Dove season coming...

[Dave R]

Doves open on 9/1 up here. Time to break some clays. Too bad no one has invented a clay that will change directions in flight. Several times.






Good Dove recipe--put 1-2 jalapeno slices between 2 dove breasts. Wrap in bacon and fasten with tooth picks. Broil or grill until bacon is done (but not over-done.) Makes dove taste like fancy hors d' ouvres. I could eat a bunch of 'em (but have never hit that many!)

 

[Lennyjoe]

Yummy, love them poppers!

 

[kudu]

Maybe you need to find a place that shoots ZZ-birds. They change directions all over the place.

 

[Lennyjoe]

I am always amazed at how a dove can fly when spooked. I swear them Northern blue streaks can darn near turn inside out and change directions when the lead is flying around them. Thats the joy of dove hunting.

 

[Camjr]

I agree with Kudu. ZZ birds change speed and direction (like dove), but start low and go high. It will help with dove.

9/1 in Texas is like a holiday. As I mentioned in another post in another thread, public ranges get a little crazy in the month leading up to opening day -- people that handle their shotguns once a year and have to be "reminded" of proper range etiquette and safety (open actions, two rounds loaded at a time, etc).

In terms of the recipe, add a slice of red onion and jack cheese in with the pepper before you wrap in bacon. My 7 yr old daughter's favorite!

 

[Dave R]

Hmmm, never heard of ZZ birds before. That's why I like this place. Learn new things all the time.

Camjr, I'm going to have to try that recipe this year.

I'm already starting to do the head-swivel thing whenever there are birds around!

 

[Camjr]

ZZ birds have a propeller cap attached to the bird, and they come out spinning. The idea was to have an inanimate object replace a live pigeon used in pigeon shoots (I think). It comes out of one of several trap boxes at different angles. The prop makes them take off at different angles, rise, peel off, etc. Lots of fun, but usually one of the more expensive clay sports to shoot. It's very addicting.

Enjoy!

 

[Lennyjoe]

The doves are not as thick today. The last 7 days we have had more than 200 around the airfield. I put a pretty good dent in them so maybe they have decided to move on. I think I counted roughly 30 around the airfield today.

They are a fun bird to hunt from time to time but not every day as a part of your job. After a while it gets monotonous.

One good thing though, ammo is free and I get plenty of trigger time.

 

[Smoke]

Did somebody mention ....DOVE!?

 

[Lennyjoe]

That picture was taken right before the feathers start to float down out of the sky from some 7 1/2 shot going thru her.

 

[Art Eatman]

Where to go, where to go...Decisions, decisions...

, Art

 

[Lennyjoe]

We usually go to the waterholes. The doves come in like flies when the thermometer goes up.

 

[Dave R]

Art, I'm trying to decide whether that picture is art, or torture.

 

[TrapperReady]

I'm going out tonight to scout a little bit of land a buddy of mine and I leased this year. He's going to be watching the field for deer, while I'll be watching the skies and treeline for doves.

 

[Art Eatman]

Dave, that ravine behind the doves is a flyway. Sit on the front porch, catch the "incoming".

Weird: Ever since a late hurricane hit NE Mexico in 1986, the whitewings don't migrate. They just hang around the feeder all year. We get northern mourning doves coming through, though...

, Art

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

We have the whitewings and the mourning doves, but in the last three years "collared doves" began showing up. I hear they're from Texas.

The Colorado DOW recognizes them as a huntable species as of this year. I've got several pairs around the place.

 

[Smoke]

Larry, you get any Inca Dove up there?

TxPWD kinda frowns on us shooting them. Hard to spot them when they are zipping towards you zipping in and out of the Mesquite trees.

You sure don't want to get caught with one in your bag.

Smoke

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Not that I know of. What do they look like?

 

[Art Eatman]

The Incas are smaller than a mourning dove. They have some red-brown coloring on the wings. In behavior around the yard, they're not as spooky as other doves.

Art

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

I guess not. I did a little checking, apparently they are not this far north.

Range: resident in Southwest California west to Oklahoma, south to Texas

 

[Lennyjoe]

Interesting. I've yet to put one of them down. Mostly mourning's here with a few white wings flying around.

 

[waterhouse]

TxPWD kinda frowns on us shooting them. Hard to spot them when they are zipping towards you zipping in and out of the Mesquite trees.

You sure don't want to get caught with one in your bag.

+1, and I speak from experience. I got off easy since the game warden identified it as a ground dove and then changed his mind later and said that it was now an Inca dove. The jury found it ammusing that he had written me up for misidentifying a flying bird when he couldn't ID it while it was in his hand.