Dove Opener Challange

[Wildgame]

I had a ball during the opener. I got my fair share of birds and then some. Got checked by 2 rangers and all good.

I shoot a 20 so the yellow shells are easy for me to spot as mine as it seems most people shoot 12. I pick all I can carry mine or not on my game bag and put them in my car when I go for water.

I see folks that don't pick up until before they leave. I can't do that because I don't seat on one spot, so I pick after I shoot and after retrieving my bird.

I was please to see the spot looked a lot cleaner than last year.

 

[HortoTheSlayer]

Slobs. Same dudes that leave shopping carts next to your car and toss cigs on the sidewalk like they magically disappear. Also don't like seeing piles of feathers and dove carcasses in a field.. be discreet and clean about your cleaning. Also don't forget to leave a wing if you clean in the field.. never know when Mr. Green Jeans will roll up on Sept 1st.

When is it safe to remove the wings then? Once you leave the field?

 

[GUNDOGLOVER]

When is it safe to remove the wings then? Once you leave the field?

No you need to keep wing on until you get home or, if you are going to eat them while out hunting, in camp or at lodging .

 

[HortoTheSlayer]

No you need to keep wing on until you get home or, if you are going to eat them while out hunting, in camp or at lodging .

Right on thanks for the info. I saw a couple videos on how to breast them with wing on. Hope I get a couple doves in the cooler tomorrow.

 

[SurfNHuntSD]

Right on thanks for the info. I saw a couple videos on how to breast them with wing on. Hope I get a couple doves in the cooler tomorrow.

Jorge,

In cooler weather I usually just wait to clean them at home, in which case they obviously come home whole. But if it's real hot or I don't wanna make a mess at home I'll clean in the field (bagging most of the mess) but the regs state you must leave on a fully feathered wing or head. Fairly simple procedure by hand.. rip off one wing, pull feathers off breast, dig thumb under breast plate while other hand holds legs and tail, then pull apart.. once you get the hang of it, the entrails and head should come off with it all, and you'll be left with a bone-in breast with wing attached.

 

[WaterDawg]

When is it safe to remove the wings then? Once you leave the field?

I believe in order to be 100 percent compliant you can’t remove the wing until you cook it for immediate consumption. So at home in the freezer the wing should stay on. No one I know does this.

The purpose of the law is so if a warden suspected you were illegally over harvesting for commercial or other purposes, he could get a warrant and search your freezer. If your birds have no head or wing, there is no way to tell if those 300 birds are mournings (illegal) or euros (legal).

 

[HortoTheSlayer]

Jorge,

In cooler weather I usually just wait to clean them at home, in which case they obviously come home whole. But if it's real hot or I don't wanna make a mess at home I'll clean in the field (bagging most of the mess) but the regs state you must leave on a fully feathered wing or head. Fairly simple procedure by hand.. rip off one wing, pull feathers off breast, dig thumb under breast plate while other hand holds legs and tail, then pull apart.. once you get the hang of it, the entrails and head should come off with it all, and you'll be left with a bone-in breast with wing attached.

I am doing an over nighter and will be taking a cooler with me. I will be hunting the IV tomorrow then staying overnight at a campground near the upper San Felipe wa where I have a draw hunt on Sunday. I want to try plucking a whole one or 2 and then breasting out the rest (that's if I bag a few lol) but would they be okay in a cooler with ice for another day? Now I know I would have to leave a wing on till I got home Sunday evening.

 

[SurfNHuntSD]

I want to try plucking a whole one or 2 and then breasting out the rest (that's if I bag a few lol) but would they be okay in a cooler with ice for another day? Now I know I would have to leave a wing on till I got home Sunday evening.

Yeah they'll be fine on ice.