Dove Tomorrow

BritChaser

BritChaser

Well-known member
Ready to lock and load and head the huntin' wagon west to the happy hunting grounds in NW for tomorrow's dove opener. It's been continuously hot out there so there should be some around.
 
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Yes, its been very hot and dry in SEK, although we have had a few storms roll through the drought in July did not help crops. Most corn has been picked for silage which in return spreads the birds out. However, there are birds around! Good luck to all!
 
Good luck to all! :)

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little jealous. We haven’t had enough doves to be worth hunting in my part of SEK for many years now.
 
Kansan said:
Good luck to all! :)

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little jealous. We haven’t had enough doves to be worth hunting in my part of SEK for many years now.
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They are a little thin this year in this area. Usually thick 2 weeks before season then they're gone but I didn't even see that wave yet either.
 
Just sat by a pond in the evening and had a decent number of shots. Notice how carefully I worded that haha. I "tested" a whole lot of ammo, but my buddy knocks 'em dead and his wife will not fix them for him, so I came home with 10 to be bacon wrapped and enjoyed. Just Dumb Luck, my Life Force and may the Force of Dumb Luck be with you. The home late dust cutter is expeditious!
 
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We had a good time and I went through a box of shells for an embarrassingly small number of birds. They weren't really responding to the mojo they have in previous seasons. I always enjoy the time with my dad and a couple friends. It was close to town too, so that was nice. I take a bigger swing on the weekend. Hopefully I'll shoot a little better.
 
Not quite Kansas, but shot 9 in the afternoon in the Missouri river bottoms in NW MO. I had the same experience with mojos not having much effect on them this year, certainly not compared to years past. I only use spinners for dove and teal anymore, and I wonder if their effectiveness on those 2 species is waning the same way it did for ducks. Good amount of doves around, though, and the weather was pleasant. It was nice to get a year without a suddenly cool spell or rainy spell right before opener. I switched to steel dove loads a couple years ago when most of MOs managed dove fields went nontox and it quickly made me pickier about the length of shots I took on doves, which - lo and behold - made me a pretty passable dove shot...I shot less than a box, probably 15-16 shells total. If I ever get thru the spare dove ammo I have, I might switch to bismuth and see if I can reach out a little further.
 
Was out in NW KS from Sept 1-3 and got a total of 23. No decoys or anything, just walk around the windbreaks and wait for the birds to fly out. It got pretty hot in the afternoon so I would sit in the shade and hope some flew by. Probably shot 3 shells for every bird I hit.

A couple of the larger ones were Eurasian Collared doves that hang out there year round.
 

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My cousins grandson came up from OKC. He’s 23 the same age as my daughter. I think of him more as my nephew. Sunday evening sitting on a walk-in pond was kind of slow but we could see them working some wheat stubble and moved. We ended up with 24. Monday morning was great I bet there were easily a thousand doves on the same stubble. Taking turns shooting one at a time and letting the dog finish the retrieve before shooting again still went way to quickly and were done in a little over an hour. When we left we walked the fence line to skirt some cattle and at the end of the fence several hundred doves got out of the corner of the stubble. A fitting conclusion to a beautiful morning. 77C3015B-C816-48C5-9435-F9BE80C2505D.jpeg1A7E68F4-8047-4E27-A5DB-2A9DCD511D25.jpeg
 
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Limit with yellow dog was shot in the evening and took about 1 hour. Limit with black dog shot in the morning and took about 1 hour 30 minutes. Both limits shot with 1 box of shells. Missed a couple and shot a few on the second shot. Too hot this evening. Hopefully the cold front does not push out all the birds tomorrow. Plan on going the morning.
 

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Birdman2 said:
Talk about bad shooting. I have a new buddy that shot 5 boxes of shells for 15 birds. WOW.
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My son and I used to only take one box a piece back in the day just to see if we could shoot a limit with a single box. If you look at the pic close with the yellow dog, you will see the empties. If its super windy or a place where there is not much cover it can be tougher shooting. But I can't remember the last time I shot more than a box and half to take a limit. I don't waste shells shooting at every dove that torpedo's by.
 
I still consider myself a Kansan, even if I moved just over the border after college in 2003.

Hunted a MO conservation area on the opener, with a friend and his 75 year old friend, just like the 3 of us have done for the majority of the 19 years I’ve lived here.

Shot a limit in just over an hour.

Pictured with my gun bearer. He thinks he’s a big shot skipping school every opener and making himself sick on Little Debbie’s and Dr Pepper. Junk food doesn’t count when you’re hunting.


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New flush of birds have showed up in our area of east central, seeing more last few days than I have all year. On a sad note, we took our milo out last week and I took the dogs on a run through 40 acres of it yesterday and didn't see one quail.
 
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