doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com September doves and new dogs

Opening day in Virginia found me hunting over a waterhole. Planned on taking my 16 gauge CH, but the farmer had placed cows in the field and padlocked it. Given the shooting can be fast and furious I put the Parker away and dug out a Fox SW 16 gauge ejector gun with 30" barrels choked full/full, two boxes of RST's and we walked in the half mile. Found out quickly I was old, but my dog was older. With the heat and humidity it was all we could do to lug all the stuff to the waterhole.

Shooting started out very slow, but picked up towards the evening (typical for the waterhole shoots I've been on). With a bit of luck I managed to take some home. Too late to take a photo last night, so I put them on ice and cleaned them this morning. My 12.5 year old Golden did well. Found at least 6 birds we would have lost in brush/tall grass. Anyway, a few photos:





And of course the young dog had to grab one up and she's damn pretty so I snapped a picture of her as well:

Nice pics, tut. I see you have learned what I also have, that ejectors are a very nice piece of hardware when the dove shootin' is fast paced. A man could do a lot worse than a 30", 16 ga. Sterly ejector for doves.

Good shootin'.

SRH

Chuck, did you shoot them in Mexico? I didn't think you were going to be able to take your guns with you.

No, Joe, we are still in Kansas, leaving tommorrow for a hunt with Daryl in Saskatchewan. We'll be relocating about the middle of December...

Chuck,
Sounds like you're having fun. I'm wishin I was retired already.

I did get down to Yuma for the one day. We got permission for our group to hunt some private property over a section or two of cantalope which had been harvested/with many which had been just turned over and left to rot. We shot limits of whitewings in an hour or two. Then back to town for breakfast. Afterward we went out to find some Eurasian dove. We found a spot under a patch of trees that had them exclusively. I burned thru nearly a flat of 3" shells at the passing shots of the singles and small groups. Many were very high. Later that evening, we had grilled dove tacos that had been butterflied and marinated in several concoctions. A great dinner. The Repro with the CSM barrels did very well.

You guys are driving me nuts - I am sitting here in the People's Republic of MA watching our "protected songbirds" flit around and coo in the pine trees behind my house. I still jump every time I hear that "we-we-we-we" as they fly by.

I gotta move . . . .

Dove tacos? Now theres a thought...Might give that a try when we get back..Still seeing good numbers of Pheasants, lots of failed standing corn still up..most of it about belt buckle high, so should be huntable...Hang in there Doverham, your turn is coming..

A group of 20 or more of us have been gathering for a "dove weekend" at the "Camp" belonging to one of our more affluent friends for many years. Most participants are the sons or grandsons of the original guys (going back for 50 years or so). I've been attending for over 20 years.

We shoot all three days of the Labor Day weekend opener. Usually we attend private or pay shoots in the middle GA area and we'll often split up into several shoots on the different days.

This weekend was another resounding success with great food, great friends and great shooting. Having enjoyed the good luck of dodging hurricane Isaac our fields were all in perfect shape. The places I shot, all private shoots, were all three purpose planted (sunflower, corn, and milo)and manipulated just for the dove shoots. We bagged a mixture of mourning doves and eurasian ringnecked doves.

My gun of the year was a 1900 Remington 16ga ejector gun with 30" open choked barrels. Perfect!...Geo

Geo: You win. Gil

We had "two" new hunters with us, one in his forties and the other just six. I think both are hooked for life. Saturday's evening shoot was nothing short of spectacular, with wave after wave from nearly every point on the compass. Here is the six year old with her dad and the bird he dropped just outside camp between morning and evening shoots: