Sorry to hear of the hit in the dove population there, Paul. Good shooting, BTW. Were you using that pretty Fabbri?

Riding by sunflower fields here I see about as many as ever ........... high numbers in some fields and few in others. But, it's always been that way. Some locations attract doves, and some don't, regardless how attractive they might seem to me. The number in our field is way down this year .......... first time it's been this low in 12 years, but I blame part of it on the poor weed control I got this year. The Palmer Amaranth (pigweed) has just about completely taken it over, despite my attempts to control them. The owners don't want to rotate other crops there, from year to year, despite my pleas, and it's telling the tale now. We're going to shoot it Saturday morning, so as to limit the shooting to a shorter time, then we'll see if they build up in number later. Also, corn harvest is in full swing here, and doves can get cracked corn behind the combines in many locations. That pulls them away from the sunflowers until a big rain comes and sours it a little. I'm invited to shoot another sunflower field Labor day afternoon. My pastor is scouting it and called yesterday afternoon to tell me how many doves he was seeing in it, so maybe it will be a good one.

Looking forward to your pics from Texas, yours too Mike.

May God bless America and those who defend her.