Doves

[Weldor]

Anybody go out? We hit it Friday and Saturday morning. Friday was slow (rain) Saturday was good. Used my new 20 gauge churchhill semi auto, great shooter.

 

[rbljack]

Yeah .just got in from a slow morning hunt. I've gone out each day since the opener on the first of Sept. Evening hunts have been better than the AM. Dove were moving before the sun came up, but once it got off the horizon and into the sky, its like the dove stopped flying. Going back out in the evening to try again.

Ive been also working hard to train my lab. Its clear to me they can tell the difference between training and hunting. I had him conditioned to bring back birds no problem. But now that we are hitting the dove field he is crunching down on the dove and actually ate one completely....GGGRR. Not acceptable . Going to be working hard with him thru this holiday weekend. He did better this morning though. He actually managed to chase down a cripple and bring it back to me still alive and Deliver to hand properly, so there is still hope...LOL

Im taking my son with me in the afternoon to do the shooting so I can continue to work more with the dog. For anyone trying to train a newer dog....take my advice. Try to go with someone so you can focus on the dog training. Its VERY difficult to hunt and try to train the dog simultaneously.

Hoping more experience and encounters will be the best training he can get.

 

[KurtR]

Yeah .just got in from a slow morning hunt. I've gone out each day since the opener on the first of Sept. Evening hunts have been better than the AM. Dove were moving before the sun came up, but once it got off the horizon and into the sky, its like the dove stopped flying. Going back out in the evening to try again.

Ive been also working hard to train my lab. Its clear to me they can tell the difference between training and hunting. I had him conditioned to bring back birds no problem. But now that we are hitting the dove field he is crunching down on the dove and actually ate one completely....GGGRR. Not acceptable . Going to be working hard with him thru this holiday weekend. He did better this morning though. He actually managed to chase down a cripple and bring it back to me still alive and Deliver to hand properly, so there is still hope...LOL

Im taking my son with me in the afternoon to do the shooting so I can continue to work more with the dog. For anyone trying to train a newer dog....take my advice. Try to go with someone so you can focus on the dog training. Its VERY difficult to hunt and try to train the dog simultaneously.

Hoping more experience and encounters will be the best training he can get.

Is he force fetched. Also doves are about the worst bird to take new dogs out hunting. They are great at creating bad habits.

 

[AntelopeEater]

Anybody go out? We hit it Friday and Saturday morning. Friday was slow (rain) Saturday was good. Used my new 20 gauge churchhill semi auto, great shooter.

This season was my first time dove hunting. I had a reservation yesterday at a local wildlife mgt area that is supposed to be awesome for dove hunting.

So I woke up at 3am and drove over an hour towards there to be there in time to check in an hour before shooting time to preserve my reservation.

Well, it rained hard that night, and the last bit of road going into the WMA was flooded out with boulders and rushing water.

So I drove really far into various desert BLM areas near farms I found on On-X in the hopes of jump shooting some doves.

Got a lot of exercise, and explored some new to me areas, only saw a few doves and somehow missed every shot?!

Dove hunting is Turing out to be way harder than I thought it would be.

 

[long hunter]

Just received a text from a hunting buddy limited out before 9:30 this morning in Arizona.

 

[loganwayne]

We had goof numbers of doves in our field last week 15-30 bird groups before the hurricane came and pushed birds out.
We ended up pulling a 2 man limit by 10am. Going to try again tomorrow. Also had my young pup with me and she was acting a fool but had a blast.

 

[Wannabebowhuntr]

Mu group have had super slow mornings this year. In fact from what I have heard no one in my area has killed more than 5-10 on a morning hunt. But people have been hammering them on afternoon hunts.

 

[KurtR]

Shooting geese in the morning it’s been 100 here the last three days no way I’m sitting out in that going to go tomorrow morning if we don’t find geese. Friends have been hammering doves in the morning here.

 

[rbljack]

Is he force fetched. Also doves are about the worst bird to take new dogs out hunting. They are great at creating bad habits.

He was force fetched. He went thru 4 months at a professional trainer, first month was obedience and three months of Gun dog training. They had him retrieving ducks no problem. I also raise coturnix quail and have worked with him here at the house and in the back yard retrieving coturnix quail. I've had him hold a dead quail in his mouth and walk around with it here at the house in the kitchen too. I think he is just amped up when he gets out there. Hunting has a different feel than the training did. We are headed back out to the dove field in about an hour. Im really trying to work it out of him and put the time in while I can over the holiday weekend/ opening weekend.

 

[UpTop]

Went out yesterday for a grand total of six doves! Hoping for better results tomorrow. Still one of my favorite hunts regardless of success. No better way to kick off the upcoming seasons than a few dove shoots.

 

[Carpet Capital Shyster]

Anybody go out? We hit it Friday and Saturday morning. Friday was slow (rain) Saturday was good. Used my new 20 gauge churchhill semi auto, great shooter.

Had an absolute war in South Georgia, yesterday. Started shooting at 3 and limited out by 4:30. I’m a mediocre shot, so the better hunters probably limited out in an hour or less. Both the kids hunted with me for a bit, so that was a nice bonus.

 

[Cant hit em]

I hacked it up , managed 8 Friday 6 Saturday public refuge, would have been close to limits if i could shoot better


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[sjwfarms]

It's an unofficial national holiday down South. Pretty good shoot on the 1st and first opening day in almost a decade where temps were pretty easy on the hunters and dogs.

 

[Jeff_Gibbons]

Yuma was good. Wacky weather this year but lots of doves in pockets

 

[Squirrel Master]

I'm going to hit up some public land this evening near me. It's hit and miss, but a few weeks ago I went out and drove around and looked and there were quite a few there then. I don't know what kind of pressure it's gotten this weekend, but we'll see.

 

[FLS]

We had goof numbers of doves in our field last week 15-30 bird groups before the hurricane came and pushed birds out.
We ended up pulling a 2 man limit by 10am. Going to try again tomorrow. Also had my young pup with me and she was acting a fool but had a blast.

Same for us. Idalia pushed a lot of birds inland from the coast. Still a few around but not like there was a week before the storm. Still had water standing in parts of the field. I managed a few, hopefully it’s better today.

 

[Jgriff]

Limited out in less than an hour on Friday. A little slower yesterday - took two hours, but still lots of birds.

 

[Weldor]

We pulled our limit in the am Saturday. Found a nice water source and roosting trees. Flights were averaging 6-10 birds fast and furious. I'll hit it later in the week, less traffic out there then. Same out here wacky weather rain, now hot and dry.

 

[rbljack]

I got close to a limit this morning. Got 12 (15 is limit). My Chocolate Lab gunner was a savage today!! Did real well and didnt eat any birds. we have been out every morning and evening since the opener and he is doing better now. Even chased down a few cripples and brought them back alive which was nice. I made a point to switch to an Improved Cylinder choke today, and that really paid off. Missed less and hit more for sure.

I invested in a second battery powered Mojo Dove Decoy this year. Those work very well. My spread now consists of 2 battery powered Mojos and four of the Mojo "Flicker" decoys and that set up is proving to be much better than the wind powered Mojo's I was trying to run in previous years. The flickers seem to be worth bringing because they are small, and the added movement/flash really seems to bring the dove in. Hitting them as they fly by is one thing, but having them come into the decoys is so much more fun!

 

[bigeyedfish]

I got invited to a buddy's farm Saturday and brought my 7 year old to play bird dog for me. We had a blast. We finished a couple birds short of a limit. If I had shot worth a damn, the limit would have come easily.

My buddy killed a limit Friday as well, so he gave me his birds from Saturday. We tried out a Hank Shaw recipe on them, and it was awesome.