The Race Has Begun! Tips for Dove Hunters

Don’t you love it? It’s time to hunt again. With dove season in full swing, hopefully you have been able to get out and breathe a little fresh air and swat a few mosquitoes while filling a limit of doves. After your first couple of trips afield, you might try to take note of which shots you are most comfortable with and the ones you seem to have the most trouble with. It’s never too late to go get some help. This time of year, Vicki and I get calls from hunters who were humbled on their first outing with their shotgun and realize that they need some help. We encourage them to get some friends and come out and share a lesson with us. It’s a very economical way to learn to become a better shot and you can split the cost.

As the hunting seasons begin this year I decided to get a guide’s perspective on hunters, so I called Larry Gore of Eagle Lake and Katy Prairie Outfitters.  When I finally caught up with Larry, I asked him about October dove hunting in the areas west of Houston. He explained that late-season dove hunting is very weather-dependent. 

When the season opens, area hunters are hunting the local birds that have nested and raised their young in the area. After the first two weeks or so, they typically leave or scatter due to hunting pressure. If during that time we have a little cold snap they typically all move out and migrate south. Hunters then must wait for a good cold front to move other doves in from the north. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn’t. So, if we have a good cold front this month, wait a few days and give Larry a call to see if there are any concentrations of northern birds that have moved into the area.

Larry shared with me some things October dove hunters should be aware of:

1. If you bring your dog, bring plenty of water. You never know whether the field you will be hunting in will have any standing water in it.
2. Bring an extra set of clothes so you can make a quick change in the field. You never know what kind of terrain you will be hunting in. You might be in the shade or standing in thick cover.
3. Bring plenty of shells.
4. Buy the best shells you can find. The cheapest shells are not always the best. Larry shoots Double AA target loads, 3 dram 1 1/8, 7 ½, and for those high flying white wings, he uses Double AA Super Sporting 7 ½’s. He says that the shells are the cheapest part of the hunt and not a place to try to save money.
5. Make sure your plug is in your semi-automatic or pump shotgun!
6. If hunting without a dog, mark your downed birds specifically and walk straight to them. Once you have a mark, don’t take your eyes off that mark until you get there. Look for that bird until you find it. Doves tend to fade into the ground when you are looking for them. If you harvest a bird, it’s your responsibility to retrieve it. It’s the ethical thing to do.

As teachers, this time of year we frequently see people get caught up in chokes, loads, gun fit, and all the mechanical junk of shooting a shotgun. But they fail to realize the importance of proficiency. 

You can have the correct choke, load, and a shotgun that fits you, but if you can’t shoot off, what good are they? 

You can be the safest person in the field and only take the most ethical of shots by knowing when to shoot for a clean kill and when not to shoot for fear of wounding another close flying bird. But if you can’t shoot, are you being responsible? 

You can try to be the most ethical wing shooter in the field, but if you can’t put the salve on the sore when it comes time to harvest a bird, you cannot be responsible. 

Our findings indicate that wingshooters who first take the time to become proficient with their shotgun, know and understand their limits (and more importantly the limits of their shotgun), are more responsible than those who don’t. They understand choke and load and how to choose the correct combination for the situation they find themselves in when in the field, regardless of what they’re hunting. 

We also find that it’s simple to teach wingshooting ethics to someone proficient with their shotgun. With proficiency comes simplicity. A good wingshooter simply focuses on the bird and doesn’t have to think about moving and mounting the gun in front of the bird as they take the shot, because they have practiced doing it. Because they are focusing only on the bird (and not on swing mechanics or lead) they can be so much more aware of when they should or should not shoot both from an ethical standpoint and, more importantly, from a safety standpoint. 

A good wing shooter rarely takes a shot they don’t have confidence in. I have been shooting a shotgun for forty-plus years and Vicki has been shooting for over thirty years. We are both good shots and both have “off” days when our shooting is not as good as it could be. When this happens, we immediately slow down and shoot only single birds that are closer to improve our proficiency. We both strongly believe that shooting proficiency is the cornerstone for the ethical harvest of all wildlife.

Perhaps more than others, we see the proficiency level of our fellow hunters. As hunters, we must begin to improve our ability to cleanly harvest the wildlife that we hunt and respect. We also must accept the fact that becoming a better shot before going to the field to hunt is the first step in becoming a more ethical hunter. 

My friend John Gibson explained ethics to me one afternoon while fishing. He told a story of a little town in Vermont in the middle of winter. The town was covered with snow and everyone got around on snowmobiles. At the edge of the town where everyone entered there was a sign that read, “Slow Down, Avoid a Speed Limit.” 

You can understand the ethics of wingshooting, but if you are not proficient enough to execute them, you cannot be responsible. The more proficient you become with your shotgun, the more ethical, responsible, and safe you can become. We can all become better wingshooters. The birds deserve it. Take a kid shooting first and then hunting.