dove stuff

while I have been running my two mutts a couple time per week to lessen the fat on them, I have been seeing far too few dove coming and going thru the country area that surrounds me. well, yesterday I made an effort to find some and boy, I sure did. got a real honey hole lined up and all it cost me was two jars of spicy bread and butter pickles and two jars of homemade jam. what a deal, further more there is plenty of water in the ditches so that eliminates that problem using the dogs. they will love the place

cheers
 
We here in Iowa just started this dove hunting business. My farm boarders some DNR ground that was planted to sunflowers so as to give the hunters a place to shoot. This is fine with us, we have hunters all the time.

My problem is, my hay fields next to the food plots are, in just one year, covered with plastic wads for the first 10-20 yards of the field. Dove hunting usually results in a lot of shots taken. Now if this place is hunted like this for the foreseeable future I see a real litter problem.

My question is then, I know nothing about dove hunting but could dove loads use paper wads ? I understand the advantages of plastic wads, we do our own reloading, but paper wads would certainly make me feel better about folks shooting over our fields.

Comments ?
 
clutter

I see your point. yes, if you roll your own you can buy paper/felt wads, I think they are rarely used however. I am surprised that you find the wads the problem as it is usually the shell/hull that are left scattered around. several years ago I lost a dove hot spot cause my friend shooting a 20 ga. bright yellow hulls, he never picked any of them up, pissed the farmer off, we lost the spot over that. I reload and never leave a hull in the field, think most people never pick them up however. there has been some stuff written about what you see as a problem but not much, shooting in concentrated areas I can see the mess and the hulls and or wad are nearly forever till ya plow em' in. as hunters we could do better

cheers
 
The hunters are on state land, and yes it does get messy over there. Most of the shooting is in the direction of our pasture and hay fields, just the way the hunters set up. All I get is the wads and I suppose the lead shot, don't really worry, but over many years it looks like an eyesore in the making.

We have waterfowl hunters on our property in the fall and I always tell them they need to carry any thing out they bring in, including hulls. For the most part they cooperate. In this instance we are talking maybe 15-20 shots in all directions total, while the dove hunters will shoot 100 or more in one direction each day.

Not a huge concern but I think someday degradable ammunition will be required.
 
We have a problem with the wads from shotgun shells at our lake every year from waterfowl hunting. At least a strong wind will push them into our east shoreline every spring and make it easier to pick them up. I'm sure its only a matter of time before regulations will require bio degradable wads, maybe even shells??
 
I see your point. yes, if you roll your own you can bwhomever r/felt wads, I think they are rarely used however. I am surprised that you find the wads the problem as it is usually the shell/hull that are left scattered around. several years ago I lost a dove hot spot cause my friend shooting a 20 ga. bright yellow hulls, he never picked any of them up, pissed the farmer off, we lost the spot over that. I reload and never leave a hull in the field, think most people never pick them up however. there has been some stuff written about what you see as a problem but not much, shooting in concentrated areas I can see the mess and the hulls and or wad are nearly forever till ya plow em' in. as hunters we could do better

cheers

My uncle is kind enough to let me dove hunt all his properties and bring along who ever I would like. My ONLY rules (and they are mine not my uncles) is no ground/ wire shooting and pick up your hulls. I always leave last and check all the shooters spots, its amazing that some people still leave a pile of hulls when they're done. I pick up after them and never invite again and if they ask why I tell them because they don't respect the opportunity.
 
My uncle is kind enough to let me dove hunt all his properties and bring along who ever I would like. My ONLY rules (and they are mine not my uncles) is no ground/ wire shooting and pick up your hulls. I always leave last and check all the shooters spots, its amazing that some people still leave a pile of hulls when they're done. I pick up after them and never invite again and if they ask why I tell them because they don't respect the opportunity.

good for you, see, I can be nice once in awhile, we start here on the 1st. and i have a great place to start and to boot, plenty of water for the dogs. we run in the high 90's most of the early season so water is a problem.

cheers
 
Same problem here with the heat except all our ditches are dry this year since our irrigation district got a 0% water a alocation. :( I'll keep a close eye on the mutts and call the shoot when their tongues get too long. :cheers:
 
Same problem here with the heat except all our ditches are dry this year since our irrigation district got a 0% water a alocation. :( I'll keep a close eye on the mutts and call the shoot when their tongues get too long. :cheers:

I don't have a fancy vest for water so I carry at least a qt. water bottle with me. I even share it with the dogs. pour it in my hat and when they are done it feels really nice when I place it back on my head. good system. too bad about you water problem out there, it's also too bad that with all the warnings that your state has put out, more water is being use this year than last. don't make sense.



cheers
 
You'll love this one. Our watersheds produce around 70 million acre feet of water in a normal year but there are over 300 million acre feet of water contracts.:eek: That's what is known as a slight over sight in California lol.

Good luck on your dove hunt, I can't wait to get a few on the grill myself.
 
The hunters are on state land, and yes it does get messy over there. Most of the shooting is in the direction of our pasture and hay fields, just the way the hunters set up. All I get is the wads and I suppose the lead shot, don't really worry, but over many years it looks like an eyesore in the making.

We have waterfowl hunters on our property in the fall and I always tell them they need to carry any thing out they bring in, including hulls. For the most part they cooperate. In this instance we are talking maybe 15-20 shots in all directions total, while the dove hunters will shoot 100 or more in one direction each day.

Not a huge concern but I think someday degradable ammunition will be required.

hum, I've never considered looking for or picking up my wads. But I will now, thanks for bringing this up.
 
oh oh

just went outside to pick some raspberries, sure felt like i could have been setting some decoys, windy, cloudy, quite cool, hope the dove don't notice

cheers
 
Yep!!! 66 right now, snow in the high country. There will be some dumb ones left. I think they are getting itchy with this cooler weather. I have done well in October , so it won't be too bad. Birds to be had!!! Suppose to warm up after today....Good luck out in Kansas..
 
Bleu,
You going to be able to get out and hunt.

If I do It will be from a chair for small amounts of time. I had 2 of my best days in 3 years and then got caught standing up when I began sneezing. Pretty sore again. I Have some places where I can just drive up and get out and sit and stand until I can't take it anymore. Looking to get the girl out for her first Dove, so I will be mentoring for the most part. Keeping my hopes up for walking more and more.:cheers:
 
I was out mowing weeds early today before more rain and am still seeing respectable numbers of doves. Just a few more days and it looks like the weather is going to be perfect for dove hunting for at least the next 5 days.
 
Bleu,
Sorry to hear you are still having so much trouble yet, back pain sucks as I know as well, hopefully you will be able to get out some and your girl as well.
 
lots of dove

other than opening day, have been seeing quite a few dove, shooting one kind or the other have harvested 15 dove each day for 4 times out. for me, set a record, 15 dove in 1 hr. and 15 min. just stood there and shot. had I an ejector gun with me I could have cut 15 min. off the time. dogs were so busy they didn't know which way to run. think though in a couple of days it is going to be all over, just don't think they will handle the 38 deg. lows that are coming. hope you guys are getting out and finding something to shoot at

cheers
 
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