Dove Opener!!! Got ?'s

[PoorRichRichard]

Hello all. Super excited to go dove hunting in about 3 hours- my first time. I have a few quick questions. I'm hunting a foothill area here in Southern California, and it's about 90-95 degrees. How long can I wait to breast each dove. I ask because this area has quite a few birds, and I'd like to try and shoot 3 or 4 before breasting them and putting them on ice.

My second question is about how to cook the meat. When I shoot cotttontail this early in the season, I always soak the meat in saltwater overnight in the refrigerator. I've been told this helps pull potential parasites out of the rabbit's meat, especially rabbits/jacks shot in hot weather. Should I soak my dove's in salt water that I shoot in this hot weather as well?

 

[Jason_G]

As for how long, you will know when you get out there. They will be either flying in "fast and furious," and you won't have time to worry about breasting them out until you have your limit, or they will come in slow, and you can breast each one out as you kill it. It only takes a second to breast one out, and you can do it without a knife. Just take the bird and hold it with its breast facing you, and put your thumbs firmly on each side of the keel, then just spread the skin until it splits open and pull the breast from the bird. I usually then grab the breast with index finger between the breast and trachea/gullet, and thumb of same hand up from the bottom of the breast, so you can get a good grasp on it, and then yank it free from the rest of the bird. The wings may not want to come off, but you can toss it on ice with the wings on if you want to, until you have time to properly clean them. Just make sure to take a small ice chest with you.

As for cooking, my two favorite ways:

Marinate in soy sauce and brown sugar, lay a jalapeno slice on top, wrap in thick applewood smoked bacon, pin it together with a toothpick, and grill.

Batter and fry, use the drippings to make gravy, serve over rice.


Jason

 

[huntinaz]

Marinate in soy sauce and brown sugar, lay a jalapeno slice on top, wrap in thick applewood smoked bacon, pin it together with a toothpick, and grill.

Batter and fry, use the drippings to make gravy, serve over rice.

I'll second both recipes. Except I prefer mashed potatoes with my gravy. Good luck.

 

[BUFF]

I was going to go today, but it's 104 with a stiff 25mph wind. Not a fun day to go. Of course the temp will drop over the weekend and probably rain like it does every year opening weekend in Kansas. And 90% of the dove will run south before I get out there to hunt. Yeah.

 

[fatwhiteboy]

I was on CRIT(Colorado River Indian Tribes) reservation near Blythe, California for dove today. We got our 10 bird limits by 9:00AM. When we left the field it was already 105F. More birds flying than last year but nothing like back in the 1950-60's....

 

[Hog Buster]

Dove season openers seem to always be on the wrong days. This year it’s Saturday. The cane fields are loaded with dove. A short walk or drive thru them and you jump up hundreds, like walking thru endless coveys of quail.

This year I thought the problem would only be temperature, 98 degrees is a bit hot for my liking. This afternoon I learned that there’s a tropical storm due here Saturday and Sunday. Now we’ve got a double whammy opener. Guess my best bet is to just sulk in the dry, air conditioned house.

 

[Saltydog235]

Here in my state, you cannot breast them or remove them from the head while in the feild. Use a softsided cooler you can hide and put them on ice. If you're only shooting 2 or 3 you need a better feild or some shotgun practice. That'd be a warm up for us.

 

[PoorRichRichard]

Thank you for your replies. I ended up getting out really late (right at sundown) and was only able to hunt for about 25 minutes, but I still got 3 doves!!! It had cooled down quite a bit into the low 80's, so I was able to wait until I got home go beast them (so much easier than cleaning rabbits!), as I only live 5 minutes away from this hunting ground.

I had a great time, and actually met another much more experienced local hunter who was a very cool guy. He helped me learn more about the area, and also told me about another great dove field 2 miles away. Heading out for another late morning hunt right now!

Good hunting everyone!
-rich

 

[threegun]

I'm looing for a place to hunt this year. I wanna take my boys. If anyone can help out in the Tampa Bay Area or within 100 miles or so let me know.

 

[bbq223]

Here in Texas

IT is so dry ,birds dont fly, they walk!

 

[Jason_G]

We had our opening day yesterday. We did pretty well. My brother planted some sunflowers and invited a bunch of his friends over. The guys in the sunflowers all limited by 2:00 (season opens at noon). I was hunting on the outside edge of the field, away from the sunflowers, so I didn't do as well. I got ten after being there all afternoon (limit is 15). A couple of guys got banded doves. I was kind of jealous honestly, I've never gotten a band on anything. We had fun. Now I'm nursing my shoulder! The doves I had were all cutting away when they'd get to my edge of the field, so they made a monkey out of me for a while! Lots of shooting.

Birds in the fridge is a good thing!


Jason