Day Dreaming Doves

Many of us have been waiting for the dove season serving as a prelude to the fall hunting seasons. After a long summer of fishing, I've been able to sneak away and put a few shells through my 12 gauge. The practice has helped and I should be ready to go for opening day. Heck, opening day is TODAY!

Like many, opening day sometimes goes "unopened" as we have to attend work. And if you are like me, work is a son-of-a-gun because there's really only one thing on our minds…and that's hunting.

I don't know about you but I find myself drifting off to how I'm going to hunt, what gear I'm going to use, and the feast after! With Saturday coming up and most of use able to hit the field, allow me to share a few of my "opener" thoughts.

Outside of the normal gear, I'm adding Mojo Dove and a few new foam decoys to help bring the zigzagging bird into range. But it's not the gear that really makes a breaks a person's hunt…it's the setup.

The best setup for me last year was a stock dam located next to an alfalfa field. If there's two deadly combinations for doves, it's water and various seeds from surrounding vegetation, especially hemp seeds. On Saturday, I'll be heading back to this setup in hopes to find some shooting…and lots of it.

Speaking of shooting, I wonder if last year's time of day will hold true? For me, the best shooting proved to be an hour or two before sunset. This time of day usually triggers action before their evening roost and also offers great shooting because the birds are doing their last water and food run. If you hit it just right, the shooting should be non-stop.

With my thoughts now drifting in-between my peeks at the clock, I realize its lunch time. Sure enough, not even lunch can escape my dove hunting day dreams as images of dove breasts stuffed with jalapenos and pepper jack cheese wrapped in bacon tease my taste buds. Yep, by golly, I might need to leave work a couple hours early to get me some for dinner!

Yes indeed folks, I do believe I’m sneaking out of work a couple hours early, but before I do I want to leave you with one final thought. Although, the major hunting seasons are still around the corner don't forget about dove hunting. It makes for a great early season hunt with opportunities to enhance your shooting skills, take man’s best friend out for some exercise, and another excuse to get together with some friends.

So if you can cheat like me, turn Saturday over early, but don't get yourself in trouble because there's lots of time for your shotgun, your HIP number, and a few boxes of shells! If you do get out, be safe and have a blast…literally.