Delmar Waterfowl Club - Delaware Dove Hunting

Our dove hunting is all about preparation. We start at the end of the season in order to plan what areas will be planted for doves. This year we will have two 20 acre sunflower fields, two ten acre fields and a few smaller areas planted in strips. They are planted in the second week of May and are harvested through the season. We will maintain fresh water tanks through the summer. Immediately before the season, we will construct additional poles and string wires along key flyways. We will be using the new molded decoys from ure-a-foam and have several Mojo-doves. Dove hunts are always a fun, social event for all the members. Typically we have a BBQ lunch on opening day.

Most of the early season dove hunts will start at noon. After the first few weeks of the season, the property will be available six days a week during the season. Prime Hook will only be hunted for doves until goose season starts. We plan a barbeque on the lodge farm on the first Saturday of the season. Don't miss this hunt, since it is going to be an enjoyable day.

The dove season Mourning doves are one of the most abundant birds in North America. Federal officials estimate the autumn population of mourning doves in the United States is 400 million. So the annual harvest of mourning doves is somewhere around 5 percent of population. That's insignificant with a renewable resource as fecund as mourning doves. Dove populations can fluctuate annually due to crop harvest production and the nature of the bird itself. Doves build flimsy nests that aren't really weather resistant and can be easily destroyed by high winds and spring storms.

Experts, of course, brag about shooting a limit of doves "inside a box," taking 10, 12 or 15 birds with one box of shells or less. There's no question doves make one of the toughest targets in the sky. Ammo companies estimate hunters shoot five times for each bird they bag. However, we will all apply some common sense during these hunts. If you are not shooting well, please move to another station to give others an opportunity. All dove hunts will end at 4:00 to give the properties a rest.

Recovery Tactics
Make sure your eyes stay on that bird as it falls and hits the ground. Downed doves can be difficult to find, and there's no point in shooting birds you can't recover. Marking fallen birds is a dove hunting skill as essential as hitting them in the first place. The adjacent fields in Prime Hook will be in corn while the field surrounding the Lodge farm will be in soybeans.

Watch the bird fall, and don't take your eyes off the spot where you saw it auger in. Your eyes will fix on a particular weed or tall stem. Walk straight to it without ever looking away, and don't even think of shooting at another bird until you've recovered the one you just shot.

Also pay attention to where the birds killed by the shooters to your right and left fall. It's much easier to find a dead dove if you have two separate fixes on its location and can triangulate. While retrievers will find birds you cannot, get a good mark on the dove's fall even if you have your dog along. Dogs don't last long in the heat, and the rank greenery of late summer presents difficult scenting conditions for the keenest of noses. If you can keep your dog still, don't bring them.

Finally, recovering birds begins before you pull the trigger. If you don't know where a bird will fall, or if you see that it will drop somewhere it will be difficult to find, don't shoot.

Don't silhouette yourself. Sit in the shadow of a tree, or kneel by a fence-line, or use a tall stand of corn or sunflowers to your back to break up your outline. Take a small portable blind or some camo netting to the field. Don't stand until you're ready to shoot.

We will have stakes set every 40 yards and will hunt every other stake. All of the stakes will be along a straight line. Therefore, if a dove passes your station, do not shoot. Safety will be a key issue on the club hunt days.

Below, from Remington, is some more very useful info on successfully hunting dove.

Ultimate Load & Gun

Although "reading" a dove field and being in the right spots is the most important part of filling a limit, you can't collect what you can't hit.

In over 40 years of dove hunting I've finally determined the key to my most effective shooting is the shotshell load I use and the gun choke I employ.

Doves are small and lightly-feathered bird. So it doesn't take much to knock them down. That, plus the fact doves are fast fliers and difficult to hit made me refine the shotgun choke and shotshells I use.

After years of toying with chokes and hand-load shotshells, I've decided the improved-cylinder or skeet bore, and number or 8 or 9 size shot used in high-velocity shells are the perfect combination for dove hunting.

I like number 9 shot for most of the season, but use number 8 shot later in the year when birds are spookier and fly higher. I can get by with small-size shot because I employ high-velocity, magnum shells—the same type I use for ducks. High-velocity makes fine size shot hit hard at long range. For years I hand-loaded these shells because they weren't available commercially, though that has now changed. My pet 12-gauge dove loads hold 1 1/4-ounces of shot, with a muzzle velocity of 1,330 feet per second. That's not a common factory dove load found in department stores. However, Remington is manufacturing it in their excellent "Express Extra Long Range" SP12 factory load, so they can be ordered almost anywhere

As the following table shows, this load is much more effective than the average dove load that is typically a 1-ounce load of 8s (with a muzzle velocity of only 1,220 feet per second). Many dove hunters also shoot this slow, light load from a modified or full-choke gun, which makes it even more difficult to hit a passing bird.

Number of Lead Pellets in a Shotgun Shell
Ounces of Shot	8-Size Shot	9-Size Shot
1-ounce	410 pellets	585 pellets
1 1/8-ounce	461 pellets	658 pellets
1 1/4-ounce	513 pellets	731 pellets
1 3/8-ounce	564 pellets	804 pellets

A 1 3/8-ounce shell that throws number nine shot at high velocity, is unbelievably deadly on doves when fired from an improved-cylinder bore shotgun. Such a shotshell load has almost twice as many pellets at higher muzzle velocity than the typical 1-ounce load of 8s used by average dove hunters. The 1 3/8-ounce shell is only available by hand-loading, however.

High-velocity, fine-size shot produces such a wide, dense pattern with an improved-cylinder gun that a gnat has difficulty flying through it even at 50 yards. Some handloaders tell me that such a shell will not work well because the light shot "blows out the pattern" when fired at high velocity. But this combination of shotshell and choke has brought my dove kill percentage per shot fired way up, and I mean way up. Crippled birds are very minimal, too. Supplied by Remington

Dove Gear

One of the beauties of dove hunting is that it's simple sport. Not a lot of advanced planning or equipment preparation is needed to have a successful dove shoot. Just put on your jeans and a drab-colored T-shirt, get a shotgun, box of shells and have at it.

But a few refinements in equipment selection and clothing not only allows for more enjoyable dove hunting, but it becomes more productive, too.

A portable dove stool makes hunting much more pleasurable. Camouflaged, camp-type folding stools are lightweight, and carrying slings make them easy to tote across even wide, fresh-plowed fields. Ones with zippered pockets are especially good because they provide a place to store other needed gear like shotgun shells.

I favor the bucket-type dove stool with a swivel, padded lid for use as a seat. Such a stool can be used to tote lots of gear, and even can be made into a cooler for soft drinks and water. If you hunt with a dog in hot weather be sure to bring plenty of water, a gallon at least. The swivel seat is ideal for turning quickly to take snap shots at passing doves.

Other useful items to pack along for an afternoon on a dove stand include: camouflaged cap, sunglasses, sun screen, insect repellent, shotgun choke tubes, ear plugs, dove decoys, and a lead for your dog. A lightweight camo shooting vest makes getting to shells quick and easy, and the vest's game pouch affords a good place to put downed birds so their feathers don't cling to other gear.

Too many wingshooters overlook the keen eyesight doves possess. I'm convinced doves can be as "shy" of hunter movement or poor camouflage as ducks, especially late in the season. Proper camouflage clothing is therefore wise. Match the camo pattern to the terrain color you hunt, and a camo face mask makes plenty of sense during clear, bright afternoon dove shoots. Supplied by Remington