A couple of years ago a friend and I noticed there was a river of pigeons flying over the training grounds of the bird dog club in Lubbock. We asked for and received permission to hunt them. I shot 1-1/8oz of #6s, 1200fps through a 9 pound Winchester 21 with screw in chokes. I had 30 thou and 40 thou chokes (full and fuller) in the 21. I estimate the birds were at 50 yards to 60 yards altitude but as there were no nearby trees or structure to compare to so they could have been higher or lower.
When I finally tried leading them by a yellow school bus the combination proved very effective.
Concede that pigeons are larger than dove so that and that a shot density adequate for pigeons might not be dense enough for dove.
Last fall I shot a combination of pigeons, collared dove, and mourning dove just north of Lubbock. The shots were from close to long depending on my place in the line and the time of day. I shot a Fox XE12 choked full and full and 1oz of #6s. If limited to tight chokes I would happily shoot 6s or 7-1/2s at mourning dove either pass shooting or shooting over a pond in the evening.
Last edited by AmarilloMike; 08/20/13 04:08 PM.
