I was fortunate to get drawn for the special dove hunt on 9/7/19 in the San Felipe Oak Grove Unit. This was a fun event. The DFW folks working the event were very nice and helpful with info about the hunting grounds. I’m not one to hold back info, because I don't see the point and I want everyone who hunts to succeed and have fun. So here goes….
When we first started in the morning, there were a ton of doves located in the south end of the field (referring to the field that has the tree-lined perimeter). That is the end nearest the parking lot. I teamed up with another hunter and we decided to space out to a safe distance and then walk the field together, watching our line of fire of course. This was an effective method. About every 20-30 steps we took, we’d see anywhere between one and three doves fly up out of the cover. I must have seen about 20 doves in total within the first 20 minutes of the hunt. I took many shots but was only able to shoot one dove. In total, I took 12 shots during the day, and ended up with only one dove. This was my first time shooting at a moving target, and I learned how challenging it can be. The gentleman walking the field with me had one dove at that point. We separated after about ½ hour.
A friend came with me to the hunt – he ended up with no doves. We met another hunter who ended up with two doves.
My strategy was to cover ground as much as possible. In all, my phone app recorded 18,000+ steps and 7.8 miles. I was hot, so I brought water with my in my bag.
The wildlife there was thriving. I saw more quail and rabbits than I'd ever seen in an area. I even saw a bobcat.
I learned a lot yesterday, but for those seasoned upland game hunters I have a lot of questions:
When we first started in the morning, there were a ton of doves located in the south end of the field (referring to the field that has the tree-lined perimeter). That is the end nearest the parking lot. I teamed up with another hunter and we decided to space out to a safe distance and then walk the field together, watching our line of fire of course. This was an effective method. About every 20-30 steps we took, we’d see anywhere between one and three doves fly up out of the cover. I must have seen about 20 doves in total within the first 20 minutes of the hunt. I took many shots but was only able to shoot one dove. In total, I took 12 shots during the day, and ended up with only one dove. This was my first time shooting at a moving target, and I learned how challenging it can be. The gentleman walking the field with me had one dove at that point. We separated after about ½ hour.
A friend came with me to the hunt – he ended up with no doves. We met another hunter who ended up with two doves.
My strategy was to cover ground as much as possible. In all, my phone app recorded 18,000+ steps and 7.8 miles. I was hot, so I brought water with my in my bag.
The wildlife there was thriving. I saw more quail and rabbits than I'd ever seen in an area. I even saw a bobcat.
I learned a lot yesterday, but for those seasoned upland game hunters I have a lot of questions:
- What do you think is the best strategy to hunt dove: sitting in place or moving to cover ground?
- How do you carry the doves you shoot if you are walking?
- Any tips for locating the bird once it hits ground (assuming you don’t have a dog)? This was so challenging – very difficult to find them on ground/in brush.
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