Blows my mind

[darkthirty]

So I’ve sold a few Boykin pups to guys in New York and New Jersey. Contrary to stereotypes, they are great people who have stayed in touch and they love to hunt and kill just like us. The thing that baffles me is they have all stated how badly they’d love to dove hunt because they can’t, and have never even shot a dove. Reading another post on here made me realize that there’s tons of tradition and memories with opening day dove hunting. I reckon we kinda get numb to the idea that not everyone has the opportunity. I love wingshooting. I’d gladly give up deer if I had a place to shoot doves all fall and winter. I couldn’t fathom loving to shoot birds and not ever being on a “southern type” dove opener.

 

[Colekira]

I'm from NJ and dove hunting is something that I waited many years to do! A few of my NJ friends travel far and wide to hunt doves.

 

[dobber]

closest i have ever got to a dove hunt was shooting starlings off schit piles behind the barn. Would like to do it once for the reasons you noted, be part of the day traditions. Some of my best dog hunting memories was on a hunt or two in NC, nearly drowned on one of them hunts, but not for the reasons one would expect, got to love them good ole boys

 

[41magnum]

we are blessed here (cept for the summers) cuz there are several mid-western states where they can't dove hunt either.

 

[Loganwayne]

I didn’t dove hunt until I was in college and went “down east” to a couple dove hunts. There are birds here in WNC but nothing like on the other side of black mountain.


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[sky hawk]

Up north it's just not a tradition, but it still surprises me they don't have a season. But man, what a shame! I didn't grow up dove hunting. Started in my early 20's at my in-laws in S. VA and it was like someone had been holding out on me all my life. The southern traditions that accompany the dove opener are one of the most fun sporting events I've been a part of. It's hard to beat it for plain fun in the field.

A decade ago, I was listening to my sister who lives in MI talk about a controversial proposal to open a dove season there. It was contested heavily, including lots of advertising by anti-hunting groups. The TV commercials were filled with snaggle-toothed rednecks who claimed to never eat them, or even retrieve them from the field. It was billed as heartless target practice. My sister voted against it. SMH. I don't know about the other states, but that's why MI doesn't have a season.

 

[Troutbum82]

Opening day of dove season is THE most important day of the year for me. Growing up in SC it was always a huge event. My first dove hunt I was 5 and had a BB gun, my grandfather called me finisher.

 

[woodmoose]

rednecks who claimed to never eat them, or even retrieve them from the field. It was billed as heartless target practice.

well snaggletoothed or not,,,those folks are out there on the dove opener,,,it's a shame that most of the south doesn't have Wanton Waste laws,,,,

failure to recover game,,shooting over limits,,,and "dove fields" that are more "baited fields" than anything are why I generally hunt by myself or am very selective with whom I hunt,,,,

 

[sky hawk]

Sure it happens. I tend to think the failure to recover has declined over the years. I remember playing football and having a couple teammates walk in to practice talking about dove hunting and then mention that they either fed them to the dog or dumped them in the bushes. I haven’t heard of anyone doing that in a long time. They know better than that here, and the kids are usually fighting over the dog for retrieval privileges.?

I agree with the Wanton Waste and choosing your hunting partners wisely.

 

[LanceR]

As a longtime member and 5 year chairman of the NYS Fish and Wildlife Management Board we knew that we had to be careful about what fights we picked in the legislature. Despite the federal designation as a game bird NYS law defines doves as songbirds so they of off the table for hunters. And as we had no regulatory authority over doves we would have needed "legislative relief" and an amended law to be able to regulate them.

And as the Assembly in particular has been dominate by NYC Democratic legislators, many of whom are anti gun and anti hunting, the dove battle was always "a bridge too far". Even with the majority of the upstate county legislatures providing us memorandums of support for dove hunting we could never get even a whiff of a chance of success in the Assembly even when Republicans held a majority of the Senate seats.

Democratic enrollment far exceeds Republican enrollment in the state and only a combination of extreme gerrymandering and a few moderate "independent Democrats" who caucused with the Republicans in opposition of the much more liberal downstate Democrats allowed the Republicans to control the Senate from about 2008 on. The big anti-Trump backlash vote last year swamped the upstate Republicans and lead to several new and even more extreme anti-gun laws in The Peoples Republic of New York.

I doubt doves will ever be reclassified as game birds in NY law during my lifetime. I still miss the people of NY but I sure don't miss the downstate Democratic party machine.


Lance

 

[Bailey Boat]

Personally..... I don't shoot at another bird until I've found the one I just shot, even if I have to spend the next hour looking. If there's a dog available I'll ask the owner if he could lend a nose for a minute but it hurts me personally to lose a bird. I'll change positions to a more "recovery advantageous" place before I shoot them and not recover.
Up north a lot of states still classify the dove as a "song" bird and won't open a season.......

 

[woodmoose]

I don't shoot at another bird until I've found the one I just shot, even if I have to spend the next hour looking. If there's a dog available I'll ask the owner if he could lend a nose for a minute but it hurts me personally to lose a bird. I'll change positions to a more "recovery advantageous" place before I shoot them and not recover.

I knew I liked you despite your grumpiness!!

yeap,,,I still swear my Wife fell for me because of my persistence on looking for shot dove in 3 ft high soybeans,,,,everyone else made perfunctory efforts and moved on to shooting more,,,,me, I replayed the shot and would go back looking,,,found all

AND it's why I ended up with a Labrador Retriever (and now Drahthaar) after my deployments slowed down (promoted off of Team life),,,because game recovery is a mandate for me,,,

so many get "ticked" at my concepts on this,,,but if I KNOW or even THINK (generally know) that I hit a critter,,,it is mine whether i find it or not,,,and I like eating them to much to not make every effort to find them

Don Thomas had a great article in a recent Retriever Journal on this very subject

 

[sky hawk]

Yeah I don’t like hunting next to standing beans or cutover without a dog for that reason. You WILL lose birds when you can’t even see your feet. And there’s always some that coast just far enough to make it in the thick stuff.

I had to move once after losing some to a cutover before I got a dog. We don’t lose many at all at our current setup, but I’ve seen some hunts where losses exceeded 25% near cutover.

 

[Blackwater]

well snaggletoothed or not,,,those folks are out there on the dove opener,,,it's a shame that most of the south doesn't have Wanton Waste laws,,,,

failure to recover game,,shooting over limits,,,and "dove fields" that are more "baited fields" than anything are why I generally hunt by myself or am very selective with whom I hunt,,,,

Amen to that! Have seen too many limits stashed in grocery bags secreted in the weeds somewhere only to be swarming with ants and tossed no doubt. Hard to find ethical "hunters" in a dove field at times. If I get my limit then I'm done for the day and you can find me in the shade nursing something cold.

 

[darkthirty]

This ol girl takes her job very seriously. If she can’t find it, it’s not there to be found.
I also love eating them. My wife loves them and my 4 year old daughter can hold her own eatin’em too. Possession laws be damned. I want enough in the freezer at the end of the season to last me through spring and summer.

 

[Hines]

I’ve never been on a dove hunt. One day I will though!

 

[adkarcher]

Pretty much what Lance said regarding NY,which is a shame. Love the dove season since I moved here.

 

[Bailey Boat]

get my limit then I'm done for the day and you can find me in the shade nursing something cold.

THAT's the biggest reason I want to get my limit quickly. Kick back and watch every else miss and cuss....

 

[Wills1289]

Living in Delaware until this past October, Dove hunting is something that barely exists. I am not sure that I have ever seen a dove. Pretty much and non-migratory bird has been eradicated. I am now 29 years old and am getting the opportunity to try it for the first time ever.

 

[JONOV]

Living in Delaware until this past October, Dove hunting is something that barely exists. I am not sure that I have ever seen a dove. Pretty much and non-migratory bird has been eradicated. I am now 29 years old and am getting the opportunity to try it for the first time ever.

Doves are everywhere. I can't say that I've been anywhere in the continental US and not seen them.

I remember when Minnesota opened up their dove season. Guys were sitting there with steel 6 shot in their goose blinds totally forgetting about the goose hunts.

 

[Homebrewale]

I didn't start hunting doves until 5 years ago when a neighbor and friend invited me. Now it's our tradition to hunt the opener and I find it more fun than hunting deer.

 

[nckeith]

So I’ve sold a few Boykin pups to guys in New York and New Jersey. Contrary to stereotypes, they are great people who have stayed in touch and they love to hunt and kill just like us. The thing that baffles me is they have all stated how badly they’d love to dove hunt because they can’t, and have never even shot a dove. Reading another post on here made me realize that there’s tons of tradition and memories with opening day dove hunting. I reckon we kinda get numb to the idea that not everyone has the opportunity. I love wingshooting. I’d gladly give up deer if I had a place to shoot doves all fall and winter. I couldn’t fathom loving to shoot birds and not ever being on a “southern type” dove opener.

My mom grew up with hardcore italian friends from Staten Island who loved small game hunting over dogs from the 50's onward. In fact I think they still deer hunt. The problem is that sadly they are outnumbered now by anit-hunters. Good people though.

 

[nckeith]

My mom grew up with hardcore italian friends from Staten Island who loved small game hunting over dogs from the 50's onward. In fact I think they still deer hunt. The problem is that sadly they are outnumbered now by anti-hunters. Good people though.

 

[darkthirty]

My mom grew up with hardcore italian friends from Staten Island who loved small game hunting over dogs from the 50's onward. In fact I think they still deer hunt. The problem is that sadly they are outnumbered now by anit-hunters. Good people though.

Yep. I’ve got one pup living 7 miles from Manhattan. Fine fine folks who own him and they hunt the hell out of that pup. One went to a outfitter on Lake Erie and one is in southern NJ. All 3 hunt their dogs more than I’ve ever had the opportunity to hunt their mom and I’ve hunted the hell out of her. Lol

 

[darenative]

I couldn't imagine not hunting doves for whatever reason. It's something i look forward to experiencing with my son every season.