Who's gearing up for doves?

[Lerk]

Who's getting restless to go shoot some doves? I'm prepping for my first true year of dove hunting. Normally I just pick off one or two in the backyard during the season.

Got my gun, my bucket, some 12ga 9 shot reloads, some clip on decoys, and a nice strip of county ditch w/ prairie grass that my grandpa owns with my name on it Sept 1st needs to hurry up!

Thinking about picking up a mojo for the heck of it, seen they are only $30 with my Amazon Prime membership w/ the free prime two day shipping, pretty tempting.

 

[Patocazador]

Mojo doves work really well for local doves. The migrators that make it down here are wised up to them by the time the survivors show up. #9s are a bit light for doves especially in the wind or later in the season.

I like 7 1/2s much better.

The best dove attractor is a freshly-harvested corn, millet, sunflower, etc. field.

 

[gspn]

Sounds like you've got some fun ahead of you. I don't have a place to go this year but have had some very good times on dove fields previously. I've hunted the MS and AR delta's and those places are crazy good.

They are the type of places where if you can shoot, there are MANY times when you can take your 15 dove limit in 20 or 30 minutes.

I agree with what Potocazador said about 9's being light. I'd always used 7 or 7.5's, and have occasionally used 6's.

Good luck!

 

[MCgunner]

I use a 20 gauge SxS loaded with 7/8 ounce of 7.5s choked IC/mod. Works for me. The gun is quick over the mojos and tanks we hunt, a lot better than my 12 gauge Winchester 1400 gas auto for that sort of hunting.

My buddy has already called. He's got yet ANOTHER farm. Man, that guy buys land faster than I can buy guns. He says the rains this year have the dove populations way up. His new farm is good, he says, but heck, his old ones ain't bad. I'm going to enjoy it this year, I'm figuring. Two years ago was slow, but usually, we've limited every day first few days of the season. It's some decent dove hunting as it's over tanks, usually, and with grain around us.

Hopefully he'll be down here this season for some goose hunting. I'll let him sit in my box blind if he wants.

 

[LOLBELL]

Opening day is a national holiday around the Bell household. Started getting geared up back in June when I planted the 50lb sack of Black Oil Sun Flowers. Made a good crop and already have a good number of birds. I prefer 8 shot for early birds and 7.5's for the late northern birds. Hope you have a great opening day shoot.

 

[Captcurt]

No prepping anymore.

One year I shot skeet and sporting clays all summer to get ready. Opening day I missed the first 9 birds that came by. I still like to shoot clays and doves but those little gray rockets will humble you in a hurry. I saw one guy empty his gun and yell, "Go on you little bast#*&@. If the world is round you will be back in 10 minutes".

I usually shoot my 20ga Baretta BL3 with with 7/8 oz eights, but once in a great while (if I am feeling lucky) I will pull out the 28ga. I screwed up last year and shot the 20ga on opening day and took the 28ga on the third. The educated birds were super wild and flew too wide for the 28. Not sure if I could have reached them with a full choked 12ga. That won't happen again.:banghead:

 

[red rick]

I guess I am . Last night I looked to see when the season opens .

 

[Sovblocgunfan]

Ready to go!

Geared up and sitting here watching all the white wings in my backyard. They are everywhere-fat, happy, and unbelievably casual. Since I'm in a subdivision, I can't shoot 'em, but I can take a bead on 'em and wish I was out hunting.

I will have an 11-48 in 16ga mod and a couple of Ithaca 37's. Maybe others. Not sure bout that yet.

 

[Cowhide Cliff]

I guess I'll gear up the morning of the opener.

I'll grab my shotgun and some 7 1/2's, a jug of water and my seat and tell the dog to get in the truck.

Well I really wont have to tell the dog, he'll figure it out when he sees what I'm doing.

 

[stiab]

Other posters are correct, #9 is a little light for typical dove hunting, I use either 7.5, 8, or sometimes 8.5. #8 is best overall I think. Also, dump the Mod and Full chokes, and go with the more open ones, like Cyl, Skeet, IC. Your results will be much better. And wear camo or dark earth colors, and have a tree, tall weeds, or other structure nearby to hide behind.

 

[cat_IT_guy]

I'm certainly looking forward to it. About one month out.

 

[PapaG]

My five acre "food plot" has twelve rows of sunflowers around the perimeter. In a week or so we'll spray it then a week or so later, no more than three days before opener, cut them down with a bush hog. Around the outside of the sunflowers is 16 rows of corn and we'll back the hog into the corn every fifty yards or so for a "hide". At the west side of the plot is a creek (water), a couple hundred yards to the east is a gravel road.
We have a ball when they start flying between the creek, the seeds, and the road.
A couple years ago we cut down too early and the finches ate all the seeds. (walking in to the plot raised a yellow cloud...a million fat finches almost too stuffed to fly.)
Four guns...1100 20m ga with skeet barrel, Browning Citori superlight 12 with 1 oz of 7 1/2, Navy Arms "magnum" 12, 1 1/4 oz 6, and a Pedersoli Mortimer 12 with 1 1/4 oz of 7 1/2.
Yeah, we're getting ready.
After...dove kabobs and cold Fat Tire.

 

[Hookeye]

Well after a 10 yr run, my bud and I did not get drawn for the opener (hunt F&W area).

Could go up and wait for an opening (standby they call it).

Way back I ran an 1100 Mag w WW Superhandicap 7.5's or an 1100 Trap with same. Could puff 'em out over the standing sunflowers.

Then they started planting some chest high grass between rows. Not bad if you were there opening day, feathers would lead you to the downed bird.

With feathers from the prev day's shooting, day 2 was a "no" for birds past the edge.

Now with steel shot, you can't shoot 'em to the edge of standing sunflowers anyway (about 40 yards). They run a 50 shot limit so it's best to wait until later when more birds show up, closer.

Good times.

I dunno, might grab some magnum waterfowl stuff and go after nuisance geese instead.

Mojo dekes have worked OK for us. Have seen a field of them do nothing.
Just never know.

Best bet is to be close to a dead tree.

Long walk to the fields, after a day of cookin' in the sun it's a chore to get back to the vehicles. We have since gone to a wagon/ cart to haul the coolers, seats, guns and dekes.

Thinking abut modifying a folding golf cart instead of the 2 and 4 wheeled heavier systems.

Last couple of years I've used my POS 870 Express Supermagnum turkey model w Imp Cyl or Mod choketubes.
23" bbl a bit short, but it runs about 50% with no cherrypicking.

 

[Lerk]

Good to know about 9's being too light, I happen to have some 7-1/2's that are game load speeds that'll work good too.

Trying to pack light, backpack, 8 plastic decoys, mojo (gave in a bought one), decoy ground stakes, and maybe my camp stool instead of the bucket. It's only a 1/4 mile hike to my spot though and I can drive back there after I'm done for the day to pick up if needed.

Can't decide exactly which gun now. My Weatherby Orion 12ga O/U and Winchester SX3 12ga are both great shooters, I'll probably ended up bringing both to see which is the hot gun

 

[JimKirk]

I shoot #9 for early doves here in the South and change to #8 later in the season .... but down here we hunt in corn fields and the shots are close ... #9 work great for me ... but I reload only hard target grade # 9 .... so they work better than the cheap box store shells with soft lead shot .... I shoot a 20 ga with 1 oz of shot ....

 

[MCgunner]

I saw one guy empty his gun and yell, "Go on you little bast#*&@. If the world is round you will be back in 10 minutes".

That about sums it up.

 

[Hookeye]

I love shooting triples. That's where the 1100 gets the nod

 

[Choctaw]

We can't hunt opening day but we will sure be out there on opening weekend. Can't wait!

 

[oneounceload]

Like Patocazador, we here in central FL have to wait a month for all of the battle-hardened survivors to make it down here. Where I am the millet is gone and has been replaced by peanut. 20 gauge, SxS weighing about 6#, shooting either 7.5 or even 6's if the distance and wind dictate

Remember, dove aren't hare to kill, but they sure are easy to miss................