Doves near Barstow

[josh]

I didn't get any good photos but I did have a great time on my first hunting trip. We went out to the Barstow area on Saturday afternoon for dove. There were 5 of us total - 4 of which are pretty new to shooting in general. Not a whole lot of skill. BUT we did bag 5 birds Saturday night - one for each of us - and 8 the next morning. In my own defense I was using a single shot 20-gauge. The rest of them had no excuse, right??
I learned a whole lot, like how to clean the bird and harvest the meat. I'd say we saw a decent amount of birds. There wasn't a plethora of them though. Back to the range this week and hoping to get back out there next weekend!

 

[Lungpopper]

Hey Josh hunting is really about spending time with your friends and having a good time. The harvesting of game is really a bonus. As you and your friends spend more time together hunting you will find those sweet spots. In the mean time your having a great time and learning new things about the sport.

 

[NBK]

Great job Josh. Darryl is right, you had a good time with your friends and enjoyed the learning experience. Time will bring bounty your way. We all started out just like you and grew in the sport from there.

Hats off to you and your buddies for getting out there. Being there is 90% of getting it done!

 

[outdoordave]

great work Josh, to echo the others, hunting is about friends, good times and memories made. Harvesting is really the bonus enjoy all the time you get to spend outdoors with friends.

 

[Snake Charmer]

Josh, next time you head out that way try driving old 66 between Victorville and Barstow, there are a lot of alfalfa ranches out there (used to live on one) and see if some of the farmers will let you shoot their fields. I lived in the Helendale area and we had some great shooting over freshly cut alfalfa.

 

[josh]

Thanks for the words of encouragement and tips everyone! We're going back out today for a repeater trip. I will definitely check out Old 66! We all spent one evening at the range this week and I actually shot about 75% so I'm hoping that will translate into some birds. Wish me luck!

OH - what's the one thing you learned that changed your dove hunting game?

 

[NBK]

Scout hard and have plan A, B and C. Drink plenty of water...

 

[Lungpopper]

Like NBK said have a backup plan. Crops are always changing so you can't count on any one spot.

 

[Shootin Nuke]

OH - what's the one thing you learned that changed your dove hunting game?

Stop looking at the darn shotgun bead and look at the bird. Also, stop following the bird with my head and follow it with my upper body(and shotgun).

 

[josh]

Well, we bagged 4 more but it wasn't quite as busy as we had hoped... Still none for me :-/ I get one sooner or later
We checked out Camp Cady out by Yermo, CA - nada.
We ended up in the same area as last weekend near some alfalfa and barley (?) fields. It appeared to me that the birds like being near trees, water, and somewhat freshly cut fields. Next time, we'll need to do a bit more scouting beforehand to determine which fields the birds will be after.
Thanks for the tips everyone