sometimes falling on me.
So, if you find yourself in hot and heavy dove shooting action, and it looks like "rain" falling on the ground near you-DONT look up!!!

From my experance wearing your safty glasses, a hat with a stiff brim, and hunter orange would be my biggest tip for hunting doves.

 

[axmurderer]

Dove hunting can be more fun than most other small game hunting if the birds are flying. I usually pick a spot near a fence or treeline at the edge of a field, but I have had good luck sitting right out in the middle of the field too. (I was wearing camo, which may have helped) Another thing about dove hunting is that it takes some skill to hit them. They are very agile birds and can fool you into thinking you've hit them when you haven't. You may be surprised at how difficult they are to hit. I've only been able to hit them reliably with my Browning "sweet 16". I've tried several other shotguns and could'nt hit them worth a dang, but with my 16 gauge they are lucky to get by me. You also need to be aware of other birds, such as killdeer that look a lot like doves. You don't want to let everyone know you are a rooky by shooting at the wrong type of bird. And this is one type of hunting where it is good to have other hunters, as mentioned, to keep the birds flying.

I've been on many a dove hunt, and when I carried my sweet 16, I usually got the limit. My dad would fry them up with some rice and gravy and home-made biscuits and that was some GOOD eating!! (I think I just made myself hungry)

Anyway, good luck with the dove hunt. Let us know how it went.

 

[45crittergitter]

Hey Ax, got any doves I can hunt? I'm in central MS.

 

[axmurderer]

Sorry, crittergitter. I'm living in Jackson right now and haven't been hunting at all for about 3 years now. The last time I went dove hunting was even longer than that. I used to go with my dad mostly because he had a lot of friends who were land owners and we got in some really good hunts there for awhile, but those guys are getting up in age now and aren't doing hunts much anymore. I occasionally hear of a dove hunt (pay to enter) but I don't know any of the land owners and haven't tried paying to hunt yet.

Right now I don't have anyone to hunt with. I did some squirrel hunting with a friend a couple years ago, but after he moved to Houston I haven't been hunting at all. I'm thinking of doing some hunting this season, but haven't made up my mind yet.

If I can live long enough to retire and get out of the city, I'll be a regular hillbilly and loving it....

 

[45crittergitter]

Im in the Jackson area myself, Ax. Sorry to hear that you haven't been hunting much. I never have had much opportunity for doves, but I love going when I find a place. The field I had access to this year was blown away by Katrina You can do some squirrel hunting on public land (Pearl River WMA, Bienville NF, etc.) Anyway, let me know if you find a good dove spot!

 

[Matt G]

Dove hunting can often be good even when there's no local cropland. I've killed many dove miles from the nearest cropland, with craws full of doveweed and sunflower seed.

Flyways are important. If you can see a line of trees along an old dry creekbed or a fenceline, the dove often fly along them from roost to food to water to roost.

Unless you're in a very wet area (and I note from the origin of your IP that you're not), the best bet is to follow Art's advice and find you a stock tank to sit next to in the late afternoon. The dove will come in for a last drink before heading back to roost. Some of the greatest hunting moments are when they're coming in low and fast, doing cartwheels as you shoot at them, sometimes 10 at a time from opposite direction.

Learn their distinctive call that they make as they fly and take off. It's completely different than the low mourning call that they make while roosting (and for which they are named). The call, which is high-pitched and is a rapid whistling sound, will alert you to a low-flying pair that is passing behind you. A guy I used to work with claimed that this was just the sound of air rushing through their open mouth as they flew, with the resulting passing air whistling out their butt. "Your butt would whistle too if people were shootin' atcha!"

Learn their distinctive wing shape, beat pattern, and the way they sit on a power line, tree, or fence. After a short while, you'll be able to idea a single from hundreds of yards away, and pairs from a mile away.

Drink plenty of water. Too many hunters don't. Too many hunters drink cold beer while dove hunting. Please don't be one of them.

Bring as many friends as you can. Dove hunting is the only hunting that I know of where the hunting gets markedly better when there are more hunters present. Post a lot of hunters around a big field, and they'll stay stirred up. All boats rise with that tide.

 

[Byron Quick]

Second what Matt said about the more hunters the better.

Water is not a very good draw here in eastern Georgia. Too much of it for one thing. Most doves I've seen coming in for water are coming in across the water to land on a bare bank. Doves shot would be landing in the water.

But it depends. When the doves develop a flyway, then they tend to stick to it tenaciously. I was hunting a field one day and saw the doves flying across the large field out of range and landing in a big oak tree on the other side. Almost all of them. So I got up and moseyed over and sat up in the bushes below the oak. Some of the best wingshooting I've ever had. When two or three were coming in to that tree; they'd keep coming even after I started firing. But jinking five feet up and ten feet down. I missed a bunch of them. I'd have doves sitting in the branches above me as I opened up on the next pair. Good time.

 

[Lennyjoe]

Just the opposite here. They hit the water holes when the heat starts picking up.

Last place we hunted at was near a double pond. The mesquites are bout 15 ft high. Didn't even have to get out of sight of the truck.

Dove hunting is by far one of the funnest bird hunts.

 

[client32]

Thanks for the responses.

I haven't gotten a chance to go yet, but hoefully I will have some luck when I do.