Dove Season

[lightman]

The season opens here in Arkansas Saturday morning. I planted 9 or 10 acres of Sunflowers around the first of May and mowed them last week. We had birds all Summer until a couple of weeks ago when the weather cooled off. We still have some, but not as many. Hoping they come back. The same thing happened last year and we had the best hunt ever. We will be hunting the same field as last year with mostly the same group. Me, My Brother, Both of my Sons and one Grandson, several buddies and their Wives, Daughters, Sons, maybe another Grandson or Granddaughter. About 20 in all.

We'll start gathering up at my house on Friday afternoon, go shoot some clay targets, cook some burgers and have a drink or two. Saturday morning we will have breakfast and go hunt. After we hunt we will return to my house for a fish fry. After that the crowd will start thinning out. Some of us will hunt that afternoon and the next day. But the big blowout will be on opening day. Watching what Harvey does to our weather!

[Taylor]

Friday at noon here in Tennessee.May get rained out.

[Hogtamer]

Highlight of the year! Sons have a couple of good fields and I've loaded enough shells to bag every bird in Georgia! Looks like heavy weather for opening day so we're gonna be soggy but it beats 95 in the shade. I'm shooting 20 ga this year, starting out with 7/8 oz #9 @ 1300 fps from a Rem 1100 Skeet choked IC. About 500 birds on the field Sunday afternoon and a dozen or so family and friends shooting. Our season begins at noon but the birds are generally late feeders early in the year. Yippee!

[runfiverun]

they have already moved out of here.
so my normal 1-2 shots per season will once again be in effect.

[Taylor]

5R5, I need a new spot too.

[shooter93]

Dove hunting is great fun and not bad eating.....and only averages out to around 18.75 a pound.....lol.

[Hannibal]

Has anyone figured out a way to prepare the darn things so that they are at least somewhat above 'palatable'?

Unless it's something causing me damage or potential problems, I don't kill anything I won't eat, as a general rule. And Thus far, I can't say that I care to eat dove.

I've heard folks say they've eaten Opossum, too. I hope I never get THAT hungry.

[lightman]

We wrap the breast with a strip of bacon and maybe pin a slice of fruit to it with a tooth pick. You can marinate in in most any concoction you want. We use mostly soy sauce. Cook it on the grill. We have rolled the breast in meal and deep fried them. Usually when we are already cooking fish.

[Hogtamer]

Smoked dove: Just pop the breast and clean, pick out any shot you see. Basic red game marinade: 2 Cups each red wine and your favorite cola. 1/2 cup worcestershire. Tbs. each garlic and onion powder and 1 Tbs Black pepper. Salt, 2-3 Tbs. Combine well and pour in bowl over doves to marinade several hours to overnight in refrigerator. Arrange on smoker or low grill and baste with butter 2 or 3 times. As with all game do not overcook. By the time it's what most people call medium it's getting tough. I've cooked deer, antelope, mule deer and ducks with the same marinade, all good. Did I say DON'T OVERCOOK! For white meat game, pigs, quail, pheasant, etc, same except white wine and ginger ale and a little thyme.
Doves and dumplings. Fried doves in onion gravy. Skewered doves with mushrooms, onions and peppers. These three use section breasts. Even the wemmins love all this!

[Ole Joe Clarke]

Has anyone figured out a way to prepare the darn things so that they are at least somewhat above 'palatable'?

Unless it's something causing me damage or potential problems, I don't kill anything I won't eat, as a general rule. And Thus far, I can't say that I care to eat dove.

I've heard folks say they've eaten Opossum, too. I hope I never get THAT hungry.

I just save the breasts. After you have cleaned and washed them, put about 1/4" oil in a iron skillet. Batter like you do chicken and fry them until tender and the batter starts turning brown, then cover the top of them with lots of sliced white onion. Cover and continue cooking until the onion is clear and starting to brown. Remove from skillet and drain on a paper towel. You can thank me later.

[Hannibal]

Ok, if I can get a few to cooperate, I'll try a couple of the suggestions above.

Thanks!

[lightman]

Well, another opening morning has come and gone. We had a decent hunt, not as good as last years, but certainly not a bust. The storms caused some of them to leave but we had enough birds that everyone got some shooting and a few limited out. It was foggy here and the birds didn't work like normal. The guest are gone and we are cleaning up after the fish fry. A few of us will hunt this afternoon and in the morning.

[Hogtamer]

Great afternoon! Not as many birds showed up but a good shoot. I got the limit in 28 shots, took a few too long for the 20 but I'm a 64 year old kid on a dove field. Got 'em packed in ice to clean tommorrow after church and on Monday's shoot at another place will smoke a bunch of them for lunch with the trimmings. There will be about 9 dads with their mostly young sons shooting.203245 Here they are last year before we hit the field after my oldest son gave them a little talk about safety and sportsmanship.
203246

[Lefty SRH]

Id say the southern TN season opener got rained out. My season in northern AL opens next saturday at NOON! I cant wait!

[Thin Man]

Yes, the Friday opener in TN caught some rain but that isn't always bad. The showers were scattered and the birds flew like mad just before the rain hit. Some of my best hunts have been in a light rain. What we caught were occasional on-and-off downpours that stopped everything flying until the skies cleared. Had our oldest daughter and her husband along and they really enjoyed the day. She is becoming the son-hunter we never had (3 daughters). Last year she dropped an 8-point deer on the opening day of rifle season. Such luck! The best buck I have taken from my camp is a 7-point. After congratulating her on this success I immediately BANNED her from the camp. It's just the manners of the game. One cannot come invited to a deer camp and immediately show up the camp owner. When I announced the ban on her return she just laughed as if to say "yeah, right, I'll be back". And she will.

[lightman]

Looks like a good time there Hogtamer. My Brother did not make it this year but my oldest Son and Grandson were here. I also have a few friends that bring their Sons or Daughters, some of which are married and bring their spouses. We try to make it a family friendly weekend.

Thin Man, Good Luck on that ban! I think the Young Lady has you figgered out!

We had heavy rain and wind on Wednesday and Thursday that pushed a lot of the birds away. We still had a decent hunt, just not as good as last year, which was great!

[runfiverun]

our wheat harvest is delayed so there is a few more birds than normal.
if you know where to look and are patient.
I'm not sure 8 hours in a chair is worth it but at least well at least you ain't at home.

I usually rub the breast halve [cut again] in olive oil, add some garlic, and some sausage or bacon and wrap them in tin foil then throw them on the BBQ for a bit.
when the sausage is done or when the bacon is firmed enough to eat the dove is cooked.
yes it can still be a little pink/red in the center.
it also works with sliced Teal breast.

[Boolit_Head]

Has anyone figured out a way to prepare the darn things so that they are at least somewhat above 'palatable'?

Unless it's something causing me damage or potential problems, I don't kill anything I won't eat, as a general rule. And Thus far, I can't say that I care to eat dove.

I've heard folks say they've eaten Opossum, too. I hope I never get THAT hungry.

Jalapeno poppers with dove are great. Took them to work one time after I had ate my fill after limiting out several weekends. The non hunters there loved them.

[skeettx]

Good dove day
http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/MVC-066S3.JPG
1893 L.C. Smith Quality 3

[308Jeff]

Has anyone figured out a way to prepare the darn things so that they are at least somewhat above 'palatable'?

Unless it's something causing me damage or potential problems, I don't kill anything I won't eat, as a general rule. And Thus far, I can't say that I care to eat dove.



It's for this reason I haven't been dove hunting in 20+ years. I LOVE to hunt dove, I've just never been able to make them edible to me.


Smoked dove: Just pop the breast and clean, pick out any shot you see. Basic red game marinade: 2 Cups each red wine and your favorite cola. 1/2 cup worcestershire. Tbs. each garlic and onion powder and 1 Tbs Black pepper. Salt, 2-3 Tbs. Combine well and pour in bowl over doves to marinade several hours to overnight in refrigerator. Arrange on smoker or low grill and baste with butter 2 or 3 times. As with all game do not overcook. By the time it's what most people call medium it's getting tough. I've cooked deer, antelope, mule deer and ducks with the same marinade, all good. Did I say DON'T OVERCOOK!

THIS, however, sounds like it might be crazy enough to work! Can't believe I never thought about smoking them before. I think I have a renewed interest in dove!

[runfiverun]

do not over cook them.
if they are grey you burned them 10 minutes ago.
low heat or get it over with quick.

[Hogtamer]

Another good day in the dove field. Again a bunch of dads with kids, 3 killed their first dove today. A stout and gusty wind had the birds juking and jiving that made it especially fun and challenging. Most of the dads got the limit or close. My little 20 was the ticket today swing on those quick birds! Here is a pic of my oldest showing what he meant by not shooting low birds!203432

[KCSO]

Here it was the same as usual the week before dove season turned cold and rainy and all the doves left. A field that was full last week was empty this weekend.

[Hogtamer]

Best season start in a while. Shot the same field as last Sat. and there where a lot more birds. Everybody except a novice and an 11 year old got the limit in some gusty breezes.

[runfiverun]

our dove season is so short here they raised the limit to 15 on mourning doves, and unlimited on the collared.
the collared stay in town so your chances at getting one are about 0.
this was by far the best year I have ever had here in Id. I got to shoot at more than 3 birds.

[lightman]

I hunted again yesterday too! There were a lot fewer of us and fewer birds but a couple of us got our limit and everyone got to shoot. One of the guys brought a neighbor and his son that had never hunted Dove. They got to see what it was about and got a few shots. The best part of the day for me was that my Granddaughter got cold right before sunrise. We greeted sunrise with her sitting in my lap with my arms wrapped around her and her wearing my long sleeve shirt! I did not even try to shoot at maybe the first 10 birds! Also got to sit side by side and shoot with my Son and watch his dog work. Good times for sure and worth all of the work and expense that I put into that field!

[Hogtamer]

First season for both, neither are gunshy.
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[lightman]

Nice Picture!

[WFO2]

My grand daughter makes dove balls . I breast and debone for her and she ends up with just just a little hunk of meat . She pounds them flat then put a sliver of white cheese and a sliver of jalapeno om them rolls them up , wraps in Owens pre-cooked bacon . The she pokes a tooth pick in it to hold it all together she then batter's them up and drops them in our fry daddy . Man they are good . She said she thought it was her copy of buffalo wings .

[Down South]

Most of the time I cook doves in a gumbo. Sometimes I'll make a chicken and sausage gumbo and throw my doves in.

[Boolit_Head]

First season for both, neither are gunshy.
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Oh wow those are cute pictures. I can't wait till my 2 year old and 1 week old grandsons are ready.