Been seeing Euro's and Mourning's all over up here riding, walking, taking care of biz etc. So I figured on the Opener I'd forego the usual getting peppered and boiling in a field somewhere to do some hiking, still hunting and calling-maybe pot some cotton's too.

Super perfect gorgeous day for it dawned, I was eager and lit out at dawn. Fist hunt of the new season. YES!

After a couple loops through the trees and seeing nothing, I settled in for a sit by a draw that I know they water at. I'm about 60y off of it and start calling. Sure nuff, two seconds later one comes whipping through the pines making that neat, velvety wing-beat sound. He pulls round behind me and lights on a branch about 60' up, I'm stone still and in Real Tree head to toe so he don't know I'm there. Elvira gets to say "HI", but, I miss...and he takes off, and I miss again. GRRRR!

And that was the only shot I had in almost 7 hours of hiking and cruising the woods. The skunk streak continues. Pretty humbling, never had a dry streak this long- chalk it up to not shooting and a busy shop. Yet, it's still fun to go out and about.

Nothing beats seeing the beauty and breathing the smells of our Earth Mother.

No, I'm not going to say anything this time...

maybe a little bit: warming up my airgun because it's rabbit-time again tomorow-evening...

and dove opens here the 15th. So when you make enough noise, all your doves might find their way to my 'lovely' country, where most shotguns are not pumps nor semi-auto's but still real doubles.
So much more fun, death from a vintage gun...

Stovey, ever tried glasses? Sometimes they do help to see what you're aiming at...

A question: do they consider a few empty shotshells to be a real hunting trophy in your country?

Aloysius wrote:

A question: do they consider a few empty shotshells to be a real hunting trophy in your country?

Aloysius wrote:

A question: do they consider a few empty shotshells to be a real hunting trophy in your country?

No, but they are considered litter, so I always pick up the hulls when I can find them. If, IF I get a hit I drop my hat at the spot I was shooting so I can find the hulls easier after I recover the bird (been a long time since I've dropped my hat dang it) .

Terrible hunting here... cold weather a few weeks ago ran'em out of here. We had snow in the mts a few weeks ago. Not as bad as a few years ago though. Wife and boy got some shooting but didn't get any. I got a few. Usually there are tons of sunflowers where we go, there were miles of them last year... this year, just a handful along the road.

Had a good time camping out though, saw some antelope, heard coyotes (stayed out of range, I had a 243 with me)... had a huge Desert Tarantula walk through camp.

/shrug


-DallanC

Stovey, great to hear from you!! Sorry to hear you had a dry day.

Aloys, What does it take to warm up an airgun?

Hey, Stovey, I can give you spare some dove meat. Monday was opening day in TX. I got a call in the morning from a friend who asked if I wanted to come over and join him hunting dove that afternoon. I haven't hunted dove in 30 years. I built a magazine plug out of an arrow shaft and swapped the tactical barrel out for the vent-rib on the 20ga Mossberg pump. The afternoon started out with misses everywhere I pointed out the gun. I finally settled down and got one, then a second, and felt I could at least hold my head up when I walked back in because I had some game in my bag. Then I really started connecting and the dove were everwhere. Got some high fliers and a couple of doubles! Got my limit of 15!! Next weekend, I'm going to wear my tactical shell holders so I can reload faster!

Don't give up Stovey, you and Elvira are just a bit rusty mate. Go out to your local clays club, bust some clays and get your eye back in...them go get some.

Vince, let me not to agree with you this time. In my opinion you don't learn hitting doves with clay pigeons, because their flight is too predictable, always the same and the same speed + start when you call them.
For dove you have less time, unless they are passing very high and then you have these lead-problems. I've never seen someone aiming 7-8 yards in front of a clay-target, but with these high passing doves...

I think there is only 1 advice and that's what my hunting friend told me (many years ago ): just keep on shooting, you will hit them once and then your brain hopefully remembers the "aiming-view"

And maybe it helps to put some corn near that water, maybe such a feeding bucket? And take time to observe their flight. How they fly from their resting places to the feed in the morning, how they go for a drink afterwards, how they return to the feed and how they return to their resting places.
Put such a "pigeon-magnet" somewhere (when allowed). You can easely make one yourself. Put some decoys on the ground and in the trees (and remember their head must point in the wind!).
And maybe you count too much on your Realtree. We built hidings and don't show ourselves till they are close enough. They will fly in head in the wind, but the moment they see you they'll turn 180° and accelerate like an F1. And don't forget: a dove has an eye on every feather!

SJ: warming up... I had 3 rats, a mouce and a dove, but the last one was an accident when emptying my rifle aiming at some dove high in the trees at maybe 80 yards, a shot taken while standing up and not leaning to anything. Normally that's a sure recipe for a miss...
maybe Stovey did hit that dove and now it fell out of a tree here at my place...

Aloysius wrote:

warming up... I had 3 rats, a mouce and a dove,

A mouse!?! That is sounds like "warm up" for you. At first, I thought to warm up an air rifle one might bring the air rifle into the kitchen and put it under a heat lamp.

Stovie...Ya wanna borrow my Browning double (S/S)?

Now I realize why my neck muscles are so soar. It was all the whipping around I had to do trying to track the bazillion doves winging by!

Nice shootin' Slimers!

Aloy- I agree with Vince 110%.

5 stand, skeet espcially and trap are all excellent for dove/quail and upland in general.

I used to shoot Annie Oakley tourneys after our double-trap sessions for money. We'd be at the back fence, at least 30y from the house and had to shoot 7/8oz loads from my 20g- a lot of times I was the third shot and the bird was 4 feet off the deck. My point is trigger time with a pop gun is super-essential to keeping the perishable wingshooter's "eye" polished.

I just been spendin' too much time in the Bushboss' barn chasin' rats with a tennis racket. He needs ta gimme a day off once in a while so I can go bust some clays and getter back on form. But he won't! Grr!

Funny...I surely didn't see him up there this morning when I was burnin' off a pile of horse manure.

Funny--- I didnt see you when I wasa rakin' it either!

Bushmaster wrote:

I surely didn't see him up there this morning when I was burnin' off a pile of horse manure.

Who would want to be around while you were burning a pile of @#$%!

Bushy, does you wife even let you back in the house after that?!?! Maybe that is the better option than making you drop your draws outside and come in with your birthday suit on.