By Kenneth L. Kieser
Believe it or not, we are nearly a month into dove season. Have you been out yet?
I heard that some use doves as target practice for waterfowl or upland bird season and that is a mistake. Doves are quality game birds that are fun to hunt and their breasts taste great, especially when grilled with a strip of bacon.
Target practice should be before this hunt. Shooting ranges are fine, especially sporting clays that throws disks from different angles—exactly how a dove flies in. A hand thrower with clays may be even better, allowing the thrower to change angles and heights. There is no rhyme or reason to a dove’s flight. They seem to glide in, and sometimes do, for an easy shot. But give a dove any reason to juke and jive and they will.
A key of dove hunting is camouflage that blends in with surrounding cover. The second rule of dove hunting is sitting very still. Their sharp eyes help them survive by seeing distant or close movement. Keep in mind they are constantly threatened from furbearers on the ground, raptors from above and even snakes when they are sitting in a tree or on the ground. Doves survive by constantly being on the alert.
DOVE MIGRATION: Mourning dove’s migration is a complicated affair called “differential” migration and is related to a bird’s age and sex. They begin to move south in late August and early September.
The young leave first, then the females, and finally the males. Some birds, mostly males don’t migrate. Some males stay through bad weather to get a head start on establishing breeding territory early in the spring.
Young doves are generally shot first. They fly in closer and return quicker to areas where hunters are waiting. Those that learn may become harder to hunt as the season progresses. This makes being in the right spot important. The doves will show you where they want to go.
Here are some areas where you might find doves:
BURNS: Doves enjoy the open freedom of a burned-out field. Burned-out vegetation allows them to find insects, feed on cooked weed seeds and escape without passing through heavy vegetation. Raw weed seed is another dove favorite.
LIVESTOCK AREAS: We once enjoyed a tremendous hunt on my uncle’s hog farm in Missouri. Self-feeders were full of bright, yellow field corn kernels. Porkers scattered corn across large areas of muddy ground making the bright yellow nuggets highly visible to migrating doves.
SEEDS: September is a beautiful month when tall sunflowers display bright yellow flowers filled with ripe seeds. Doves love to feed on dropped sunflower seeds.
ROW CROPS: I have enjoyed good hunts around edges of wheat or barley fields. The doves find food that has prematurely fallen on the ground, creating easy meals. Corn, milo, soybeans and wheat fields are areas to hunt. A mixture of weeds and grain will attract birds. Occasionally you will find doves in hay or cotton fields. Spilled grain may be the best, however, in fields where the harvest has begun. September harvest is more common when hunting northern or Midwestern regions.
WATER: Doves may be found around watering holes right after dawn and before they go back to roost around dusk and occasionally throughout the day. The best water holes are generally near the dove's roost, especially where banks are free of vegetation. Doves often fly a few miles from a perfect watering hole to a feeding spot.
GRAVEL: Doves consume gravel to help digest seeds. This grit is found in sand bars, dirt roads and gravel pits. Doves usually gravel during midday and for an hour or two after midday.
SCOUTING: Some areas are always productive for doves and some are not, the best conditions may be good for a short period, so scout out different dove hunting areas. You will burn some overpriced gasoline and tire rubber while driving gravel or asphalt roads, but a quality hunt is the reward. Binoculars and keen eyes are essential. Conservation areas often have good dove hunting spots.
DOVE HUNTING ACCESSORIES: You can manage with a camouflage shirt, hat, gloves and a face mask if you wear dark colored pants, but some hunters wear full camouflaged outfits.
Many cover up with a camouflaged net and sit on plastic buckets, allowing some comfort and the buckets are useful for transporting shotgun shells, decoys, water, snacks, hopefully dead doves and other equipment.
DECOYS-- I am surprised that more dove hunters don’t use decoys. Doves attract doves with their keen eyesight. Watch a field full of birds and you will see several sitting together. Chances are good that others will land with that group. Decoys are confidence builders for flying doves. Meandering birds will land beside a string of decoys, just to be social.
Decoys come in solid bodies or spinning wings mounted close to the ground to imitate the motion of a feeding or flying dove. Doves see this movement and move in for a closer look.
SHOTGUNS AND SHELLS—Many prefer pump shotguns while others use semi-automatic versions. Some swear by a 20 or 28 gauge while others only shoot a 12-gauge. I started with a 16-gauge, a great dove caliber.
Doves are delicate birds that do not require a big hit. I have shot doves with 7-½, 8 or 9 shot. Some hunters use blackpowder shotguns with light loads and shot. Shooting a limit with this more primitive shotgun is commonly done and quite a challenge.
OLD ROVER: Wounded doves disappear in thick cover like timber, row crops or weedy fields. A good retriever will stop you from losing birds.
A dove’s erratic flight makes them the ultimate shotgunner’s challenge and often very humbling. Try hunting this fast-mover for a great early fall shoot.
Photos: The author's brother is picking up a dove taken with a blackpowder shotgun. Photos by the author.
