This season opener was tough for many in my area of choice; Brawley, CA. I always like to homebase at the Brawley Inn. They have comfortable beds and plenty of parking. Two good things for a hotel while hunting the season opener. This season the birds were well fledged, few to no pin feathers, and flying as fast as their parents. There also did not seem to be as many birds as in prior years.
What does this mean to my readers? It means you must shoot well to get your limits. Yes, location is important. No doubt scouting is paramount to a successful hunt. But (you knew the ‘but’ was coming) even in the best spot with the best gun and tons of birds, you wont limit out without hitting them!
I limited by 8:15am with 2 Whitewinged, 8 Mourning, and 2 Eurasian Collared Doves. 12 birds in all. I used 28 shells. 2.4 shells per bird. For me, this is a little off and means I shot at birds that I had no business shooting at. For me, they were a bit too far out or I missed twice and took the third shot. If I miss twice on a bird, the third shot is a waste of lead.
I am told the “national average” is 8 shells per bird. If anyone has a link to this data, please share it. I cannot find it. If I had to shoot 80 shells to get my limit of birds I think I would throw in the towel and stick to the skeet range. To average 8 shells per bird that means some guys are using ten or even twelve (or more) per bird! WOW.
Thursday night saw the California Waterfowl “Dove Dinner” at Aspen on the Desert Restaurant. I signed up early and got one of 33 ‘early bird’ tickets for an Escort Waterfowl Extreme shotgun. I won it. It comes in “left hand” too, I am a bit stoked. If you are local and were not there, you should have been. There were eight guns for about 50 people. Great opportunity to win a gun!
Friday sunrise saw me back out in the field with friends Hollis Daker, Frank Theodoroupolis, Jim Nimiec, George Dixon and a few others. No birds flying. I never even loaded my gun. An hour after sunrise I made the right call to go hunt down an omelette and a shower. Took a short nap, checked out of the hotel and my journey was over. The other guys did drop a bird or two each. I was happy with 12 from the day before.
I titled this essay “and a few shooting tips”. So here they are. They are Dove specific, but you could easily translate the ideals to any bird you hunt with a shotgun.
- Never take the third shot. You missed twice, the third is likely to miss as well. Going for the double does not count. Never use a third shell on a single bird.
- Get in at least 10 rounds of skeet in the last two weeks of August. Practice is important. I do this.
- Get a MOJO Dove. These really bring the birds in closer. Put it 20 yards out, no closer or you will destroy your precious dove breasts.
- Pattern your gun with different chokes using the shells you will use in the field. Do this at thirty yards. Most successful Dove kills will be 30 or less. Choose the choke that makes the pattern you like best. Looks like another essay on chokes is needed.
- Once you have chosen your choke, pattern it at 40 yards and get to know what 40 yards looks like. Clip a dove decoy to the patterning board for size reference.
- Stop shooting outside of 40 yards. After forty yards only the real good shotgunners make their kill. Everybody else, this is a very low percentage shot.
- Get your gun fitted. My skeet rounds went from 21-22 to 23-24 (and a few 25′s) after having my guns fitted. This really makes an even bigger difference in the field. I promise. I used Dale Tate - Gun Maker. He is a terrific guy, who was trained at the infamous James Purdey and Sons factory in England. I cannot stress how beneficial fitting is. I had Dale do my two Benelli M2 Field’s. Cost in 2010 = $300! Took less than 2 hours and made a HUGE improvement. At the time I did this I was shooting pigeons at a dairy farm. Before fitting I was going thru 4 shells/bird. After fitting I immediately went to 2 shells/bird. Half as many shells! Double the fun! Priceless! If you have the opportunity to visit him outside of Sacramento, do it. He has my measurements on file. Now I can send him any shotgun and he can make it fit me, all thru UPS.
If you are shooting well and find it exciting to get a “double” but cannot seem to close the deal on the second bird, here you go.
- Practice at the skeet range from position 4, have your thrower throw two clays as fast as they can from the same tower. Swing on the double, taking the back bird first. Swing through and get the lead bird. This is the closest you can get to the most common way to get a double in the field.
Lastly, get to know the species of birds in your area. In the Colorado Desert of southern California we have the highest diversity of doves species anywhere in the USA. There are five species of Columbidae (dove family) bird in the Brawley area. Four you can shoot, one you cannot. The shooters are White Winged, Mourning (2011 California limit = 10 in the aggregate), Rock Pigeon (pigeon!) and Eurasian Collared Dove. These last two have a no limit. They count as zero to your dove count. The last is the dimunitive Ground Dove. My field had hundreds of these (1000′s maybe). The American southwest from the corner of California all the way east to Louisianna has a similar species, The Inca Dove. Luckily, these smaller species do not fly high enough to get a hunters attention. Luckily again, they are tiny. Still, they may not be taken and it is a ticket to shoot one. Get to know them if you hunt within their range.
One last caution regarding species identification. In all of the USA,there is one non-Dove with similar size and wingspan that in the low light of early morning, or when backlit by a rising sun, can be mistaken for a dove. Shooting one is a federal offense. This bird is the American Kestrel. This is a very common species and is easily mistaken for a Eurasian Collared Dove. Be careful! Nobody wants to shoot a little falcon!
2012 season is coming fast. Start now, get your gun fitted. Go shoot some skeet or sporting clays. Kill some waterfowl, quail, chukar, pheasant or whatever floats your boat. Get out in the field, put your hunting license to good use. Start now for 2012 and have the best opener ever!
