We shot dove this morning and end up with 38 dove + 1 crow and 1 Eurasian Dove. We had rain for most of the night and the newly planted wheat field ( 40 acre) was too wet to get on so we hunting on the "sewer right of way." The morning started off with light rain and end up with a very light drizzle then stopped. There is a crow roost just behind the field and we listened and watch the crows ( ~40) as they gathered up in the tall oaks to make plans for the day.. They sat around for a few minutes then off to feed.. We had ~ 30 Canada Geese fly over ( did not shoot). Then several groups of ducks ( I could not tell what kind ) The first dove killed was just about to land on a power line between Bruce and I.. Just after the first shot, a curious crow flies over to have a look. He flew just behind Bruce and was ~45 yds high. Bruce pulled up and folded him with 7.5” and he fell into a fast flowing creek and was not retreivable. As avid number 6 shooters the 7.5’s performed well.. Then it was off to the dove shooting.. They flew in very fast as this is our 3rd season in SC and we limited out fairly quickly. (we had a 3 gun that was there for a short while just in case your counting) We had a huge gaggle of turkeys wanting to feed in the field but our presence and gun fire kept them away.. It was a great day.. Dove on the grill tonight..
A nice pleasant day afield for you, does your area have a lot of the Eurasian Doves. They started showing up here in Western Washington State a couple of years ago and are doing great here. I've seen flocks upwards to thirty birds, The regular wild type ring-necked doves are few & far between. There is a pair of eurasion dove that have been nesting across street from the house, they raised a couple of rounds a year for the last two year. The Cooper Hawks clean up the young ones before they get educated. We are heavily infested with cooper hawks, to bad it isn't legal to harvest them. Do you marinate the doves before you grill them? Pat (Nice piuctures)
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Walk lightly, Carry a Big Stick & NEVER WALK AWAY!!!
Great story and nice bag Mark. As for the 45 yard crow taken with 7 1/2's, that was no fluke. A decent wing shot at those ranges, with a modified or full 12, can drop crows stone dead all day long with that combination.
Ted
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Highlander, We dont have that many in our area yet. I suspect we will soon.. This "CD" Collared Dove came from a group of about 8-10.. My buddy and I were standing together talking when a group of 8-10 "CD" flew over and of course we pulled up on the same bird.. 2 years ago we were standing together ( talking again) and killed 3 out of three.. I do not eat the CD's.. The mourning doves I do eat.. I just clean them and then soak them in salt water for ~30 minutes then rinse, then on the grill with bacon wrapped around them.. I can't eat garlic or onion ( allergic) so the brine works pefrect to rid the gamey taste.
I do a Dove Release Business and get a lot of e-mails from people about the eurasian doves hanging around their house, They think they are mine that got lost. I offer to come over and take care of them with my pellet gun, still haven't got the go ahead. They sure do a lot of cooing to each other. I have a friend that has a dairy farm I help out during hay season, He has a bunch of pigeons & doves that hang out over there. One of these days I need to go over and get some shooting in. I'd like to get the metro barrel first so the shooting won't disturb the cows, He's pumping right around 350 cows. There is a younger guy that's in the navy stationed here that wants to go, he needs to get a hunters education certificate before he can get a license to hunt. pat
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Walk lightly, Carry a Big Stick & NEVER WALK AWAY!!!
Dove Release Business? Interesting... Metro Barrells? Maybe around cows, yes.. I used to shoot piegons at my grandfathers dairy with a 12ga.. I'd start out with shooting at 100 yds away then move closer.. Cows got used to the noise and didn't care after a few times.. Pellet guns?? I love to harvest tree rats with a pellet rifle.. Here's 3 I shot yesterday...Just started a new log of how many squirrels I shoot a year...
Mark I live right in the city and get to use my pelletgun alot, I have a Gamo 17 caliber with a scope on it. It will get the job done on things as big as a oppssum and other animals of comparable size. I use the hollow-point pellets with good kill ratios. I'll get a better quality air rifle down the road. There are lots of other toys on the list that are higher on the wanted list. I put some money down on a Smith & Wesson 642 Airweight 38+P for a conceal-carry handgun that compliments my other carry-conceal carry guns. I want to get another 44 magnum again in a six inch or longer barrel, I gave the Ruger Blackhawk 44 mag. to my oldest son and the Ruger Blackhawk 357/9mm to my second son. I sold the other tree Blackhawks 41mag, 30cal, 45 ACP/45 Colt. I have the Ruger GP100 357 mag six inch barrel stainless stee for carring up in the woods and a Rossi model 971 - 357 mag with the muzzlebrake for conceal carry and a few more for conceal carry, target shooting and to carry out in the woods.
When I lived in Upstate New York I did residentual tree servive, Every day from opening day of squirrel hunting me & my oldest son went squirrel hunting which opened September 1st until Deer Hunting season Mid November. We'd hunt as many day as possible. We use to average between three to four hunderd squirrels a year. We had a lot of places to hunt and got lots of other game as well as squirrels. I used an old Marlin 883 blue barrel, wood stock & 3 to 9 tasco scope, my son used a marlin 22 bolt action. I'm looking forward to moving back there this summer, It will be nice to get back into the hunting back there. I bought a Marlin 882 - 17HMR stainless steel, I had a 6.5 X 12 power scope that I put on it, I need to pickup a better scope for it this summer. I never worked the first day of squirrel season, If I had to choose one type of hunting and give up everythig else, it would be squirrel hunting with a rimfire rifle. My new 17HMR is a tack driver, a great purchase. paid $349 for it and it hasa bull barrel. My son bought a Ruger model 77 in 12HRM and put a decent scope on it. When you hit a squirrel in the head with it,it totally eliminates the head. Definitely don't want to take body shots with the 17!!! I have a old Traditions blackpower rifle that has interchangable barrels a 50 cal.and a 36 cal. The36 cal. has ascope, my son used it for squirrel hunting and consistsantly took head shots with it. We will be buying another small caliber blackpower rifle to use for squirrel hunting. Either another 36 cal, or maybe a 32 caliber caplock.
Since I moved out here in Washington State my odest son took up Duck & Goose hunting. It is fun, both boys have labs. I used a Remington 1100 be bought off of a waterfowl forum a few years ago,I sold two American Derringer 25 caliber pen guns this past summer for $1,100 and bought a Winchester Super X3 for waterfowl hunting with the boys. With tax I paid $1,202. I'm in the market for a Lab Pup here shortly. When I get moved back East I'll be getting a couple of beagles, Another Jack Russel for foxes & squirrel and a couple of Blueticks for coon hunting. It's all fun, a person has to set their priorties. I shold have a set of crow decoys here tomorrow from another Mark off of this list (Thamk You Mark). I did pick up two Ruger Mark 11 -22 caliber target pistols, both Stainless steel,one has a 10" bull barrel the other has a 6 7/8" bull barrel for squirrel hunting and to shoot the occasional grouse,rabbit or any other critter that is within range while out & about. My oldest son will get his pick of these two pistols. I gave him a Ruger moder 77 in 300 winchester mag a few years ago, the olther son got a Interarms 7mm mag. Both guns had either aRedfield or lepold scope on them. When I die the'll have about sixty guns to fight over. I told them to make a list of who wants what so there won't be any hard feelings. Check out my Dove Release website www.HighlandLoftsWhiteDoveRelease.com I've got te best quality release equipment then any one else in the country. I,ve raised pigeons all of my life and started this release business in 2004. First as a hobby then got serious about it about three maybe four year ago. It's fun and when the business is there you kick ass, when it's slow you hve lots of time to enjoy all of the pure white homers out & about flying around the house. I enjoy the funerals better then the weddings, The people really like the dove release for the funerals alot more then at the weddings. It's all good. When I move back East I'll be starting it up back there. I'll cover the Syracuse, Ithaca, Elmira, Binghamton, Deposit, Sranton/Wilkes Barre area and every where inbetween. Here in Washington State i cover the entire Puget Sound area, all along the I-5 corridor from Olympia north to the Canadian Border, I cover about a hundred miles south of the house to about eighty miles north. I have several lofts throught out the service area to draw birds for for the releases. The closest loft to the release site is where the birds come from. I keep between fifty to eighty birds here at my place,The other lofts are about the same quanity. I amount of birds varies due to regular losses and preditors, hawks & falcons. Cats & other critters are delt with accordingly, actually the crows are a wanted item around the house to alert you of any hawks in the area. Pat
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