Opening Day of Dove Season

[Boz330]

Yesterday was opening day of dove season and it was a really good one this year. Just about everyone limited out in 3 hours or less.
This is the 4th time that I have gotten an invite to this shoot and it is always a doozy but this year was the best yet. They plant several plots of sunflowers just for opening day and several days after. This particular farm was probably a plantation back in the mid 1800s and has been owned and operated by the same family since day one. It is the place for the upper crust of Lexington to go on opening day. The parking area looks like a Mercedes dealership.
The folks in the one picture are all pretty much the blue collar contingent. The other shot is of the social at the house after wards. We got back a little late and lots of folks had already left and there weren't any shrimp left, but there was no shortage of adult beverages. The house dates back to 1850 and is a monument to the craftsmanship of the day and the whole setting is peaceful and beautiful.
The 2 dogs in the pic did a fantastic job of retrieving. The one on the left is Max a
1 1/2 year old lab and he did really well for his first time out. The only problem was that once he got going he retrieved every bird he could and took it straight to his master. The Lab on the right is Swoop an 8 or 9 year old and she is starting to slow down a bit. She got tangled in some barbed wire a month ago was messed up pretty bad but was mended well enough to hunt. When she gets too tired she just lays down for a bit and gives you that, get your own bird look.
Anyway it was a great day to skip out of work and hunt.

Bob

[Dean D.]

Looks like a good time had by all, thanks for sharing!

[Hickory]

Life is good!
Good friends
good shooting
and good food.

[JeffinNZ]

Do you eat doves? Kinda small. Entree size. LOL.

[JesterGrin_1]

Oh yes you eat Dove. Here is one way that the people in TEXAS call TEXAS Poppers. You use the breast and slit it in the middle and put in some cream cheese a piece of jalapeno wrap it with bacon and use a tooth pick to hold it together then BBQ with your favorite BBQ sauce. :)

You can also use chicken. lol. :) Do not forget to spit the pellets out lol. And be careful chewing lol.

[Boz330]

Do you eat doves? Kinda small. Entree size. LOL.

Yep they are small, that is why we shot so many. They are a challenging target since they can fly at 45MPH with no wind. The other day when they were down wind they were doing about 65MPH, we didn't get many of those, but the upwind birds were a little easier picking.:bigsmyl2:
They are quite tasty and there are numerous ways to fix them. I made Sosoties last year for deer camp and they were quite well received. That is a kabob using apricots and onions in curry type of marinade. I developed a real taste for them when I was working in South Africa. They use chicken or lamb there though.

Bob

[pls1911]

Poppers are good if you have lots of time.
We had 200+ birds and over 20 folks to feed.
Midd day we flillet the breats off, and marinate in a gaalon bagiie:
-- 1-beer
-- 1/3 cup mustard
-- CAYENNE, SALT/PEPPER TO TASTE

REMOVE DRAIN SLIGHTLY AND DUST IN A SECOND BAGGI CONTAINING A PRE-MIXED BATCH OF FLOUR, SALT. PEPPER, DRY MUSTARD, CEYENNS OR JUST ZATERAIN'S.

Deep fry until crispy, dredge in sauce.. ( somewhat ...3 parts Ranch dressing and 1yellow mustard, with onion powder, garlic powder, and whaite pepper to taste)
chomp...swallow... chase... repeat

It's faster than it sounds, and feeds plenty in short oreder when planned properly.
Plan 3-4 birds 6-8 "mcnuggets"..... 5 is normally a safe number. We plan 10, to allow for the sheriff and wife, locals coming by to eat, and other hotel guests who are just curious as to why the parking lot is blocked off....
Folk who otherwise wouldn't touch a dove will fight for more....