Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Opening Day

I got invited to a Dove hunt this past Saturday in a neighboring county. Legal hunting hours were noon till dusk. There were nine of us and we killed 176 birds. It was the best shooting dove hunt I have been on in a while. There was a lull from about 1-3. Then, the birds began to fly. Temps were in the 70-80s and the wind was about 15 mph so, the doves were very challenging. I had plenty of 20ga. high-brass empties and a bruised shoulder as a testament. There was plenty of food too. Seeing the old '57 Chevrolet " true barn find" was a bonus. My host was gifted that car as is, but now running, by an elderly neighbor he had taken care of for years just before the fellow passed. Jeffery in Alabama









The intrepid "Scout" did his part too.






34 comments:

  1. Never had Dove. Is it worth the effort to get that small piece of meat?

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    1. Short answer is no the meat is not worth the effort. In the South, opening day of dove season is akin to a holiday. A reunion of sorts for lifelong friends and hunting buddies. More a social event than a hunt. It also signifies the beginning of all other hunting seasons.

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    2. They are a lot of work but worth the effort when you wrap them in thick cut bacon. Even better with half a jalapeno.

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    3. My buddy that was on the USAMU shooting international trap was always invited to several... special opening days...

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    4. Just spit out the occasional birdshot and enjoy it.

      I was at the dump last weekend and heard the first Bob White Quail call I'd heard in ages. When I was a kid you heard Bob White and Whipporill call frequently. It's sad how their numbers declined via development for Yankees.

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    5. Getting out is what it’s all about, but meat is meat

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    6. What ColdSoldief said pretty much covers the things. Dove is dark meat. The breast is the only portion that is worth fooling with. People will prepare to their liking (spices, marinades, jalapenos, bacon, etc.) and cook them on the grill usually off heat side. It is one of those game meats that is not half bad after one puts half the kitchen on it to "doctor it up some". There are folks call them "poppers". I call them dove breast. They are "okay" to me, but I am not crazy about dark meat. The cooking of dove at a dove shoot is more of a traditional thing.

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  2. Nice hunt. Nothing like fresh bird on the grill, no matter what species.

    On the header pic, for those interested that scene is a portion of the Kancamagus Hgwy in northern NH according to Google. From what I've read, in a couple short weeks, that road will choked with leaf peepers taking in the scenic views during the peak of foliage season.

    Nemo

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    1. Thanks for that Nemo. My in-laws would go peeping every couple years

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    2. The proper term, Nemo, is: "flatlandah".
      The worst ones are the packs of bike riding MF'ers that think the road is their private pathway.
      I love when I'm coming up behind them in the Western Star with a load of corn. The Jake Brake makes them scatter like roaches.

      Leigh
      Whitehall, NY

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    3. Leigh, I must respectfully disagree. As a native New Englander, which doesn't include New Yawk, the term, leaf peeper, is exclusively used for the rubber neckers who choke our highways and byways during foliage season.

      Flat lander is used to describe the tourists who frequent the hilly back woods towns of ME, NH and VT without whose $ said towns wouldn't have much of an economy.

      First time I heard the term flat lander, I had to laugh. I told the lady who applied it to me that if she thought her section of VT was "in the mountains", she really had no inkling of what mountains really look like. There wasn't a height over 1200 feet with a vertical of over 250 feet within 50 miles of where we were. Hills.

      Nemo

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    4. Well like I used to tell my buddies in High School, that were from VT - "I look down into Vermont from my house."

      Flat Landers' money only goes into the tourist trap towns, Manchester/Dorset/Woodstock/etc. that are largely owned by flat lander transplants. The Natives usually have to have real jobs. Half my family are Vermonters and I've worked farms in Vermont for a good portion of my adult life.
      Technically, Vermont seceded from NY in 1777. Nothing pisses off a Native more than telling them they were once from NY.

      Leigh
      Whitehall, NY

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  3. Word from the Texas Parks & Wildlife is this is going to be a banner year for dove hunting. Your hunt definitely supports that report!

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  4. I like the old Chevy pickup.

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  5. I have a mix of white wing and mourning doves that keep trying to raid my bird feeders. Should be an easy shot if anyone wants them.

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  6. it's the simple things in life! good stuff

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  7. I only have one dove hunting story that I like to tell. Most of the time in Texas hunting doves is the hottest, stickiest weather ever. My daddy and his friend plus me were taking a break under the shade of a large tree. Where I was sitting I saw a single dove flying towards us. I stood up with my single shot .410 and shot from the hip. That dove went straight up then down. When we skinned it, there was only one pellet that hit it and it went into its heart.
    Curse me for a liar but it's the truth.

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  8. 176 birds? Do you have an automatic Dove cleaning machine?

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  9. One time just as I shot a doe she jumped up on the back legs did a 180 and fell straight to the ground dead. It looked like a Hollywood movie where the force of the impact sets the target flying.

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  10. Sounds like a good time was had by all👍
    -lg

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  11. This past Saturday was opening day in SE Georgia. The farm on the other side of the pond had a 10 acre field of sweet corn that every other row was harvested. The rest was bush hoged 3 or 4 weeks ago. There were about 10 hunters shooting. I will wait till November for quail season.

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  12. Nice passel of birds, Jeffery.
    Never been on a dove shoot, but have spent quite a few days in duck blinds. Not quite the same, but the tradition was the main part. I miss those days.

    Leigh
    Whitehall, NY

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  13. Last year a sparrow got into a open oil pan I left near my barn, it was still alive. I took it in and washed it for an hour with Dove dish liquid knowing it would likely still die. It was during that time I saw and felt the animals heart beating thru it's oily skin. Then spread its wings to see the dozens if not hundreds of fine bones in its wings that gave it the art and grace of flight.

    Then Man comes and creates some sort of fun thing to blast the shit our of these wonders.

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    1. A 100 years ago you would have starved. All meat is killed in some fashion, do you eat meat? If so stop immediately

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  14. Hi Irish,
    'Like that "Confederate flag License Plate" on the front bumper on that old Chevy!! I have one like that on the front of my ol' Ford Ranger!! It was on the front of my Chevy Silverado before and my Chevy S-10 first!!!
    "Fly It!!!!!!!"
    skybill

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  15. I immigrated to Australia in the 80s. Nobody hunts here and the doves are so thick you just about have to kick them out of the way when you're walking down the street.

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  16. Don’t think a sparrow hunt was mentioned here. Sounds like you are the only sparrow killer here. Congrats genius .

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  17. They have...... 3 bones in them there wings. Poor Mister Dove has a pretty good lot in life, he just has to keep track of the missus and migrate back and forth every year. The good Lord's price for this wonderful life of his is being on the menu for man and beast alike. I would much rather, if I were in his shoes, be blasted out of the air by Bubba instead of whiskers the cat torturing me to death for an hour

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  18. Doves are pretty good baked in a can of golden mushroom soup with some caramelized onions and a few mushrooms, for an hour, and served over a bed of wild rice. Duck is good that way, too, just needs another twenty minutes to cook

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  19. Doves are pretty good baked in a can of golden mushroom soup with some caramelized onions and a few mushrooms, for an hour, and served over a bed of wild rice. Duck is good that way, too, just needs another twenty minutes to cook

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  20. You cats are living the life.
    So is the Retriever in the photo!

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  21. Nice Jeffery. I have to say that I don't care as much about the doves, but I do like that 57 2door post. In case it is in the way in the garage...

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    1. The owner said he would never sell it and had actually "given" it to one of his sons. Squirrel season opens tomorrow!

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  22. Yes, too many sucks for them.

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