Good idea, Tom -

Get a pair of the electronic muffs - you can turn them up to hear sounds, but they block the sharp muzzle blast over 85db.

Tom,

I think your problem is that you're shooting doves while they're still flying! No wonder your miss rate is so high. I average about 3-4 birds a box "on the wing." When I take 'em while they're sitting on the ground orn in a tree, my success rate jumps clear up to 5-6 birds/box. You gotta change your hunting methods, NOT your trigger pull and lead and hearing protection procedures! You've somehow missed this fundamental hunting lesson: shooting birds on the wing is hard! :)

gunwriter (sportsman of the year and president, IBRAW)


I only try for the most difficult shots. The easy ones don't interest me.
Besides, after you shoot them, you must clean them!
Usually, I'm sitting under a tree next to a cooler by 9:00AM anyway.

My dove hunting is for the sole reason of giving the dog something to do.... which means I need to go with someone who can hit the darn things!!! :D

At least they're easier to clean than pigs, right Tom?

My dove hunting is for the sole reason of giving the dog something to do.... which means I need to go with someone who can hit the darn things!!! :D

At least they're easier to clean than pigs, right Tom?

Pigs don't fly, do they? I average about one per two shots, but I ALWAYS shoot them on the ground. Do they roost in trees at night. I fear your dog would be most unhappy and unworked if he fetched my downed dove. Bored to tears might be a better discription!

gunwriter

Pigs don't fly, do they? I average about one per two shots, but I ALWAYS shoot them on the ground. Do they roost in trees at night. I fear your dog would be most unhappy and unworked if he fetched my downed dove. Bored to tears might be a better discription!

gunwriter

I don't take my dove hunting that seriously. But its tradition. What can I say!
By September 1st, I'm dying to kill something. Besides, that annoying cooing sound they make is all I can take.

It's kind of like my short golf career, the more I played, the worse I got. Same with Dove.

I just put the hibatchi on the tail gate and cook venison/wild hog sausage, and drink ice tea. MAybe that's why I start missing, I drink too much tea!

I don't know if you guys have heard about the one armed dove hunt in Olney Texas, but the City manager started it about 15 years ago. Both he and the mayor only have one arm. They started advertizing it and more and more people started coming. I went one time, and it was a hoot! There was about 35 guys there with only one arm.
They could hit the dove, so this season, if you'll want a challange, try it with one hand-
Choi,
Tom

Unfortunately, I have never been hunting. I can't find anyone willing to take me along.

Pretty much stuck to paper target hunting I guess.... :(

mike
GN

I don't take my dove hunting that seriously. But its tradition. What can I say!
By September 1st, I'm dying to kill something. Besides, that annoying cooing sound they make is all I can take.

It's kind of like my short golf career, the more I played, the worse I got. Same with Dove.

I just put the hibatchi on the tail gate and cook venison/wild hog sausage, and drink ice tea. MAybe that's why I start missing, I drink too much tea!

I don't know if you guys have heard about the one armed dove hunt in Olney Texas, but the City manager started it about 15 years ago. Both he and the mayor only have one arm. They started advertizing it and more and more people started coming. I went one time, and it was a hoot! There was about 35 guys there with only one arm.
They could hit the dove, so this season, if you'll want a challange, try it with one hand-
Choi,
Tom

tpv,

Go to: http://www.dss-houston.org/news-views.html

It's an article on shooting "at" the gray rockets. Kinda a tradition around here as well.

gunwriter

Told TPV of my dove hunting escapades in SW Texas of years ago - down around Carrazo Springs.

The Browning Citori was new then and the checkering was very sharp. Birds came in to the maze field we staked out in droves. Shot so much my fingers became abraded from the checkering and were bleeding.

My wife is a native Hoosier and the morning dove is the state song bird there - not allowed to be hunted. She was adament in my not shooting them, so told her I just went along to keep the snakes off the rest of the guys! :D

Since mine couldn't be taken back home, we ate them at the ranch - the breast sliced on each side, a slice of jalapeno pepper stuffed in the cut, wrapped with bacon and skewered with a toothpick. Thrown on a mesquite wood grill and eaten smoking hot with your favorite beverage - Oh, Lawdy!!! :p

I tried smoking some last year, instead of grilling. Wow were they ever good.... tough to grill them and get done without drying out, but the smoker REALLY does the job.

Father-in-law shoots, um, let's just say a LOT of them up in Kansas, but he doesn't like them, and give them away. If I could shoot half as well as he does, we'd eat doves 6 months out of the year.

Unfortunately, I have never been hunting. I can't find anyone willing to take me along.

Pretty much stuck to paper target hunting I guess.... :(

mike
GN
Well, if you're old enough, and are hunt safely, you're more than welcome to hunt with us.
Just be forewarned, it gets pretty deep downhere. What with discussing nuclear physics, global warming, the price of eggs, etc...
Just kidding-

I tried smoking some last year, instead of grilling. Wow were they ever good.... tough to grill them and get done without drying out, but the smoker REALLY does the job.

Father-in-law shoots, um, let's just say a LOT of them up in Kansas, but he doesn't like them, and give them away. If I could shoot half as well as he does, we'd eat doves 6 months out of the year.

To keep the dove from drying out on the grill, wrap them in a slice of bacon and cook them on "indirect heat." Get the coals or fire going on one side of the grill; place the birds on the other side so they're not directly over the heat. Turn 'em every 15 minutes until they're done. Yummy.

gunwriter

[QUOTE=gunwriter]To keep the dove from drying out on the grill, wrap them in a slice of bacon and cook them on "indirect heat." Get the coals or fire going on one side of the grill; place the birds on the other side so they're not directly over the heat. Turn 'em every 15 minutes until they're done. Yummy.

gunwriter[/QUOT
Hunters are a strange lot!

You'll ever notice that the last post on a thread has nothing to do with the first post?
I plaintively ask for help with my trigger problem and now you want to talk about how to cook Dove.

From now on, when I get a big buck in my sights, I'll think of dove breast, jalapenos, and bacon. That ought to cure me.

By the way KDUB, good article in Predator magazine about 7MM-08 with light bullets for varmints.
I may have to load up some 110-120 grain and crack a few coyotes this week-end. The pups are running everywhere and they are dumb this time of year.

Its a full moon!

tpv,

Go to: http://www.dss-houston.org/news-views.html

It's an article on shooting "at" the gray rockets. Kinda a tradition around here as well.

gunwriter

Good article. I see at the end, the guy proudly displays his four dove. That's about all I care to shoot.

Seriously, if any of you "LOCAL" guys care to, I have access to a very good lease in Breckenridge. I don't manage or control it , but I've been out there for years. The guy takes very good care of it.
It costs me $35 per day which isn't bad. We can only hunt from noon to dark, only on the week-ends, you must pick up your hulls. But there are a tremendous amount of dove.
You could get a limit in an hour if you stay out there.
Our field is about 90 acres in the middle of a mesquite flat
This may not be the place to post this but it is fun for anyone who would like to come. Me and a friend have already put up a deposit on the field.
A Shooters Forum Dove Hunt- you'll can cook dove.

Remind me come August, Tom, and the dog and I will make an attempt to attend!!!

Good article. I see at the end, the guy proudly displays his four dove. That's about all I care to shoot.

Seriously, if any of you "LOCAL" guys care to, I have access to a very good lease in Breckenridge. I don't manage or control it , but I've been out there for years. The guy takes very good care of it.
It costs me $35 per day which isn't bad. We can only hunt from noon to dark, only on the week-ends, you must pick up your hulls. But there are a tremendous amount of dove.
You could get a limit in an hour if you stay out there.
Our field is about 90 acres in the middle of a mesquite flat
This may not be the place to post this but it is fun for anyone who would like to come. Me and a friend have already put up a deposit on the field.
A Shooters Forum Dove Hunt- you'll can cook dove.

tpv,

"The guy" is me; what you don't see in the pics are the boxes of hulls I raked up in a pile to hide from the camera.

I see you're from Ft. Worth. I lived in Keller and have a grown daughter living in Watagua. One of my sons lives in Garland. We used to head out west on I20 about 100 miles and hunt quail with an old boy who had some beautiful dogs. My son is 35 now and he still talks about those quail hunts!

gunwriter

tpv,

"The guy" is me; what you don't see in the pics are the boxes of hulls I raked up in a pile to hide from the camera.

I see you're from Ft. Worth. I lived in Keller and have a grown daughter living in Watagua. One of my sons lives in Garland. We used to head out west on I20 about 100 miles and hunt quail with an old boy who had some beautiful dogs. My son is 35 now and he still talks about those quail hunts!

gunwriter
Then you know where Breckenridge is? We get a motel room in town and spend the week-end.
I've Quail hunted the Nail Ranch and the Milliron. Very high number of birds.

Then you know where Breckenridge is? We get a motel room in town and spend the week-end.
I've Quail hunted the Nail Ranch and the Milliron. Very high number of birds.

tpv,

I talked to my son this weekend, and he's interested in trying to hunt a place that has a high bird population. Between the two of us here in my area, we've never even gotten a 12 bird limit! And we love to eat dove; it would be nice to have enough, just once, to feed the entire family. When's the season open up there? Here it's Sept 1, which falls on a Wednesday. Does the lease owner not allow mid-week hunting even if the opening day lands on a week day?

Lemme know the details on how to contact the guy and reserve a couple of spots for a couple of days. I'll let you know when we're coming up and maybe we can get together for a lemonade at the motel room after a day of humiliation in the dove fields.

Mike

tpv,

I talked to my son this weekend, and he's interested in trying to hunt a place that has a high bird population. Between the two of us here in my area, we've never even gotten a 12 bird limit! And we love to eat dove; it would be nice to have enough, just once, to feed the entire family. When's the season open up there? Here it's Sept 1, which falls on a Wednesday. Does the lease owner not allow mid-week hunting even if the opening day lands on a week day?

Lemme know the details on how to contact the guy and reserve a couple of spots for a couple of days. I'll let you know when we're coming up and maybe we can get together for a lemonade at the motel room after a day of humiliation in the dove fields.

Mike
I've got it for each week-end of September. So on this lease, it starts the first week-end and not on the first. We hunt from noon to dark and there are plenty of birds.

I already paid the guy a deposit. That's how confident I am of it.

We'll probably have about 20-25 guys on 90 acres. I only have 10 committed. It'll be safe, and of course all licenses are checked. Motels in the area are cheap. Graham or Breckenridge would work.

My son and I would hunt Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon.

We shoot a lot but manage to get our limit, then I stay close to the grill under the oak trees.
If you want, I'll hold you a couple of spots.
Great way to start off hunting season.

I've got it for each week-end of September. So on this lease, it starts the first week-end and not on the first. We hunt from noon to dark and there are plenty of birds.

I already paid the guy a deposit. That's how confident I am of it.

We'll probably have about 20-25 guys on 90 acres. I only have 10 committed. It'll be safe, and of course all licenses are checked. Motels in the area are cheap. Graham or Breckenridge would work.

My son and I would hunt Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon.

We shoot a lot but manage to get our limit, then I stay close to the grill under the oak trees.
If you want, I'll hold you a couple of spots.
Great way to start off hunting season.

tpv,

OK, why don't you hold one spot for me on opening weekend and two spots for me and my son on the following Sat and Sunday. As our schedules get firmer, I will confirm with you. Do I need to send you/the owner a deposit to hold the places?

Thanks,

Mike

tpv,

OK, why don't you hold one spot for me on opening weekend and two spots for me and my son on the following Sat and Sunday. As our schedules get firmer, I will confirm with you. Do I need to send you/the owner a deposit to hold the places?

Thanks,

Mike
Consider it done-
I don't need a deposit. Its early in the game.

But that annoying cooing sound keeps building in my ears!
Those birds are everywhere, they think they are so cute, waddling around our bird feeder, making nests everywhere-
Now, they are bringing up their friends from the South.
White Wing Vermin.
Come September its "Mano a mano" Their little wings against my 20 gauge.

I feel like Carl the Greenskeeper against the groundhog!

Consider it done-
I don't need a deposit. Its early in the game.

But that annoying cooing sound keeps building in my ears!
Those birds are everywhere, they think they are so cute, waddling around our bird feeder, making nests everywhere-
Now, they are bringing up their friends from the South.
White Wing Vermin.
Come September its "Mano a mano" Their little wings against my 20 gauge.

I feel like Carl the Greenskeeper against the groundhog!

tpv,

Thanks; let me know, as the time draws nigh, if I need to cross your palm with some silver.

And, yeah, we'll show again this season! Tune up that couple hundred dollar smoke pole with a hundred dollars worth of shells and clay birds, drive a couple hundred miles on $2.00 a gallon gasoline, stay in flea bag motels or semi-abandoned hunt camps, eat bad food and collect maybe, after shooting another hundred bucks worth of shotgun shells, 14-16 ounces of dove meat. Sounds good to me. Never could understand why my wife has problems with the economics of being a hunter-gatherer. . .

mike

tpv,

Thanks; let me know, as the time draws nigh, if I need to cross your palm with some silver.

And, yeah, we'll show again this season! Tune up that couple hundred dollar smoke pole with a hundred dollars worth of shells and clay birds, drive a couple hundred miles on $2.00 a gallon gasoline, stay in flea bag motels or semi-abandoned hunt camps, eat bad food and collect maybe, after shooting another hundred bucks worth of shotgun shells, 14-16 ounces of dove meat. Sounds good to me. Never could understand why my wife has problems with the economics of being a hunter-gatherer. . .

mike
I just noticed on your posted article that you are from Mason.

I hunted for many years on the Hoffman pasture across the road from Camp Gene Ashby right along the Llano River. Also on the Jordan pasture in about the same place. Do those names ring a bell?

I just noticed on your posted article that you are from Mason.

I hunted for many years on the Hoffman pasture across the road from Camp Gene Ashby right along the Llano River. Also on the Jordan pasture in about the same place. Do those names ring a bell?

tpv,

Yep. But we prefer to call it the Greater MasonPlex; Mason, Katemcy and Fedonia.

I help with the Operation Orphans hunts at Gen Ashby, and have several friends who live out along Lower Willow Creek Road, which parallels the Llano, on the north side, for several miles. And I know Hoffmans and Jordans here in the MasonPlex.

Tiny little world in which we live, eh what?

gunwriter

tpv,

Yep. But we prefer to call it the Greater MasonPlex; Mason, Katemcy and Fedonia.

I help with the Operation Orphans hunts at Gen Ashby, and have several friends who live out along Lower Willow Creek Road, which parallels the Llano, on the north side, for several miles. And I know Hoffmans and Jordans here in the MasonPlex.

Tiny little world in which we live, eh what?

gunwriter
I have bought many sacks of feed at Donups
and had a few Bar BQ sandwiches at Dallas' Also ordered a few gut grenades at Zavalas.
Opening week-end in Mason on the square Friday night is pure adrenal.
What do you call all of the low brush that grows all over the place down there. Smells real sweet in the spring. I've heard it called buck brush, white brush. I don't know. Thought I'd ask a resident.

By the way, I saw three deer try to jump that high fence between the childrens home and Hoffmans. There's a long thin right of way that scares them a little when they get caught in there.
One little buck barely made it over the fence and one big doe cleared it by a foot. First and only time I've ever seen that.


Tom

I have bought many sacks of feed at Donups
and had a few Bar BQ sandwiches at Dallas' Also ordered a few gut grenades at Zavalas.
Opening week-end in Mason on the square Friday night is pure adrenal.
What do you call all of the low brush that grows all over the place down there. Smells real sweet in the spring. I've heard it called buck brush, white brush. I don't know. Thought I'd ask a resident.

By the way, I saw three deer try to jump that high fence between the childrens home and Hoffmans. There's a long thin right of way that scares them a little when they get caught in there.
One little buck barely made it over the fence and one big doe cleared it by a foot. First and only time I've ever seen that.


Tom

Nolan Donop still sells his feed at premium prices; Dallas Steven's store was razed late last year and a new, larger SuperS grocery store is going to be built on the site. Zavala's still sells their gut grenades, but you are asked to bring your own Pepto and a stomach pump.

We have a lot of sage that grows around here, and it definitely has a sweet smell. Can't think what else it could be.

High fencing continues to be an issue with the land owners, hunters and animals around the MasonPlex and the Hill Country. Lots of strong, STRONG opinions about the tall fences. I've seen adult deer clear the 9 footers, but I've seen a bunch more break bones in the attempt.

Mike

Shot a few hogs in northeast Mason county. Nice country.

Shot a few hogs in northeast Mason county. Nice country.
Yea,
this place was about 1/2 from the LLano and in 1980-1985 there were no hogs on these ranches. Its amazing how fast they multiply.