If doves were the only gamebirds I were allowed to hunt, I would consider myself blessed and not the least bit cheated. I've spent many happy hours chasing those little grey balls of fluffy feathers, taking many limits in the process with myriad makes and varieties of double guns produced by America's finest makers. Many thanks to Eugene for sharing those photos and great pointers on how the English Wood Pigeon is hunted; sure would be nice to have an opportunity to chase those grand birds some day!
Over the years I've managed to shoot a few pigeons myself, usually over the same grain fields where I was shooting doves; but I've not shot one in several years now as a result of an interesting experience. Some years ago I shared my neighborhood with a real nice guy who was as deeply into pigeon racing as I was into American double guns; he kept and trained dozens of fancy pigeons. While visiting one day, with great pride this guy showed me his finest birds; all of which had won races and ribbons; and were worth hundreds of dollars, and he explained how the guys into pigeon racing banded and ID'd their birds. Sometime afterwards, I moved two counties west and was dove shooting one slow September afternoon, having long forgotten this neighbor and his racing pigeons, when a lone pigeon came zipping by. It's always open season on pigeons in GA; so I immediately think "big dove!" and down he comes. My lab brings me the bird, and you guessed it; it was somebody's high-dollar racer! I've not shot another pigeon since, and I've always hoped that unfortunate pigeon wasn't someone's most prized champion and worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars!
