I'm curious about IV dove hunting. I've only ever hunted dove in California incidental to other upland game, so a few here and there "jump shooting" them. For dedicated dove hunts I've always gone to private sunflower fields in south Texas. As a result, I'm totally unfamiliar with the game in the IV, but I was thinking about checking it out for second season this year.
I'd be grateful for any insight into some questions due to my ignorance:
It sounds like a lot of spots are a "battle ring" surrounded by dozens of shooters and no one can travel across the fields. What is the protocol to retrieve birds if you don't have a dog? How do you set decoys if you can't get to the middle of the field?
I can provide you some info at least. The fields (during first season at least) are typically planted with crops, which then have the first 30 yards or so parallel to the road mowed down before the season opener. People will be hunting with their backs to the road facing the fields with 30 yards of space in front of them. Past the 30 yards, the crop grows head high. If you shoot anything past 30 yards, you will not be recovering it. Maybe if you have a dog to sniff it out, but even then it will be work. There shouldn't be anyone hunting from the opposite side, at least not within shotgun range. I'm uploaded a picture so you can get the idea of what I'm talking about.
Here's a map of the fields:
https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=182307&inline
Not all of them are planted and you'll have to scout out which are holding the most dove ahead of time.
Last year, my first year, the opener was chaos. It seemed that guys were lined up almost every 20 feet from the (popular) field I was at. The next couple days eased up consideraly, 3rd day I had it to myself.
This year was much better, same field, but probably the weather turned a lot of people off. Seemed like there was 30-40 yards between people, with a few clusters here and there.
For the most part, people seem to respect that the land in front of you is yours and won't take crossing shots. You should be able to set up your decoys and recover your birds freely. I have an orange hat I put on whenever I walk out into the field.
That being said, this year I was peppered for the first time. I was set up by the end of the field, having about 30 yards to my right before a road divided the fields. Some #$%*!( , who showed up late, set up perpendicular on this road, ostensibly to take angled shots, and started pretty much shooting over my decoys. I was a couple birds shy of my limit, so I decided to just let it pass, snag those last two birds and get out. I then felt a few stings on my right arm, took me a sec to realize what happened. I had long sleeves on and no blood was drawn at least. Homeboy dipped out of sight after that.
Defintely wear eye protection!
I hurt my back shortly after first dove season last year, ended my entire 2020-2021 hunting season. This year will be my first time trying out second season, so I can't give you any pointers for that unfortunately.
