New Hunter looking for help

[Ricky12ga]

Hi everyone,

My name is Rick, 27 yrs old, live in Ontario, CA and I stumbled across this site via a youtube video about dove hunting. I just got into hunting last year (2014) hunting waterfowl. I have always wanted to get into hunting because I love the outdoors, the freedom of the open spaces, beautiful scenery, the comradary, and the idea of attaining my own food and processing it myself. I loved the waterfowl hunting I was able to do and wanted to try my hand at dove hunting this year, and with the season fast approaching, I was hoping some veteran hunters might offer some helpful advice being as I don't really know where to start lol. I had a few questions I am hoping someone can help me with.

1. I see everyone talking about the big IV can someone please explain?

2. Can someone tell me where I might find some doves this season? (not trying to horn in on your honey hole, but I would like to have a fun experience especially with the wife) I heard El Centro is a good location, but I would not know where to begin looking? I would be bummed to drive that ways out and not see a single bird.

3. I know someone previously posted the map and regulations regarding hunting dove in Imperial valley, however are those marked areas/fields private property?

4. Are doves as delicious as I have heard?

5. Is there public land or BLM areas that I can hunt?

I hope someone can help a rookie get his hunt on lol, again sorry if I am being forward in asking for locations of where to hunt, but I honestly have no one to show me the ropes so I kinda go it alone and try to get as much info as I possibly can and set up a hunt that way. Thank you guys so much for taking the time to read this and helping a fellow hunter. I hope everyone has a great season this year, be safe, and God bless.

 

[TaftHunter]

I can't answer 1, 2, or 3 because I don't know.. But for 4, dove is a very good tasting bird ( not quite as good as quail and chukar ) but still good! And for 5, get a blm map and pick a spot, dove are fairly easy to find, just look for water sources or trees and there should be some dove there.

 

[SluiceCoot]

Easy answer... find someone who has a spot and tag along. As for the public opportunities, I'm not going to be much help. Although I've been dove hunting for many many years, I'm fortunate enough to have a father that is a farmer on great dove land....no you can't come Anyways, look at the sticky Sprig puts up on the Upland forum. It has maps and regs for one of the areas you can hunt. It will give you a starting point.

Many of the public guys I know go to Blythe and camp along the Colorado River. The field are marked as to where you can and cannot hunt. A good friend of mine hunts there every year which allows him to take a dip in the river mid day to kick back. You can also hunt at San Jacinto WLA and there are fields at Wister. People hunt El Centro as well. Any public spot in Southern California is going to be packed with people. Then again, take all the above info with a grain of salt, as this is my understanding from speaking with my buddies.

Get out there regardless. Sept 1 is the biggest hunt day in the nation. It's a great experience and not much is needed. A gun, a pocket of shells, a chair, and a cold beer for after the hunt. Good Luck

 

[Lungpopper]

1- IV is the Imperial Valley. You can find dove in the desert areas and the agriculture areas around El Centro. There is also good dove hunting in the San Joaquin valley. I have hunted up there around the Hanford area. Yuma AZ is a good area also.
I will usually go a day early and drive around and look for birds flying and try and figure out the flyways.

 

[Ricky12ga]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the info I appreciate the help guys. Hey Sluice thats awesome bout your fathers land :'( hahaha, thanks for taking the time to get back to me, I am really excited bout getting out there and every bit of info helps, maybe well run into each other out there opening day. Good luck to y'all.

P.S. I just realized there is a thread called "newbie den" so sorry guys if my questions overstepped some boundaries.

 

[ilovesprig]

Hi everyone,

My name is Rick, 27 yrs old, live in Ontario, CA and I stumbled across this site via a youtube video about dove hunting. I just got into hunting last year (2014) hunting waterfowl. I have always wanted to get into hunting because I love the outdoors, the freedom of the open spaces, beautiful scenery, the comradary, and the idea of attaining my own food and processing it myself. I loved the waterfowl hunting I was able to do and wanted to try my hand at dove hunting this year, and with the season fast approaching, I was hoping some veteran hunters might offer some helpful advice being as I don't really know where to start lol. I had a few questions I am hoping someone can help me with.

1. I see everyone talking about the big IV can someone please explain?

2. Can someone tell me where I might find some doves this season? (not trying to horn in on your honey hole, but I would like to have a fun experience especially with the wife) I heard El Centro is a good location, but I would not know where to begin looking? I would be bummed to drive that ways out and not see a single bird.

3. I know someone previously posted the map and regulations regarding hunting dove in Imperial valley, however are those marked areas/fields private property?

4. Are doves as delicious as I have heard?

5. Is there public land or BLM areas that I can hunt?

I hope someone can help a rookie get his hunt on lol, again sorry if I am being forward in asking for locations of where to hunt, but I honestly have no one to show me the ropes so I kinda go it alone and try to get as much info as I possibly can and set up a hunt that way. Thank you guys so much for taking the time to read this and helping a fellow hunter. I hope everyone has a great season this year, be safe, and God bless.

Hi Rick,

Welcome to SCH......I think I can answer most your questions pretty simply from experience.

1).....Imperial Valley or basically southend of the Salton Sea to the Mexican border.

2).....El Centro and vicinity is good for doves. But even as well as I know the IV, I scout before the opener. Fields change each year with different crops. There is a lot of private property in the IV, but the common rule of thumb is, if it's not posted, it's OK to hunt. Look for wheat, feed lots, and trees near water sources (cement canals most common).

3).....As stated before, I have a map of the Heritage fields (farmed with our upland game bird stamp money) posted..... Very popular to say the least. Although with dove opener being on a Tuesday, It could be a little less crowded.

4).....Doves are very good......Lots of ways to cook them......Check out our cooking section.

5).....In the IV, you have Wister Unit of the Imperial Wildlife Area. There's also Finney/Ramer Unit that has planted fields, and the fore mentioned Heritage fields......Warning though about Wister & Finney/Ramer......STEEL SHOT IS REQUIRED.....There's also San Jacinto Wildlife Area (Riverside Co.)......Saw a few doves out there yesterday. They have an entire area designated for upland hunting (doves)......Steel shot required here too.

Hope this helps a little......No substitute for driving down there and getting a feel for the valley.....

.

 

[MJB]

Get to the IV get a hotel, turn on the ac unload the truck then get a full tank of gas and start driving. Once you see a few dove flying just follow them and they will most likely lead you to there buddies. From there find food water gravel & roosting spots to shoot. The morning are really thick this year so it should be a good shoot! Dove fly before/at sun up for feed then fly for water & gravel then roost. Around 3ish they will start to move again, water then food then gravel and back to roost.

A few hints bring binos, water, chairs, bug spray and a few trash bags & zip locks. When you clean the birds leave one wing on use the trash bags to put the inedible parts in and always clean up your shells......a rake can help.
Stay away from the heritage fields if you can and find your own flyway but make sure you have more than one spot before opening day some farmers will post their fields the night before the opener and then your screwed!

Good luck!

 

[SluiceCoot]

Lung popper, I hunt that same area in the San Joaquin Valley every year. Problem is, there is nearly zero public land. Most just drive around and post up on a ditch bank on some farmer's field. We've run off tons of people from my dad's place. A few years back my uncle ran off a truck load of guys who were ruder than hell. They pulled up and we promptly stopped them and asked them why they were there. They said they knew the owner (wrong answer considering they were speaking with him). After a little conversation they took off. Those in the Central Valley aren't to keen on some LA folks going up there to hunt. Unless someone knows a farmer I wouldn't head up there. If you do, go on up, great dove numbers and you don't have to fight all the yahoos from SoCal.

 

[ilovesprig]

Lung popper, I hunt that same area in the San Joaquin Valley every year. Problem is, there is nearly zero public land. Most just drive around and post up on a ditch bank on some farmer's field. We've run off tons of people from my dad's place. A few years back my uncle ran off a truck load of guys who were ruder than hell. They pulled up and we promptly stopped them and asked them why they were there. They said they knew the owner (wrong answer considering they were speaking with him). After a little conversation they took off. Those in the Central Valley aren't to keen on some LA folks going up there to hunt. Unless someone knows a farmer I wouldn't head up there. If you do, go on up, great dove numbers and you don't have to fight all the yahoos from SoCal.

Hence, why most SoCal's go south.....Bet the truck load of "Yahoo's" were locals........Just sayin'

A few other places I've had good dove hunts.....Lake Isabella, Taboose Creek, Mill Pond, Chalfant Valley, Vallerie Jean, Coachella, Palm Desert, Blythe, Barstow, Needles just to name a few places that aren't in the IV.

 

[SluiceCoot]

Yep, guaranteed the truck was full of locals. Local yahoos. Hahahaha.

 

[SluiceCoot]

My buddy slays them in Yuma on public land. All my other buddies hunt El Centro and Blythe. Last couple of years I hear have been tough in Blythe but overall all my SoCal friends do very well out there.

 

[Deleted member 27310]

welcome to the site... some really good hunters on here bud, keep your ears open. Remember that the Euro dove is open year round down here (not sure when it goes state wide) in the IV and might be good for you come down before opening day to get to know the valley. Good Luck

 

[Gspman]

Year round state wide euros went into effect last year starting sept 1st 2014 so it been a year basically and it seams like a Good thing. I ran accord a good bunch in January at 4000 ft they were nice and fat and yummy is nice to have something else year round if quail is not being so nice.

 

[MJB]

I'm hoping for chukar this year.......I'm over euros

 

[Gspman]

ive been seeing great amount of chuckar up off the 14/395 near jaw bone on state land. I just need to scout and find a place i can legally hunt them up that way

 

[Ricky12ga]

WOW!!!

Thanks to all you guys on the great info, I appreciate everyones advice and I am so glad I came across this site. I am even more fired up for opening day now hahaha. I hoping to head down to the IV sometime in late July or mid August so I can get an idea on the doves flyways and lay of the land. But thank you everyone for taking the time to help this rookie out. Ill let y'all know how the scouting goes and the opener. Good luck to everyone, and stay safe.

 

[ilovesprig]

Rick,

Just a word of caution about posting places/spots you find......Talk in generalities......You'd be surprised how many hits we get here. And many folks are just waiting for someone to name a road or see something in a picture (not saying don't take pix, just be careful).

You may want to read this thread, if you haven't........You're going to have a great season.

.http://southerncaliforniahunting.com/huntersforum/index.php/topic,6032.0.html

 

[Ricky12ga]

Rick,

Just a word of caution about posting places/spots you find......Talk in generalities......You'd be surprised how many hits we get here. And many folks are just waiting for someone to name a road or see something in a picture (not saying don't take pix, just be careful).

You may want to read this thread, if you haven't........You're going to have a great season.

.http://southerncaliforniahunting.com/huntersforum/index.php/topic,6032.0.html

Hey Sprig thanks for the heads up, I was just so thankful to the guys that were helping me out I thought I would return the favor, but I get what your saying too. By the way thanks for the link that was an awesome post bout the hunters code. Ill be sure to pass that respect on.

Thanks again,
Rick

 

[TonyS]

Mark,

if we get the rain they SAY we are going to get then NEXT year should be wacky for birds. Sure hope they are right!