New Dove Season and New Dove Hunter in Yuma, Arizona

Gun Watch ^ | 6 September, 2018 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Arizona dove season starts on 1 September. This year, 2018, I took a new dove hunter out on on opening day. My policy is to introduce new hunters to hunting as often as I have opportunities presented. Jesse had fired a few shots with a .22 rifle before; but had never fired a shotgun at a moving target. He had to learn nearly everything from scratch.

Jesse understood basic gun safety. I reinforced the four basic safety rules.  I told him while actually hunting for dove, to have his finger on the safety of the old Remington 20 gauge 870 he is holding. It may appear his finger is on the trigger, but it is not. It is on the safety, just behind the trigger on the 870 shotgun.

The pictures are posed. The shotguns were unloaded, as we had finished hunting.

Dove hunting is a good introduction to hunting for a new hunter. There are a lot of targets. Doves are not very sophisticated birds.  Minor mistakes can be made, and still have a successful hunt.

Dove hunting is an authentic hunting experience.

Hunting is a primordial experience that seems hardwired into our brain patterns. It can be explained to non-hunters, but it needs to be experienced to be understood. Explaining hunting to someone who has never hunted is like trying to explain hot showers to a person who never had running water.  They may understand the mechanics, but not the experience. The difference between merely walking through a wilderness area, and hunting in the same area, is profound. In one experience, you are merely observing nature. In the other, you are an active participant in the drama.

This year, there were plenty of doves. Jesse did well. He shot 10 doves the first day, the majority of which where white wing doves. It took him a while to learn to swing the shotgun, to follow through, and to get "on" a moving target quickly. He fired a lot of shots to harvest the 10 doves, but there were a lot of doves to shoot at.

With my guidance, he did not waste shells shooting at doves that were out of range. Determining range is an important skill for wing shooting. Jesse harvested birds with both the 870 and the Browning Double-Auto Twelvete. He favored the beat up 870.

I insisted we collect each downed dove before another shot was fired. Unless you have a good dog or another person who is willing to work specifically at retrieving the birds, they are easy to lose. Their coloration blends in well with the desert, and a winged bird will burrow into bushes and hide. It is best to collect them quickly.

Learning to mentally mark the location of downed birds was another skill I worked at transmitting to Jesse.

I always bring some snacks and cool drinks when dove hunting. I want to make a young hunter's first experience enjoyable and memorable.

After the days hunting, I taught Jesse how to clean the doves. He was fascinated by the internal mechanics of the dove's organs. I pointed out the crop, the heart, the lungs, and the gizzard.

These things were common knowledge two generations ago, when nearly everyone participated in butchering chickens for a family meal. Today they are esoteric knowledge for a young person.





On the second day of the hunt, Jesse and I only had two hours. I had a prior commitment to be part of the security team for the Vertical Church in Yuma.

Jesse's shooting had improved. He downed five doves, even though the shooting is alway slower on the second day. Many doves have already been harvested, and many survivors have learned caution. Only 35% of doves survive from year to year, whether they are hunted by humans or not.

Doves have many non-human predators. Birds are more subject to accident than humans. There are no warning labels or OHSA regulations in nature.  There are few multi-generational rules of thumb for birds. Weather and famine cause significant mortality. Doves have to eat between 12 and 20 percent of their body weight each day to survive.

Dove hunting is an important part of the Yuma economy. On a per pound basis, dove meat is very expensive. People travel hundreds of miles to participate in Yuma dove hunting.

As an older hunter, I find great satisfaction in mentoring young hunters. I benefited greatly from the mentoring of my father. I had the advantage of being able to step outside my door, and start hunting while growing up in northern Wisconsin. Most of today's young people do not have that advantage.

If you have the opportunity, take a young person hunting. The experience will broaden their horizons far beyond another video game.


©2018 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.

Gun Watch

[marktwain]

Take a young person hunting.

[frogjerk]

The pictures are posed. The shotguns were unloaded, as we had finished hunting.

It is absolutely ridiculous that this statement had to be included in the article.

[Vaquero]

Took my 3 boys hunting since they were legally old enough. Had them all out target shooting and to various matches ( when the fish weren’t running)

It’s what life is all about, right?

[ManHunter]

Amen! I was stationed in Arizona twice and, in addition to elk, mule deer, Coues deer, antelope, javelina, bear, turkey (Merriam’s and Gould’s) and a few others, the dove hunting is superb and one helluva lot of fun!

The little buggers can get very evasive after the shooting starts, but they eat real good!

[ManHunter]

I agree, but - here or elsewhere - some springbutt sharpshooter would’ve offered a comment about the kid having his finger on the trigger and the action being closed.

[OftheOhio]

“Take a young person hunting.”

True words. The one thing he didn’t point out in his article is that Doves mate for life. When I read that my own perspective changed about hunting doves.

[Notthemomma]

Take it to the next step!

Have “Jesse” reload your shells for upcoming hunts. It's a great way for him to be responsible and economic, to learn about firearm and shotshell components and loads, and to contribute to the hunt—it's easy, with a multi-station reloader, but time-intensive. As the national shot to bird ratio for dove hunters is said to be 8:1, I used to shoot 4 boxes a hunt (100 shells) to get my quota of 12 (OK, so I wasn't that good, but then, neither is the national average, what with doves able to do nearly 90 degree turns at 60 mph while flying, it is said, and I believe it, from experience), and that means lots of shells are needed, and it can be $$$ without reloading.

[walkingdead]

Wow, must be tough dove hunting with ear protection. Most of the time I pick up an incoming dove by hearing them far before I see them.

Or do we assume that the ear protection was for the photo shoot?

[Notthemomma]

“The one thing he didn’t point out in his article is that Doves mate for life. When I read that my own perspective changed about hunting doves.”

Well, they’re monogamous, but if the mate dies, they take another mate, for the rest of their short lifespan (1.5 to 2 years in the wild).

[Delta 21]

Tiny things fly fast! Populations in Kansas are booming.

Too bad I cant ‘Arkansas’ them off the back fence with a B-B gun.

The moisture this year should really help out the ring-necked pheasant that was devastated 2-3 years ago. Every other critter, especially the insects and even frogs have made a substantial recovery this year.

[Notthemomma]

“Wow, must be tough dove hunting with ear protection. Most of the time I pick up an incoming dove by hearing them far before I see them.”

I’ve hunted doves for decades. The only time I hear them is when I jump them up from the ground or a roost. I have never heard a call, whistle, or wing sound when they’re simply flying in/over. Instead, they have a distinctive body shape and a consistent steady powerful flying wingstroke, and that’s how I ID doves coming in/over, often from as far as I can actually see them. I did have my young-un’s use ear protectors on their first hunts, but after that, neither they nor I find the protectors important (the shooting is all out in the open fields, and the sound is not nearly as impactful as the recoil on the shoulder).

[Don Corleone]

Take a young person hunting.

And hunt w/ trained dogs. Its unbelievable fun.

[walkingdead]

“As the national shot to bird ratio for dove hunters is said to be 8:1”

wow, I had no idea the average was that low, makes me feel a little better about myself.

My old man used to give me a ration of crap for shooting in the 50% range.....(limit of 10 used to take me around a box of shells)

Of course he always frowned on taking long, gambling type shots. No sense in wasting shells.

[walkingdead]

They certainly make the sound when they jump, and if you pay attention, they will carry that sound for some time, albeit at a slower rate than when they jump.

Of course not all the time will they make noise, and thankfully, as you pointed out, their grace while flying is quite unique, and when spotted cannot be mistaken for anything else.

But I hear that dove beep beep beep beep sound, and my head is on a swivel.

[walkingdead]

Oh and my dove hunting experience is nearing it’s 40th year. Been doing it since I was 9 years old.

[snoringbear]

“The little buggers can get very evasive after the shooting starts, but they eat real good!” Yup, pop out the breast, stuff in a half of jalapeño, wrap with slice of bacon. Season, toss on the grill till the bacon is crisp. Eat with cold beer. Nothing better 😜....

[marktwain]

Wow, must be tough dove hunting with ear protection. Most of the time I pick up an incoming dove by hearing them far before I see them.

Electronic hearing protection. Amplifies sound except for sharp loud noises (gunshots) for which it shuts down momentarily and protects the ear.

[marktwain]

My old man used to give me a ration of crap for shooting in the 50% range.....(limit of 10 used to take me around a box of shells)

I understand a good wing shot will expend three shells for each dove. You are doing very well. Three per dove is about my average.

The best I ever did was a limit of 10 for 18 shots. I was hot that day, using the beat-up 870 20 gauge in the story.

Some dogs simply refuse to retrieve doves. A good bird dog is a joy to hunt with.

[sodpoodle]

Read the Bible before you shoot!

A symbol involving the dove comes from the account of the Flood and Noah’s ark in Genesis 6-8. When the earth had been covered with water for some time, Noah wanted to check to see if there was dry land anywhere, so he sent out a dove from the ark; the dove came back with an olive branch in her beak (Genesis 8:11). Since that time, the olive branch has been a symbol of peace. Symbolically, the story of Noah’s dove tells us that God declared peace with mankind after the Flood had purged the earth of its wickedness. The dove represented His Spirit bringing the good news of the reconciliation of God and man. Of course, this was only a temporal reconciliation, because lasting, spiritual reconciliation with God only comes through Jesus Christ. But it is significant that the Holy Spirit was pictured as a dove at Jesus’ baptism, thereby once again symbolizing peace with God.

“On the Wings of a Dove” by Ferlin Husky -https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=ferlin+husky&docid=608052266509075705&mid=CD337620F766DB511FDACD337620F766DB511FDA&view=detail&FORM=VIRE

[Stevenc131]

I’ve read the bible, didn’t see anything in there about dove hunting. We have enough instances of people trying to twist the bible to justify personal beliefs, don’t need another.