Life begins again! On this farm the new year begins on the Saturday before Labor Day. It is the equivalent to the Glorious 12th for our Brit brothers. My son and his two sons will be on the field with me this afternoon. Pics and a report will follow this evening.

My best wishes to all who will test their mettle against those little grey feathered stunt pilots today.



SRH

Good luck and happy hunting. New year and new life doesn't start for me until the 13th of October when pheasant season opens. I'm just winding down from summer walleye fishing.

Have a good one Stan....it is what shotgunning is all about, truly addictive.......top of the list for fast action............

Swing and load.....

Best,

We are up and ready to go! The sun is showing signs of life.OFf to the only wet spot in the county...Chase the cattle off it and wait for the doves..Film at 10..

10/13/1951, I first saw the light of day (and started thinking about shooting doves)

SRH

Yep, 10/16/56, I first saw the light of day. Was almost born with Dad's 10 gage Remington in my hand if I could have lifted the heavy thing.

First day Sept 16th 1952 (first day I was old enough to have a license and carry my own gun) prowling the dusty back country roads of Bonneville Co. Idaho for doves. Dad was pretty much a pot hunter so the method wasn't very sporting as he did it. Line up as many doves on the roadside barbed wire as possible, take a slight angle on the fence line and kill as many with one shot as the pattern would allow. But I slipped away behind some cottonwood trees and took a couple of birds on the rise from a field and from passing - I wanted to shoot them flying, not like chickens sitting on a roost. Dad chastised me a bit about wasting shells for so little to eat, but I bought my own shells and ignored him. We came from different circumstances thanks to his providing for us, unlike his youth in the Great Depression when another meal wasn't assured.

We filled 3 limits by 10! Napping as befits successful hunters..Even got about a dozen of the big collared doves...

Well, here's the good, the bad, and the ugly.

The good. We ate well, as always. Grilled chicken quarters, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, a cold cabbage salad, red skin potatoes, rolls, three kinds of cakes and peach cobbler, all followed up with a churn of homemade strawberry ice cream.



Lunch was followed by some time killing. Hey, it went to about 94 this afternoon with high humidity, the birds weren't gonna feed until about 3:30-4:00 p.m., so why sit out in the heat and be cooked? Sorry 'bout the profile shot of the guy in the green t-shirt. (The ugly)



We shot for about two and a half hours. Man, it was hot. No shade in the sunflower field, but, the action was just as hot. Jackson, my 10 yr. old grandson started out a bit off with the "new" 20 ga. SKB, but soon got tuned in on the incomers and ended the afternoon with 8 or 9. Not bad for a new gun with a full length L.O.P. in the hands of a 10 yr. old.

I killed the limit with the Yildiz .410 S x S, while Jackson's little brother Lane, age 7, acted as our bird boy and shagged doves for both of us. Plenty of cold water kept us going until about 5:45 p.m. when we decided to call it quits and let the birds come in and feed unmolested. One guest, who works in a "controlled atmosphere" got too hot and got pale and started puking. Some friends got him in a truck with a/c asap, then carried him home. Guess he got alright. (The bad)

Almost all the doves were put in a pile back at the shed and cleaned forthwith. (I like that word, forthwith )





A great day with the grandboys. One of these days Lane will be shooting alongside his brother Jackson and me, but for now he is happy just being out with the guys (and getting to wring the heads off birds that aren't dead ).

Tough work, but we get to do it all over again Monday. Lots more good than bad or ugly.

SRH

Took my son for the last time before he goes off to college. Ended up three short of two limits but found every single bird we shot without a dog. First time like that in years. Stood next to him for four hours and talked about life, hunting, birds, family and both his and my future. Best day together in years. Like a day my father shared with me many years ago. I even took a few pictures of him and the birds.

Funny thing we noticed is that every bird we killed was a young bird. Weather here pushed a lot of birds out two days ago. Perhaps the youngest birds were too young to travel or not aware of bad weather coming.

Stan,

Thanks for the story and photos.

I'll speak for all of us who live in a state like Michigan with the illogical, publically mandated law of "No Dove Huntin". Thank you once again for we really appreciate seeing such a hunt!

Mark

Thanks, Mark. That keeps me from feeling like I'm tooting my own horn. I don't meant to, just enjoy sharing it with those who can't get out and enjoy, for whatever reason.

I will admit to shooting poorly with the .410. The hardest thing about it is remembering that you just don't have the range you have with a 20. Going back to my 687 SP II Sporting on Monday afternoon. I'll let ya'll know how that one goes, maybe some more pics of grandson Jackson.

SRH

Stan,
Looks like y'all had a great shoot. I noticed the lack of fresh shrimp being served this year. However, the chicken looked great. Y'all had better sense than we did down in Screven Co. Ours was a new field with zero history. Huntmaster had been finding birds in the field early afternoon and had us on the stands at 1:30 and it was hotter than holy hell. Birds didn't start moving until about 3:00 and it was hot and fast. We got out the field about 5:00. We limited ourselves to 12@, hoping to shoot it at least 2 more times over the course of the season. The field is nearer Rocky Ford than Sylvania in an area of not much in the way of field crops. We had the only game in town and heard no shoots going on in any direction. Gil

Gil,

Yeah, I missed the shrimp/low country boil. Man, was it hot. I've shot in hotter conditions but the humidity was just so rough. Sure helps that I work out in that kind of heat every day on the farm. Doesn't make it any more pleasant, but a lot easier to enjoy the shooting.

Kinda gives the phrase "a warm corner" a whole new meaning, eh?

Check your p.m.(s), Gil.

SRH

Stan we had 107* on my thermometer yesterday. I thought it was wrong until I checked with the neighbor and he had the same. This North Dakota boy almost melted. Nice pics. That chicken feast looks good.

BINGO!! Don't forget the high winds either, they were in the 25 to 30 mph range. My boys and I tried to hunt some, but we didn't see any except on the power lines and darn few of them. Today should be a better, only 87 or so and winds to about 15. We'll give her another go after Church.

Best of luck to all of you!!!

Greg

You're killing me Stan! We still have 3 weeks to go! Thanks for sharing!

Adam

Nice Stan. What a great setup. Thanks for the pictures.

I am going tomorrow - a few miles North of Lubbock. I am taking five Brittanys, one eight months old. Really looking forward to their joy at being out hunting again and to the baby's reaction to his first-time experience of a bird fluttering down out of the sky. He has an obsessive compulsive personality disorder and continuously chases and barks at flying birds.

Will probably shoot a choked too tight 8 pound Parker VH12 with 32" barrels.

My shooting student Joe Wood is in the cool of the Sangre De Cristo mountains with the rest of the girly men so I won't get to shoot his birds for him this trip.

Best,

Mike

Stan,
If I hadn't brought a camo golf umbrella lashed to a section of lightweight conduit to provide shade in the field, I might have been calling Ralph myself. I can't think of many times when conditions were this bad on opening day. I was able to zip off the pants bottoms and strip down to undershirt. I must have poured a half gallon of water on my neck and head during the afternoon. Gil

"Old age and treachery overcome youth and skill"

Stan,glad yall had a great time! I attended a pay shoot with 70 people and great food and desert.It was really hot and humid.About too much for an old man and i got in a cold blind! Missed the first shot i got about an hour after i was in blind but killed next four i shot at.Finally got nine with the 16 ga Fox AE and i was burned up and neck hurting.Had a good time though. Bobby

You ain't old, Bobby. I have had men shoot with me in their upper 80's. I'm shootin' to be shootin' at 100!

SRH

Stan,
Good report and pics. Hope there will be a few left come Sa'urday.
JR

Barring a hurricane making up and getting here before then, it's a slam dunk.

SRH

Stan if i live much longer i will have to take a Dr. and nurse to the field with me! There was an elderly gentleman sitting in woodline pretty close to me and a dove i shot nearly hit him! I went over and he said little but he was shooting a straight grip Parker.I would have tried to buy it,but he did not seem too friendly.Did say he had an AH Fox or two. Bobby

Well,

Here's the update for Labor day. Rained out. Until about 4:00 p.m., when it slowed to a drizzle and the doves started pouring in, and I mean POURING in! It was just as I thought it would be when we were all sitting under the shed watching the rain. There would be doves coming in from all points on the compass at one time, keeping your head twisting 'round and back like an owl watching a carousel.

I killed the first 5 or 6 that came by, using the 20 ga. 687 SP II and 7/8 oz. 7 1/2s. Would've used 8s, but didn't have any, wouldn'ta mattered. Had the 15 bird limit, and one collared dove, in probably no more than 20 minutes. Then the rains came back, with a vengeance. Birds would leave for awhile during the rain, and as soon as it let up a little they would just fall in again like there was no tomorrow. I can sit and watch doves feed for hours without getting bored, even if I can't shoot.

What a great shoot. Grandsons Jackson and Lane couldn't be with me, but I had a blast anyway. It was over so quick, and the rain so "intermittently constant" that I couldn't get any pictures. Sorry 'bout that. I promise to get more asap. Got to get back to work now for a few days so I can play with'em some more next Saturday.

All my best, Stan