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Jul 28th, 2025
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 315 Likes: 114
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 315 Likes: 114 |
Texas Dove opener in the morning for the North and Central zones..... Just on the computer checking the weather..... playing out nicely.....hoped for big rains come Tuesday so my opener with my son will be a success.
LOTS of Doves here on the ranch.....looking forward to another fine season.... A nice rain next week will set us back for a week, but not a game changer.
Here's wishing everyone a Great opener, and for those with a small calendar delay, I hope the time passes quickly.
I'm just as excited tonight as I was Many years ago when I went for the first time as a 5 year old retriever....
Best of Luck to all, this kicks off another Gunning Season in my world, Looking forward to it.
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8 members like this:
eeb, earlyriser, GLS, Parabola, Jimmy W, Stanton Hillis |
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 14,007 Likes: 1817
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 14,007 Likes: 1817 |
Can't wait to read a report this evening (with pics  ), Paul. Shoot straight! I've still got 5 days and a wake-up.
May God bless America and those who defend her.
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Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,867 Likes: 170
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,867 Likes: 170 |
Excellent, I envy you. Can't wait to see and hear the results
Mike Proctor
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 315 Likes: 114
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 315 Likes: 114 |
![[Linked Image from live.staticflickr.com]](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53965119355_4d74769038_c.jpg) 2024 Opening Day by Paul Melton, OK , Stan as ordered...... Photo verification..... The Gods blessed us with a fine, COOL, Opening afternoon..... Quick limits and good shooting, particularly by son Nic..... shown with Limit and a couple of happy retrievers..... He shot a lovely FN D5G 30" 20 bore with quarter and three quarter barrels. AA208 Winchester 7/8 oz 8's...A GOOD prescription Rx for Doves..... I would Know.... Rained out for the next couple of days..... but had a Great opener.....Left the field in a very welcome downpour..... Hope everyone had a fine and successful outing.... He is back in Texas now, so these outings will again be more frequent.....
Last edited by mel5141; 09/01/24 10:45 PM. Reason: spelling
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6 members like this:
John Roberts, BrentD, Prof, eeb, Stanton Hillis, David Williamson, Jimmy W |
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 14,007 Likes: 1817
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 14,007 Likes: 1817 |
Thanks, Paul! Great picture. I can only imagine how happy you are to have your son nearer to you so you can spend more time afield together.
Were y'all shooting native sunflower?
Totally agree on the effectiveness of 7/8 oz. of no. 8s on doves. Hundreds of thousands of doves in Argentina could attest to that as well, were they still among the living. Love Nic's choice of gun for the task. Two trips to Cordoba saw me using a Beretta SP II Sporting 20 ga., which has 30" barrels as well, and LM and IM chokes, and 7/8 oz. no. 8s. How I love to take an incomer at some distance with the IM barrel and dump another incomer with the LM barrel in time for them both to fall in front of me. A double taken like that is the biggest thrill in dove shooting, IMO.
Well done, misters Melton.
4 days and a wake-up
May God bless America and those who defend her.
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1 member likes this:
John Roberts |
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 315 Likes: 114
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 315 Likes: 114 |
Thank you for the kind words and thoughts.... I concur, that gunning choice has covered many varied dove shooting outings.
The picture doesn't really show the crop we were shooting over....That was an old cultivated field that was planted in wheat last October.... It made a half way decent seed crop and was left in the field ungrazed. This spring we no tilled some millet over it and got a decent seed production in spite of the temperatures. Ran a shredder over it in strips two weeks ago and the birds and the doves quickly congregated....
Provides great shooting in our early season.
Hoping everyone had a Great opener. The BEST part of the year is just beginning for shotgun lovers.
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1 member likes this:
Stanton Hillis |
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 3,269 Likes: 459
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 3,269 Likes: 459 |
Of course, your son and the dogs make the photo, but that is one nice shotgun. I once owned a C2G Browning Custom Shop 20 ga. with 30" barrels as well. It had a round-knob grip, but the flat knob looks better imo.
JR
Be strong, be of good courage.
God bless America, long live the Republic.
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 315 Likes: 114
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 315 Likes: 114 |
John, I concur.....those FN Custom shop 30" 20's are really sweet guns in the field......I had played around with others before I saw this one at Barnet's some years ago, Liked it so much I just bit the bullet and paid him......Have not once regretted it....I have shot it a great deal in 10 seasons but, It really fills the bill for Nic.
Those are really user friendly O/U's in the field, John Browning knew something about field gun ergonomics...
Shortly after its introduction in 1931, Capt. Paul Curtis who wrote in one of his books about Browning's new gun, in which he lauded the ease of operation and stated "the metal parts move like velvet on velvet."
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Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 671 Likes: 57
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 671 Likes: 57 |
Only a few seen on the wires around here. Probably fattemmg on the 1.4 million acres of canola now being harvested in northern ND. with many more acres in MB.
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