Morning doves, what do you get out of hunting them?

[DDT]

Sinkers right, #7 out of my Rem 1100 20ga works just fine

[Gadwall]

Same here ... I won a box of Kent #7 steel at a DU dinner, used them on doves with more success than I thought.

[Savage308]

#7's it is then! I imagine my Mossberg 500 should fit the firearms bill quite nicely. Savage

[outback]

Had wanted to try hunting them last season with my young lad who had just passed the hunter safety and firearms courses. He said "the first thing I want to hunt would be doves because the look so darn delicious". "When they are sitting on the ground cooing away they even sound delicious" he said. Never go out but will definitely giver a go this season.

outback

[mtaz]

They are a great way to get kids started in hunting too. We get lots when condtitions are right. I'll have 30 acres of winter wheat going down late summer so this should attract a little more than a few come the start of the season.

[Russ Donnelly]

They are delicious - and very humbling to hunt - fast little suckers, you go thru a lot of shells, but it is a hoot.

It is a nice easy hunt - no decoys, no calls, just a tree line near and corn field and you'll be kept plenty busy!

[MikePal]

I have two Doves at my bird feeder every day...we named them "Gertrude and Heathcliff" (you old guys will remember the significance of those names) I couldn't bring myself to kill them, nor could I eat a 'Pigeon Pie' made with them.

Some things even a farmer won't harvest

[Savage308]

I have yet to even hunt with my shotgun, so this year for sure I want to do a few things I missed out on last year. Going to help my buddy reduce the size of two beaver ponds on his land and reduce the amount of beavers. In 3 years the amount of damage they have done is absolutely amazing. Savage308

[Pigeoneater5000]

Dove hunting is awesome! Only thing I wanted to recommend was to bring a good retriever with you. I typically hunt these birds in September. So there is still lots of green vegetation. Having a dog do the dirty work is very helpful.

[mtaz]

Dove hunting is awesome! Only thing I wanted to recommend was to bring a good retriever with you. I typically hunt these birds in September. So there is still lots of green vegetation. Having a dog do the dirty work is very helpful.

Yes, they are tough to find. I like to hunt them early over cut wheat/barley and later over cut beans. A lot easier to find if you can get these conditions.

I hunt doves throughout most of the season but I find late September into October the best. Last season I had close to 2,000 feeding on my freshly planted winter wheat most days. November can be really good too if conditions are right. I like sunny, calm days. I usually don't dove hunt in the morning, I save that for the ducks. During the day they tend to hit the grains, grasses and weeds (like ragweed). There is decent shooting but they are hard to pattern.

My favourite time for dove hunting is in the afternoon/evening. The doves on my farm fly north to south in the evening, probably heading to roost with their crops full. They stage on a series of hydro lines and then fly in intermittent waves of up to 200 doves. We just set up in flight paths and get them as they come through.

This year I will be planting 2 - 1 acre sunflower food plots. Sections will be mowed just before the opener. I also keep large areas of native grasses/weeds/etc. The doves hit these areas hard last year once the wheat went into germination. My road that runs down through these areas is a popular spot for the doves too. I also have 2 dead trees that would hold dozens of doves all season long.

Any slow duck day can be made much better with a few doves. Try them in jalapeno poppers, they are awesome.

Taz