Questions about dove hunting

[dirtriddr]

So I am a total newbie, and have been a little discouraged from the way people respond on social media when a new guy ask's a question. I am not looking to be blasted for my inexperience or ask anyone for their secrete spot, and am told this is a good place to ask for advice without that. I tried dove hunting last year at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area and came up with absolutely nothing. I do not know anyone personally who is an experienced hunter that is willing to even mentor and am trying to figure this all out so that one day I can be successful. I'm figuring upland bird is a good place to start before moving on to Turkey then to the bigger game.

Question #1. I was planning on going again this year to SJWA but then am wondering about trying Imperial County. I just don't know area and totally don't want to piss anyone off by not knowing the unwritten rules made by the people who hunt the area on a regular basis. Plus not having any experience at all my confidence in what to do is very low. What would you offer for advice in my situation?

Question #2. I applied for and won the draw for Sept 7th San Felipe WA Oakgrove dove hunt. (first timers luck i guess). Does anyone have any advice for this area?

 

[MAG 1]

Get involved in hunting groups, NWTF is a great place to start.
You can print out a map upland game fields imperial county, that might give you new areas.
IC go for the weekend.
good luck

 

[Mud Pigeon]

Where are you located? IV is your best bet, especially if you can scout on Saturday but a hotel room will be hard to find.

 

[sdolan617]

IMO I would skip San J and head to the IV... It's well worth the extra drive, you're almost guaranteed to have more opportunity there. Go Saturday if you can and scout ahead of time so you know where you're going come opening morning. You're generally looking for recently cut grain fields, especially with water or roost trees nearby. As someone mentioned, the upland game fields map is a good start but also your not limited to those. Study the regs.

I hunted the San Felipe Oakgrove quail hunt last year and it was very limited opportunity i.e. maybe 1 quail taken from 20+ hunters. I've heard the dove hunt last year had similar numbers but no first hand experience. FWIW, I wouldn't get your hopes up too high though. Report back and let us know how it goes. A bad day in the field still beats the office.

 

[Mud Pigeon]

Clean up all your trash, don't shoot from or across roads, don't shoot at low flying birds where the angle can make you hit someone or a vehicle, don't clean birds near fields or canals, leave a wing when transporting, Youtube cleaning doves, don't assume anyone else with a shotgun on September 1st is safe or knows what they are doing. Read and carry a the regulations.

 

[Bowman]

PM sent

 

[Mud Pigeon]

Have you already acquired steel dove loads? That's the hardest part of dove hunting now.

 

[as73]

Jason,
Prepare for hot hot weather, Lots of hunters and lots of birds. Wear your safety glasses you may (will) get peppered! Know the regulations, You will get checked! Don't clean your birds in the fields Pick up all your trash. and I sent you a PM with a bit more info

 

[TheGDog]

I'm figuring upland bird is a good place to start before moving on to Turkey then to the bigger game.

Question #1. (chopped-down...) Plus not having any experience at all my confidence in what to do is very low. What would you offer for advice in my situation?

You most certainly CAN do it the other way around! Start with BigGame first, then work your way backwards. That's Exactly what I did!

RE: confidence boost - Put up TrailCams! Does soo much to re-motivate you to see documented on pics that the things you're looking for actually ARE out there!

RE: Starting with small game and working up - if you wanna hunt your Deer or your Turkey, Just Go For It. Hunting for smaller game isn't necessarily going to prepare you for hunting that other different game.

There's an expression : "Ya throw enough sh*t against the wall... some of it's bound to stick."
Meaning if you're persistent... you WILL make it happen.

In the beginning it can be hard on your spirit when you're faced with whole entire days sun-up to sun-down of not seeing a damn thing. But don't give up! Eventually you'll have your sighting, or your close encounter... and it will be freakin' awesome (or a little unnerving depending on what it is you saw, hehe).

 

[dirtriddr]

Get involved in hunting groups, NWTF is a great place to start.
You can print out a map upland game fields imperial county, that might give you new areas.
IC go for the weekend.
good luck

Thank you
I am on my second year of membership for NWTF, BHA an RMEF. I live in Rancho Cucamonga and would love to get down to a meeting of NWTF when I get the chance to so I can meet people. I did get a chance to meet Steve @ Bass Pro, That guy was way cool.

 

[dirtriddr]

Where are you located? IV is your best bet, especially if you can scout on Saturday but a hotel room will be hard to find.

I am located in Rancho Cucamonga near Bass Pro

 

[dirtriddr]

IMO I would skip San J and head to the IV... It's well worth the extra drive, you're almost guaranteed to have more opportunity there. Go Saturday if you can and scout ahead of time so you know where you're going come opening morning. You're generally looking for recently cut grain fields, especially with water or roost trees nearby. As someone mentioned, the upland game fields map is a good start but also your not limited to those. Study the regs.

I hunted the San Felipe Oakgrove quail hunt last year and it was very limited opportunity i.e. maybe 1 quail taken from 20+ hunters. I've heard the dove hunt last year had similar numbers but no first hand experience. FWIW, I wouldn't get your hopes up too high though. Report back and let us know how it goes. A bad day in the field still beats the office.

Thank you, Its looking like Imperial is the way to go. Scouting on Saturday is a great idea to know where I going. Think I will do that. Hopefully I get some good results to post early next week

 

[dirtriddr]

Clean up all your trash, don't shoot from or across roads, don't shoot at low flying birds where the angle can make you hit someone or a vehicle, don't clean birds near fields or canals, leave a wing when transporting, Youtube cleaning doves, don't assume anyone else with a shotgun on September 1st is safe or knows what they are doing. Read and carry a the regulations.

Great advice, Thank you

 

[dirtriddr]

Have you already acquired steel dove loads? That's the hardest part of dove hunting now.

Yeah I have steel shot. Thanks for looking out

 

[dirtriddr]

You most certainly CAN do it the other way around! Start with BigGame first, then work your way backwards. That's Exactly what I did!

RE: confidence boost - Put up TrailCams! Does soo much to re-motivate you to see documented on pics that the things you're looking for actually ARE out there!

RE: Starting with small game and working up - if you wanna hunt your Deer or your Turkey, Just Go For It. Hunting for smaller game isn't necessarily going to prepare you for hunting that other different game.

There's an expression : "Ya throw enough sh*t against the wall... some of it's bound to stick."
Meaning if you're persistent... you WILL make it happen.

In the beginning it can be hard on your spirit when you're faced with whole entire days sun-up to sun-down of not seeing a damn thing. But don't give up! Eventually you'll have your sighting, or your close encounter... and it will be freakin' awesome (or a little unnerving depending on what it is you saw, hehe).

Thanks for the confidence boost

 

[TheGDog]

No problem man. RE: Big game.. the big paradigm shift I had explained to me is that you want to get into your spot BEFORE the sun comes up... then you sit... in a shadow... with something to break up your outline behind you.. and you DON'T FREAKING MOVE!

And it's like the total opposite of what you initially naturally think you've got to do... which is.. walk around all damn day like an idiot letting everything know you're there with your loud-@$$ footsteps thru the "potato chips" (dried oak leaves).

Think of BigGame hunting like a Chess Game... and each day you go out as like 1 move. 1 move where you try 1-3 spots or so. Or a move where you learn 1 more new thing about them than you did before (such as when you have a sighting or encounter). And 1 move where you notice some new evidence that makes you think the next time you'll come back and try a sit here, or there because you saw enough evidence to make you think it looked promising.

And when the magic day comes when you make it happen? Don't forget to hide the remains of your BigGame animal within some thick brush off the trail so some other hunter doesn't come along and see it some amount of time after you leave and give away this spot you now found with blaring evidence.

 

[dirtriddr]

No problem man. RE: Big game.. the big paradigm shift I had explained to me is that you want to get into your spot BEFORE the sun comes up... then you sit... in a shadow... with something to break up your outline behind you.. and you DON'T FREAKING MOVE!

And it's like the total opposite of what you initially naturally think you've got to do... which is.. walk around all damn day like an idiot letting everything know you're there with your loud-@$$ footsteps thru the "potato chips" (dried oak leaves).

Think of BigGame hunting like a Chess Game... and each day you go out as like 1 move. 1 move where you try 1-3 spots or so. Or a move where you learn 1 more new thing about them than you did before (such as when you have a sighting or encounter). And 1 move where you notice some new evidence that makes you think the next time you'll come back and try a sit here, or there because you saw enough evidence to make you think it looked promising.

And when the magic day comes when you make it happen? Don't forget to hide the remains of your BigGame animal within some thick brush off the trail so some other hunter doesn't come along and see it some amount of time after you leave and give away this spot you now found with blaring evidence.

Ive been watching alot of videos on hunting and it does seem like what you described. Thanks for letting me know about the remains. I do know peoples hunting spots are sacred. Hopefully in the near future I will have my own pins dropped on OnX. Listening to some podcasts they do talk alot about proper etiquette when it comes to hunting and fishing spots. I would never want to be one of "those guys" and go back to a spot where someone took me so they can show me what to do and how to do it.

 

[TheGDog]

If someone takes you somewhere, you ask them if it's ok for you to go back without them. Call them and let them know you were considering going to that area on such-and-such date, and would that be Ok with them? Even if you know they'd more than likely say yes. Giving them that respect goes a long way. And you DON'T take another person in their without their approval first!

And.. make sure you talk and agree ahead of time and what will be done as far as sharing the meat if you are hunting with someone else. Initially I was not aware there was an etiquette to that. I just assumed, if he shot, he gets, if I shot, I get. If he helped me pack out meat, I figured make a decent sized offering of the meat as a thank you. Then learned that some folks say it's 50/50! So I would just suggest making sure you talk about that subject if going out with others into the field.

RE: Videos - Definitely learn how to do the gutless method with a Havalon replaceable scalpel blade. Pay extra attention on how/where to get out the "tenderloins" too! In my rush on my first one, I forgot and left that behind.

 

[dirtriddr]

If someone takes you somewhere, you ask them if it's ok for you to go back without them. Call them and let them know you were considering going to that area on such-and-such date, and would that be Ok with them? Even if you know they'd more than likely say yes. Giving them that respect goes a long way. And you DON'T take another person in their without their approval first!

And.. make sure you talk and agree ahead of time and what will be done as far as sharing the meat if you are hunting with someone else. Initially I was not aware there was an etiquette to that. I just assumed, if he shot, he gets, if I shot, I get. If he helped me pack out meat, I figured make a decent sized offering of the meat as a thank you. Then learned that some folks say it's 50/50! So I would just suggest making sure you talk about that subject if going out with others into the field.

RE: Videos - Definitely learn how to do the gutless method with a Havalon replaceable scalpel blade. Pay extra attention on how/where to get out the "tenderloins" too! In my rush on my first one, I forgot and left that behind.

I have heard about the sharing of meat if you help pack it out. And I completely agree with the respect, I am sure it goes a long way in this community. I will be getting a Havalon knife (already on my list).

Thats a bummer about the tenderloins. I have been seeing and reading a lot about the gutless method. It looks like the way to go

 

[Bowman]

well times have really changed , and one has to sink or swim.. I am probably ancient in my ways. LOL and that's ok .
all the younger guys like packing out with expensive back packs and that's OK , since we are not allowed to bring skull or Back bone from out of state into California.
unless the meat in the skull completely cleaned out, but no bones allowed and only deboned.. but to me sad sad sad..
I don't like wasting any thing on an animal, especially now since it's tough to get one in the first place.
but don't get upset with me for I have my ways and it's the way I grew up. did it that way... for many years..
so truly one has to go with the flow and the way of things...