It is time to break out the shotgun and get ready for mourning dove seasons. (Dave Workman)
By Dave Workman
Senior Editor
People who hunt mourning doves ought to buy stock in ammunition companies, and with the season firing up soon, now is the time to be stocking up on shotgun shells for dove and quail.
Doves are one of the most challenging species around, and anyone who can hit them consistently has bragging rights.
Here it is, the mourning dove, and seasons open soon across many states.
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, proposed dove seasons stretch for 90 days along the Eastern and Central management units, while out West, proposals call for 60-day seasons. In all three regions, there’s a recommendation for a 15-bird daily bag limit. Be sure to check your state’s regulations pamphlets for bag limits, hunting hours and other rules. And don’t put off buying your hunting license! Season openers have a habit of sneaking up on people who procrastinate, even if they’ve been hunting for many years.
Now, anyone who hunts doves is likely to caution that these birds will light out fast, especially in the western states, for points south as soon as stormy weather sets in. Out in Washington State, for example, some people expect maybe a week or so of good dove hunting after the season opens, but seasonal late-summer storm fronts can clear them out literally overnight, depending upon the location. Same goes for other northern tier states where dove hunting is allowed.
However, if weather conditions remain mild, devoted dove hunters can stretch out their hunting for many days, and the farther south one goes, the more likely that opportunity will expand.
Be sure you’re using the right chokes. Most people like Improved Cylinder and Modified chokes. (Dave Workman)
The 20- and 28-gauge are favorites among dove hunters, though some folks hunt them with 12-gauge double-guns, fitted with Modified and Improved Cylinder choke tubes. And, there are a handful of folks who hunt them with the diminutive .410 bore. Indeed, the M and I/C chokes seem to be the most popular. And they like small shot sizes, typically No. 7 ½ or 8 shot. However, that’s not carved in stone, as you will occasionally run across somebody shooting doves with No. 9s. I once ran into a guy hunts them with low-base trap and skeet loads! (One thing you learn at an early age, if you plan on being welcome around many hunting camps, is to never argue with somebody about the loads they use for doves, grouse, pheasants or any other gamebird. Just don’t go there.)
Doves will race across a field, suddenly changing direction in a heartbeat. They weave, dodge, dart and generally make people crazy with their aerial acrobatics. The accomplished dove hunter never needs to prove his or her prowess with a smoothbore in any other endeavor.
Earlier this summer, Winchester announced that the long-running Super-X line of shotshells has been expanded to include new loads in 28-gauge. Both are 2 ¾-inchers with ¾-ounce payloads of either No. 5 or 6 shot. They are loaded to leave the muzzle at 1,295 fps, but still offer a reduced recoil.
Not only will these loads suffice for doves, they are actually designed for quail hunters, and might even be used for larger game including grouse and pheasants.
Perhaps the most important consideration is a cooler. In warm weather, it is imperative to field dress your birds and get them into a cooler as soon as possible. It is not unheard of for dove hunters to have an ice-filled cooler devoted specifically to holding game birds that have been field dressed and placed into large plastic bags, and then put into the cooler.
