Published: August 22, 2008 12:15 am            

Dove Season Opens

Shortly after daylight doves began descending on the old catfish pond in droves. They came in threes, and fours and sometimes as many as 12 to 15 just dropped out of the sky upon us like dive bombers. I picked one out of a group that was making a slow descent with his tail feathers down in landing mode. At the last minute I squeezed off a shot and my first bird of the fall 2007 season was history.

As the doves continued to come into the field, volleys of shots rang out as a few lucky doves, dipped, dived and darted their way through the field untouched, but not oblivious to the hunters.

Dan Robinson picked off one of a group to my right and his shot was followed by another quick kill from Justin Giles. I picked off the last bird that was in the group and it fell right at the feet of Toler Robinson just as he was pulling a fine bead on the bird. Minutes later young Toler had his first bird in hand as well.

The 2007 dove season was good for many people and by the looks of the doves in the area; this will be another banner year.



Higher Limit



This year there will be one significant change in the daily bag limit of doves. The limit increases to 15 birds per person per day. And that’s pretty significant when you take into account that most of our dove hunters are early season hunters and only hunt doves two or three times a year.

Dove season is as much a time of fellowship and renewing of old acquaintances as it is a time to hunt. And opening day is always on the agenda of all young dove hunters that have an opportunity to go and have a place to hunt.

Dove hunting will make you look real good one minute, and humble you the next. And you always have a few crackerjack dove hunters that hardly ever miss. My uncle Jimmy Nolen is one of the best wing shots I’ve ever seen. He hunts the birds with a 20 gauge and is amazing to watch. He shoots them low, high and everywhere in between and rarely misses.

Scott Davis and Frank Eddins are a couple more crack shots that rarely miss. I found out about those two hunters during a hunt near Pachuta a few years ago. I didn’t know Frank at the time, but I quickly realized that the fellow on the other end of the field near a rise was an expert wing shot.

The birds were coming in from the south and east and trying to get by Frank. I was on the far end of the field and couldn’t tell who he was at the time, but few birds got past him. On many occasions he bagged multiple birds on a pass.



Another Master



And then there was Scott Davis. Davis was the next in line, and when several doves came by Frank, a few made it to Scott. Between the two, not many birds made it to me. What a pleasure to watch two expert wing shots mowing the birds down. While I used to be a fair wing shot myself, my reflexes and eyes aren’t quite what they used to be and now I have to pick my shots carefully, or I’ll waste a lot of powder and lead!

While everybody’s hunts weren’t great last year, most that I went on had plenty of action and this year looks to be even better.

If you’re looking for a dove hunt this season there will be some available on a first come first serve basis through the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks. There are multiple fields around the state and dove permits will be available for sale.

To check on hunt availability as well as the current dove hunting rules and regulations log onto MDWFP.com and check it out. And remember; be extremely safe when dove shooting, as there will be more folks in close proximity to you than during any other type of hunting. And by all means have a good time while properly observing our game laws!

        

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