35 Whelen
Senior Member
100 yards! I went dove hunting last year for the first time on opening day at Clybel WMA and there were probably 20-30 people within 100 yards of me. Never again!
Welcome Guest!
First time dove hunter
- Thread starter Etoncathunter
- Start date
mlandrum
Senior Member
Go ahead and start looking for a gun dog, I have an English Cocker and you hardly ever loose a downed bird?
Most quota hunts are good. At least the ones in South Georgia are.
As stated, no low birds! If you screw up, I’m sure the recipient of your mistake will let you know.
Pick up birds immediately unless you have a dog.
Take plenty of water. Especially if you have a dog.
Have fun! And don’t give up too soon. I’ve watched folks leave during a lull and 30 minutes later the skies darkened with birds.
And if you have no intentions of doing anything with your birds once you leave, ask around if anyone wants them. Some of us love a good mess of dove and grits!!
As stated, no low birds! If you screw up, I’m sure the recipient of your mistake will let you know.
Pick up birds immediately unless you have a dog.
Take plenty of water. Especially if you have a dog.
Have fun! And don’t give up too soon. I’ve watched folks leave during a lull and 30 minutes later the skies darkened with birds.
And if you have no intentions of doing anything with your birds once you leave, ask around if anyone wants them. Some of us love a good mess of dove and grits!!
Etoncathunter
Senior Member
Well I'm not in the blessed south Georgia, I'm in the cursed north, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
No dog but if this is as fun as I hope I may look into it in the future.
I'm a fat guy, I'm very aware of the need to drink plenty of water. Getting dehydrated can really ruin a day.
Rest assured I fully plan on fully utilizing any dove I accidentally kill. Lol I'd already be looking up recipes if I wasn't afraid I'd jinx myself.
I cook doves two ways.
One way is to salt and pepper the breast, lay half a jalapeno pepper on it, wrap the whole thing with a piece of thick sliced bacon, and grill till done.
Other way (my favorite) is to salt, pepper, roll in flour, and fry till done. make gravy with the drippins, put doves in gravy to slow simmer while you make a pot of grits, and a pan of biscuits.
Dirtroad Johnson
Senior Member
lagrangedave
Gone But Not Forgotten
Go and scout and make an effort to meet a ranger. I did that on West Point WMA years ago and not only did he point me to the best spot on the field he also put me on a duck honey hole and some wild coveys of quail.
lagrangedave
Gone But Not Forgotten
And like Patrick Swasey said......Be nice.........
Etoncathunter
Senior Member
So it appears up here we will be dodging rain showers and thunder storms most of Saturday afternoon. Does that sort of weather effect the birds in any way or do they tend to go about things as usual?
Danny Leigh
GONetwork Member
Birds usually fly better when it's overcast or sprinkling. Like Wood999 said after a hard rain can be really good. Usually helps to lower the temps as well.
Etoncathunter
Senior Member
That sounds good, and I wouldn't complain about it cooling it off a bit.
GANATIVE1999
Member
How did the shoot go?
GANATIVE1999
Member
I got picked for the second shoot and wanted to know how it went up there?
jonhayes
Senior Member
How did it go?
Etoncathunter
Senior Member
Well... It went...
Met some good guys, and had a good time killing the clouds. I didn't scratch a bird though. Mostly from me being rusty at shotgunning, and inexperienced at dove in particular.
The shoot it's self wasn't what I expected. Seemed slower than what I thought would be. In 4 hours I think I shot roughly 15-18 shots at maybe 8 birds. I have no previous experience to compare it to, but what the other people were saying was that the field is not prepped worth a flip. It's all ~5' standing corn, 1 field had a road cut and a couple lanes but that was it. The 2nd field didn't even have that, and everything was THICK. Of the few birds I saw shot at least half weren't found and the others took forever to find. That said, the farmer could have gone in today and fixed everything up and it's perfect for hunt 2&3. Who knows ?
Met some good guys, and had a good time killing the clouds. I didn't scratch a bird though. Mostly from me being rusty at shotgunning, and inexperienced at dove in particular.
The shoot it's self wasn't what I expected. Seemed slower than what I thought would be. In 4 hours I think I shot roughly 15-18 shots at maybe 8 birds. I have no previous experience to compare it to, but what the other people were saying was that the field is not prepped worth a flip. It's all ~5' standing corn, 1 field had a road cut and a couple lanes but that was it. The 2nd field didn't even have that, and everything was THICK. Of the few birds I saw shot at least half weren't found and the others took forever to find. That said, the farmer could have gone in today and fixed everything up and it's perfect for hunt 2&3. Who knows ?
I was at the field, too, and I only got one (I’m also not a great wing shooter) that I lost in the cornfield.
I’ve only been doing this a couple years, but the other WMA fields that I’ve been to were much better prepped. I just wonder why the corn wasn’t cut.
Mexican Squealer
Senior Member
A dove shoot over uncut corn. Wow
