Surprised this has not been posted as of yet. What is everyone packing to the Dove Field opening day? I got Lucky and picked up the first and second day Ohio controlled dove hunts. Which over the past years of being picked up have been birds every where you look.

I'll be packing my new inverness opening day. If I shot it as well as did first time out on the SC course. Mr dove beware! LOL!, second day I'll pack the little Aya #2 410. Picked up 75 rounds of 2 1/2 inch rounds, with 1/2 oz of 8's

Am looking forward in hunting those little speed darts!

Rich

Got my license, got the hunting area all arranged, got the decoys out and fixing them up.
Shot a Charles Daly Superior grade and a Rem 3200, both with 410 barrels today at Crazy.
Have loaded about 2000 rounds of 410 in the last month,
Life is good,

Due to our drought here in central Texas any place with water will work.

It'll be a 30" .410 for sure. Either the FAIR Verona 30", or the Dickinson 30", or the FAIR Iside Tartaruga Gold 30". I'll shoot .410s on the opener and Labor day, then gradually move up through the 28 and 20s. After the birds are more mature, and the big migratory birds get here, I'll move to the 16s. I do, in the late season, occasionally use a 12, but never with more than 1 oz. of shot. If I cannot kill a bird that weighs from 4 to 6 oz. with 1 oz. of shot it may go it's merry way, with my blessing.

About 40 years ago( I can't believe it has been that long) there was a good population of doves in my area. You could easily go through two or three boxes of shells in an evening. Now there are birds but not enough to interest hunters. A few might go out the first day just to see if the doves have returned but that's it.

Our Game Commission sells us a stamp to hunt them. The money was supposed to find how to improve dove numbers. That program began as the bird numbers dwindled and no one has ever heard a thing about what that study discovered. We still have the stamp though.

I think I know why the doves disappeared around here. The state instituted a program to reclaim all the old strip mine lands and coke ash dumps. These areas were overgrown with goldenrod, foxtail grass, and nettle weed. There were plenty of water puddles too. These were the places I found doves. I burned up a good many 20 gauge shells on them.

Watching a 50 acre center pivot corn field right now to see where I might hunt. It usually gets picked by now, allowing me to plant milo through the middle of it in time for it to make by the first freeze. It hasn't yet been picked, so I'm now hoping the pick day will be as late as possible, which could set up well for the first week of dove season.
I did have another dry land field of corn picked in late July which now has a great stand of milo coming up in it; should be ideal for the later seasons. No matter what, I suspect I'll have an English 20 SxS with me.

I am in.

Arrieta 28 ga gold line gun.

Taking two guns so second is garbi 20 ga


John Boyd

42 .410pigeon grade or my late uncles Crescent .410. I know a big difference but the more I think about it the more I am thinking that I ought to take the Crescent. The Crescent is not gem to look at and I do not shoot it that well. The left barrel is choked so tight that anything under 25 yards can be crushed. My kids can not figure out why I keep it. They never hunted with my uncle. The most humble, happy man, I ever knew who never complained in my hearing.

A man who overcame setbacks his entire life. Rheumatic fever and Polio as a child, crippling arthritis as an adult, heart problems from the Rheumatic fever as an adult. I never knew him as a boy but I watched him go from being a strong young man, able to farm, to having to work in an farm store lifting bags of grain, feed and fertilizer, to a man who wen to college to become an accountant as his body betrayed him and in the end a man who struggled to walk and do the simplest task of life. But he was also a man who loved to hunt and fish, loved to sit and listen to a quail call or a whip-poor-will, loved to talk with his nephews and loved that Crescent .410. He had better, fancier guns, but he could handle that cheap, store band double like a maestro conducting a fine symphony. Many is the time that I watched him drop a pair on a covey flush. Often when he only shot once on the flush I would ask him why he had not shot a second bird? His reply was he only saw hens after his first shot. And I rarely recall him taking a female bird. Maybe he did only see hens, maybe he just wanted them to get away so he could come back again. Yeah, I think it will be Uncle Juniors gun on day one. He would like that and I think I will as well.

One thing on my bucket list is to shoot doves over a stock tank. I have fancied doing that ever since reading Bob Brister's short story entitled A Small Wager Among Gentlemen in his fine book Moss, Mallards and Mules. Closest thing to that I ever get to do is shoot over a little waterhole when it gets really dry around here in the fall. Your comment about drought there reminded me of the last lines in the story ...........

"By all means," the Colonel said graciously. "you're welcome at the ranch any time."

"And by the way," he added, glancing at Morgan, "please bring money. As you know, that's about the only way we have of keeping this miserable country green."

Great story.

The farm water tank has a handful of Whitewing doves but they have had their nesting crowded out by the Ringed Collered doves. I bet over 100 moving about in the mornings. Easier to hit and they make a "thud" when the hit the ground! Our VERY wet monsoon summer rains look to have been kind to the wildlife.

Shooting doves over a small tank or farm pond in the evenings was the prefered way to take them in Kansas, back in the day. Birds flying up draws from the small grain along the Kaw River to their roosting timbers, especially junipers, up high would stop along the way to water. They needed clear ground near the water so they could alight without fear of predators. Heavy grass would not do, so a well grazed pasture pond along such a draw was always a great spot. Metal tanks were less desirable, and I never shot over one, but I believe they were used as well, if nothing better was around.

Are the Ringed Collared Doves the same as those (Streptopelia decaocto) that are now so common in the UK? Thin black partial collar to back of neck tapering so it almost looks like an incision, and one of their calls is a squawk like a very rusty gate hinge.

I first saw one in Cheltenham about 50 years ago, looked it up in my 14 year old copy of A Field Guide to Birds of Britain and Europe and saw that it was a rare migrant from Asia Minor.

I was getting excited and wondering who I should call when I saw 2 or 3 more. I wandered down to W.H. Smith (in those days they stocked a reasonable selection of books) in the Promenade and looked at a recent edition. Their range had spread right across Western Europe and they were by then shown as common in the UK.

There is not any bag limits or season (always open) on the Ringed Collored dove here in AZ. I heard they came from Texas not England? My grandsons call them Teradactyls because of there call (growl). They cook up OK, we will shoot a 5 gallon bucket full!

We are driving from So Cal to eastern AZ because Yuma is so damn crowded with CA hunters these days. Makes for a pretty miserable experience on the opener unless you have access to private, posted land. Three days of hunting and about 16 hours of driving, but it's worth it to avoid the crowds. I'll take a .410 double with #8 skeet loads, a 28 of some sort, and a couple of 20s in case it gets windy. Have not seen many Eurasian Collared Doves over the last couple of years, but they are good eats, way better for chili and tacos than mourning doves.

They came from the Middle East to the Caribbean islands by boats, then up through Florida and then into the rest of the US. Happened fast.
JR

Replacement, if you are in Cochise County look us up you can shoot with us.

Very few in KY-OH so far. Funny thing was they were not counted in the bag limit for several years, then were to be counted and then a few years later not to be counted. Don’t know about this year bag limit. 15 is enough for a meal so I’m good either way. If I want a body count I’ll go to Argentina.

AZ Mike, thank you for the offer. We'll be a quite a ways southeast of Phoenix, so not too close to Cochise County. One of our guys is driving from Fallon NV, so convincing him to add another 150 miles each way would be a trick. We have been half-joking that the hordes of CA hunters will eventually force us to New Mexico for doves, so maybe we'll connect with you next year as we move farther east.

There are places to hunt between Yuma and cibola we are going south of the 10 before cibola I live in show low. It's a long drive, if the monsoon comes through it pushes birds south I think mikes is the hot ticket but I'm meeting my son and grandson from california hope everyone has a great and safe opener

The Eurasian Collared dove is what we refer to as the ringnecked dove. They much prefer to stay around dwellings and other outbuildings, much more so than a mourning dove. They do fly slower, but dress the palate in much the same way as a mourning. On a dove shoot they are considered "bonus birds", as they don't count against your limit of mourning doves. They are easy to miss if you shoot a lot of mourning doves, as their slower flight will cause you to over lead them, when one appears suddenly. They have a good deal more meat on the breast than a mourning dove. I can only imagine how much fun it must be to shoot them out west, around dairies and feedlots, as there is no limit on them anywhere that I am aware of.

Come to think of it, there are three species of doves that show up on most of our shoots. The other one not mentioned in this thread is the Common Ground Dove. We call them the $1000 dove, because it is speculated that's how much the fine will cost you if you are caught with a dead one in your bag. Though I don't really know how much the fine would be, they are cute little fellows that never seem to fly much over 20 ft. high. I see them in the fields we tend all the time, usually in small groups of two or three. Tiny little things.

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/common-ground-dove

I had two of my girls (dove guns) "sorted out" by the late Jim Kelly, since last season ......... my 16 ga. LC Smith FWE with 32" barrels (Susie) and my Parker DHE 16/20 two gauge gun with 32" barrels (Maddie). Both needed minor, but important, maintenance. Now, I can enjoy being with them in the later two seasons. I dearly love them both, and am anxious to take them afield again.

Susie.........





And Maddie..........



Susie's the kind of good lookin' country gal that will be ready to ride the dirt roads with you to have fun in the field, anytime, rain or shine. Madeline is a bit more classy, is comfortable in refined company, but will deliver the goods anytime required.

In California I think,you can only shoot collared doves in the regular season but there is no limit and I could be wrong so check the new regs

Do you have to use steel shot in California?

No, as I understand it. You just cannot use lead. There are other options besides steel.

No tox shot like Stan said but with California who knows what's acceptable.i don't hunt or live there anymore thank God

True, but the other options are too expensive to be practical, except for maybe the once-a-year hunters. The non-lead requirement was phased in over a few years, and when the stuff finally hit the fan a few years ago, Yuma was overrun with CA "hunters," many of whom were and are just shooters. The situation is further complicated by the current ammo availability problems, and because one can no longer buy ammo online and have it shipped to home in CA. It has to go to an FFL, who has to do a background check (for a fee), and then transfer the ammo to the purchaser. If one is not in the "DOJ system," the cost of the background check is $19 and the check is not instant. You might have to come back in a week or two to pick up your ammo. Purchasers are regularly declined for no apparent reason, and it is impossible to get any details from CA DOJ. There are numerous reports of on-duty police officers, in uniform and wearing their duty weapon, being declined by the DOJ instant check, no reason given. One of my friends was buying ammo just last week, and the cop in front of him in line was declined. Oh yeah, at most stores you get to take a number and wait in line for an hour or more to buy ammo because it now has to be kept behind the counter where you can't get at it until there is staff available to "help" you. The situation sucks, the CA government sucks, and that is part of why AZ is overrun with CA hunters. AZ is simple, just buy some lead loads and go hunt. But if you have AZ ammo left at the end of your hunt, you can't legally bring it back into CA if you are a CA resident. The state government is out of control.

I had not heard that Jim passed and even stranger, his wife passed less than 2 weeks prior...In his honor I will be taking my Jansen & Son little 20ga SxS that Jim tuned up.

I have a Parker Trojan 12 gauge that came to me from two old family friends. It will go on the opening hunt. Just got a second invitation and I have a brand new to me Parker VH 16 which will accompany me on that one.

I'm still waiting on my invitation, hint hint

I well remember when you bought that 32" 16 ga. Elsie at the Fall Southern SxS years ago, Stan. Long-range puffer.
JR

Speaking of all shooting the 410 this year, have you had any luck finding 3" 410 shells? I have not seen any in at least a year or so.
My Model 42 is plugged for the 3" shell so I am out of compliance shooting the 2 1/2" shells

Would loading a dummy 3” first keep you compliant?

JR

Do you remember me telling you what happened that night back at the cabin, with Susie and me?

Absolutely! Y'all split the sheets together!
JR

We did. I fell asleep with Susie in my arms and ......... we bonded. 🤭

Paul UNC how so???? I have been working all day so I must be missing something

So, you need to change your plug length ...........?

Seriously, I don't even know if a 42 has a wooden magazine "plug". If it does, and it is for 3" shells, I don't see how it would allow another 2 1/2" shell in the magazine. The two already in there only allow another 1" of capacity (1/2" X 2). Can you explain the issue more fully?

It's going to be HOT in Yuma!
Upwards of 110* for the Opener.
I'm guessing my Chocolate Double is out.

Early 30's 16 gauge Tournament Skeet should do the trick.

I came up with an invite for a shoot on Saturday and I'll shoot a Beretta 20 auto, most likely...Geo

Got the word to wear boots on opening day. It has been a monsoon around here. Everywhere wet

If it has a plug, which most likely it does, it has been shaved down to allow a extra shell if 2 1/2” I expect. Easy to fix. Knew fellows who used short shells in a gun which had a plug for 2 3/4” shells. Those mini shells would allow three up the magazine instead of just two 2 3/4” shells. Game warden would try shoving a third “regular” shell in the gun and it would not go. Fad did not last long when one fellow was seen shooting a fourth shell at a dove without reloading. Got his ticket from the game warden and a lot of ribbing for needing four shells to miss a single bird. Heck, most could miss any bird with only one or two shells. Even game wardens can count to three, all the way up to 15 these days. When I as young they only had to count to 12. Inflation.

Our unusually wet monsoon summer rains have produced an extraordinary dove hatch! As I've been setting on my tractor haying (very behind as the fields stayed wet) I see dove flying all day long on the horizon and about the farm and ranch. Scores of birds on my gravel road in the late afternoon! Lots of fun!!

Plenty in the back yard, but the HOA frowns on harvesting the neighbors

Any shotgunners that are in my area please contact me and stop by! It should be pretty good till it gets cold.
Kathleen says making friends on the internet will get me murdered!