doublegunshop.com - home Forums Thread Like Summary - So, how have the dove openers gone ?

Thot it best to open a new thread, now that the season has opened in most places to see how folks have faired. I've not been out yet this season, but oft find the better sport in early October and no longer have the company of some shooting buds not w/us any longer and don't do triple digit days and extreme heat as well as I once did. I'll be getting out to try and take some of them later. So, what guns went afield, what was the set-up and how well did you shoot? And most importantly, did ya have fun?

3/4 Oz shot is 3/4 Oz of shot, eh??

Well.... Stan, it was 3 hours..... but the alternative is ......? glad you stuck it out and got a limit.....
Just to offer a "contrarian" line of thought..... when birds are scarce , I resort to a different tactic.....bigger gun/shell/choke combination, and reach down in my "shooting tool bag " and try any reasonable chance , calling on a confidence that it takes a bit to bring out...but I tell myself I have done this shot before, let's see if I can pull it off again....
Days like you experienced today make me recall so many shoots with my fine friend and mentor who disdained small bore guns for just that reason..... he wanted to feel he had the best tool for any opportunity that presented itself.
It proved to be a theory well based in experience.....There is some real satisfaction in a bag limit taken when the conditions are Tough. Congrats on yours today.

Stan isn't a 3" mag .410 basically a 28 gauge ?

Sounds like the logical progression would be 1500 fps loads of # 10 TSS shot in a very lightly choked 3" .410 bore at about $3.00 per pop at a dove....

...or just using a 20 gauge, or even a 12 gauge with # 8 lead promo loads.

Shooting dove with the lock time of a flintlock would be an accomplishment all right. With three guns, two loaders, and a thousand birds, I might manage a limit. Maybe.

I re read that line , and I probably should have said " my allotted 15 WERE shot and picked up..........
Truth is that I took them with 17 shells. One I shot a bit short, and I used a LONG second barrel on another. All in all, a very nice outing.
I hope the 28 pays handsome dividends today Stan.

I knew you were capable of a 15/15, Paul. That's why it was so easy for me to misunderstand it. But there's nothing shabby about a 88% average on doves! That's not but about six or seven times the national average which, they say is 7-8 shots per dove bagged. Can't go until Saturday, Paul. I'll be thinking about you.

Best .........

I understand your "affliction" (small bores) and "convictions" completely , Stan.
I am out the door for a Morning shoot on a field scouted just last evening......I have in mind a stand that should , if they fly as I predict, be able to set up to shoot passing birds entering the field without the use of Mojo toys to slow or turn them....
Shots I really like to try....gun is a 20 bore 28" SxS IM/F. Time and experience in the field and on the pattern plate (pretty extensive testing) tell me I have a gun shell combo that is @95% reliable at 39 yards and 44 yards. Percentages naturally go way down when you push the limits of the combo, but making some memorable shots to fill a limit that might otherwise be unobtainable is a big part of the satisfaction I get from Dove shooting. Plus there is just the pure Joy I get from using that "little" gun. I really LIKE it.

Finally went out Sunday morning for a short 1.5hr hunt. Not a lot of birds, but came home with 8 birds, 2 pigeon. The RBL 20 gauge worked perfectly, however, I think a couple of those Remington gun club load had no shot in them. LOL!

Rich

I’d rather spend two or three hours with a nice small bore double or pump, getting a limit, than an hour getting an easier limit with a 12 bore. When you are in the zone with a .410 or 28, ranges which Dove can cleanly be killed, will make you feel great about your shooting ability. 30 yards seems like easy Skeet field shots and 35 yard shots are solid kills. Past that my skills with a .410 tend to Peter out like my patterns.