Well we packed up and headed for the desert to our old spot. Its not a great spot by any means, but we usually have the entire place to ourselves which is nice. My boy had just come down with a really bad cold, so we paid extra to get into a doctor Sunday afternoon on our way out of town. Doctor agreed it was pretty bad and prescribed some meds which we picked up on the way. Drive out was uneventful, the gravel roads were in fantastic shape compared to years past... and Sunflowers, HOLY COW MILLIONS OF SUNFLOWERS!!! I just thought if the previous storms hadn't driven the doves to Mexico we'd find some here to shoot at.

We were just setting up camp when a CRAZY Storm blew through. I thought last years lightning storm was crazy, this was way worse in terms of water! Seriously, I've seen few storms in my life that dropped that much rain that quickly, its the freaking desert and it got about 1" of rain in about 20 minutes that sheeted off causing crazy flooding. The torrential rain that caused a flash flood that went right through our tents, we had to sleep in the truck (3 people + all the gear that couldn't get wet) MISERABLE!. I got pictures out my window of a RIVER flowing across the meadow under my truck. Even the **** camp cots were covered in mud. Farther down in the flats, a new lake had formed... a quite large lake, that wasn't there the day before.

Next morning it started off slow then picked up with singles, doubles, triples then it picked up with flocks of +20 doves coming through. I shot terrible, I'll admit but I got a limit in a reasonable amount of time then spent the rest of the time helping my wife and boy try to fill theirs. I think they shot 3 boxes between them with pumps, so it wasn't for a lack of chances at 'em. Doves liked to make a pass then go set down in the sage. I found much better success sneaking over and jump shooting them.

Saw lots of wild horses, heard the BLM had a problem with them, now I know why. Saw 60+ in one herd, only saw 1 antelope which was odd. Cant say it was the funnest trip ever, I have tents and gear to clean today. But we saw more doves than last year by a HUGE factor.

Had a great dove fry last night, one of my favorite meals of the year.

My 12 year old:




-DallanC

Sounds like you & the family had a good time and a full belly inspite of the storms.

My whole back yard right now is filled with tents, cots, tarps, gear all washed and drying in the sun. Good lord what a mess!

This is where we were at... its just that flat in all directions. It is NOT flash flood country... in fact this and last year are the only two dove hunts in my life when we've had rain out there. Its crazy!



-DallanC

Flat..
but you guys are lucky to have hills to break the monotone.


Sounds like you got a great time Dallan. Thats definitely good.

Glad you all had a safe and fun trip Dallan.. Your boy looks like he's having a blast A father and son hunting is good times...

You make me miss the desert, those hills beckon me and mule deer. Looks like wonderful dirt bike country too. Great rainstorm to be in, thankfully you didn't get stuck there for a while. Glad you had a bountyfull. Sounds like fun!

pigeon pie...mmmm mmmm
great to hear you got out and got a few birds
and who counts the rounds used if you are having fun, missing lots just gives more bangs for your bucks!!!!

Sounds like you and your boy had a great, if interesting (or should that be damp) time mate. I'm glad you didn't get washed away by the rain mate...it could have been a lot worse had it struck about 2 or 3 in the morning.

I'm usually pretty careful where I pitch my tent these days...been caught too many times when I was in the Army, and although a wet sleeping bag will mostly still keep you sorta warm, it will only do that once...until it's been totally dried.

I've never hunted dove...they are protected here, but I reckon they would be a lot of fun. Good to hear you bagged out mate. Is it a daily limit or season limit?

I also try to do some doves. Dove-season opens here September 15th. And I'm wondering: how do you attrack those doves? Why do they come close enough so that you can shoot them? Do you use decoys? What kind of decoys? A pigeon-magnet? Living birds? Do you have a picture of your set-up? Or do you put a 12 year old hunter in the field as a decoy and are your doves thinking "that's a funny guy, let's have a look if he already can hit something" ? It might work with muslim-doves...

In our area we are not longer allowed to use the "pigeon-magnet" nor living birds. We change methods according the weather and the time in the season. Getting the young doves in the beginning of the season is a lot different than trying for the older ones (that maybe are already shot at several times).

And I don't understand how you-all can be such a friend of a pump. I use the superposé, a side-by-side or a semi-auto, sometimes even a single shot, but with a pump I always forget to reload and it's not easy to shoot a double without reloading
But when you "pump" it in from your youth, I can imagine you get different reactions...

Its pass shooting here. You find areas they move from point A to B and set up. This place we camped is a watering hole in the desert that when things are dry, doves will come into water... did not work so well in that case this year. But Doves have been watering there all summer so they habitually fly past it.

Most of the doves I got landed 100 to 200 yards radius from the watering hole in sage brush. I would sneak over and jump shoot them. We do put decoys on the fence lines, but not sure how well the affected anything this year.

I shoot a Remington 1100, my wife and boy both shoot 20ga pumps. My wife wanted the Rem870 to see if she even liked bird hunting, without having to drop 3x as much $$$ on a semi-auto. My boy is a youth and they dont make many youth lefty shotguns that fit him. He shoots a mossburg "bantam" that we will eventually swap out for a 1100 or something else. I offered him my 12ga once I limited out but he said he likes his pump better.

-DallanC

Vince wrote:

I'm usually pretty careful where I pitch my tent these days...been caught too many times when I was in the Army, and although a wet sleeping bag will mostly still keep you sorta warm, it will only do that once...until it's been totally dried.

Heh yea, I actually was just showing my boy how to cut a trench around the perimeter to keep water at bay when the downpour started. I had a trench around my tent but it wasn't near enough to stop what came pouring through.

Quote::

I've never hunted dove...they are protected here, but I reckon they would be a lot of fun. Good to hear you bagged out mate. Is it a daily limit or season limit?

There are several types of doves here. Two are protected but I've never seen either species in my life, the primary dove we hunt is a "Mourning Dove" easily recognizable in flight. The limit is 10 a day (down from the 30 a day when I was a youth). Usually the doves only hang around for a short time after the season starts here, to migrate south for warmer weather. So usually you get a week or so to hunt before they are gone.

We have a new type of dove that has moved in now called "Eurasian Collared Doves" and they do not migrate. Because they dont migrate they can have an earlier brood, and one extra brood in the fall. They primarily hang out in the city's and towns. Atm, they are considered pests so there is no limit, no license needed, shootable year around. I plink a few off the telephone pole in the back yard with the air rifle from time to time. They are maybe 20% larger than Mourning doves and have a differently shaped tail so you can identify them in flight.

Most people hate the "ECD" but I figure its one more fun thing to hunt so bring'em on.


-DallanC