1st day of dove season WOOT!

I'm going out a bit later today. Anyone else hunting today?

 

Didn't draw a spot at the managed area near me, and the local yahoos make the unmanaged public land too crazy on opening day. Getting up early this Sat to go hunt a private farm.

 

I went out to a new place near my home this afternoon with only a 1/2 a box of shells as I wasn't expecting too much action but I ended up with 5 morning doves and a jack rabbit before I ran out of shells. I also saw SO many quail and I'll be hunting coyotes here too. I can't believe I've not hunted this place before.

 

The first year I finally got permission on some private farm land and didn't even limit. I got nine though close enough.

 

forgot this oh and a jack rabbit too. Do you keep and clean your jack rabbits I just leave mine in the field I hear they taste terrible am I wrong?

 

I usually leave it for the coyotes but one day I'll eat one.

 

comes in saturday at 12 for us north carolinians! can't wait!! sub'd! i'll try to get some pics in here.

 

I should have brought my camera yesterday. I'll try to remember it for Sat.

 

took this one last year, on labor day. just my camera phone but i thought it turned out good. . .

my buddy striking the pose. weren't any birds flying at that moment, but we were right in the middle of the field and i though it was pretty bad ass.

 

thats a pretty nice pic, seems like it would be hard to find birds in that field without a dog though

 

Went out yesterday for opening day... crazy amount of hunters out and not many birds. I did manage to bag 5 dove though, so all in all it wasn't a bad trip

 

oh, tell me about it. if we're lucky another guy will have his dog with him but that's one dog among like 20 people. that's i guess you could say the only crappy part about hunting in farmed fields. tobacco fields arent that bad. you see where it falls, lay down in the rows until you see it. it's the corn fields that suck. cause most of them have already been harvested. so all the cobs were cut off but the stalks are still there and they scratch the hell out of you. and there's still a bunch of debris on the ground from the cutting. . . you usually end up with about 4/5 of your birds. and i always look for at least 15 minutes, sometimes more.

EDIT: though i remember when i was young, walking through a tobacco field for a long time will make you sick as a dog. you get hundreds of miniature scratches up and down your arms and legs for hours and the nicotine and tar and all that will actually get in your system. . . . doesn't mess with me anymore though. though being a smokeless user has given me a tolerance i guess. probably the only benefit to it.

 

I've had jack rabbit , they aint bad as long as you don't hit em in the shit bag. You can literally skin them with your hands

 

yeah we usually hunt all farm fields but here its like the farmers all know its dove season and they harvest and plow like a week before so that all season 15 days its nothing but dirt fresh plowed fields. its just harder to walk in cause its so soft.

 

you skin dove with your hands. after the hunt we'll all stand around a pot or something and throw the breast in there. it's the only good meat on them. twist the wings off, pick the breast feathers off and grab it at the base and rib it all out.

clean the meat, soak it in some italian dressing for a day or so, wrap it in bacon and put in on the grill. NOM!!

 

Anybody ever make hot wings out of them I was thinking about trying it this year

 

That would probably be good. I marinate them for about a day in Heins 57 with some worchestershire and then wrap in bacon and bake until the bacon is crispy.

I like duck about 100 times better.

 

Not too bad with the heat of a Phoenix afternoon; they weren't flying too much.

 

What are you shooting there, beretta?

 

It's a Charles Daly semi auto chambered for 3.5". I use it more than my other shotguns.

Went out this morning and scored 7 more...I'm having a hard time limiting out this year so far.