7 Tips to Bag More Dove

With their aerial acrobatics, dove can be tough little birds to hit. If you try to track or measure your shots, let us warn you in advance, you’ll just be shooting a lot of holes in the sky. So with dove hunting, it’s OK and usually best to let your instincts take over.

• Use a modified or improved-cylinder choke tube to create a wider pattern. A tight pattern makes most shots in a dove field more difficult to hit and if you shoot and connect at a close range, a tight pattern will destroy your bird.

• Focus on a bird, just one single bird out of the flock, aim and focus, focus, focus, let the gun come up and shoot. If you let your instincts take over, your success rate will go up.

• When a dove is descending over decoys or about to land in the field, on a fence post, etc…let it begin its descent and start your swing below it. Just as the gun barrel blocks the bird from sight, pull the trigger.

• When a dove comes in from behind you and passes in front of you, you’ll need to use a front lead to catch up to it. Aim a few inches below the bird to shoot in front of it.

• Turn your back to where the birds are typically coming from so you can face where you’re going to be taking your shots. You want to put yourself in a position that allows you to have a very wide and easy arch to swing through the birds as they travel by.

• As you start dropping the dove, we can’t stress how important it is to mark that bird out in the field and retrieve it just as soon as you’ve shot it. If you wait and shoot a few more times, the likelihood of your finding that bird goes way down.

• And remember, dove hunting is warm weather hunting. If you bring your dog out with you to retrieve those birds, be sure to also bring along lots of cool water to keep man’s best friend cool all day.

We hope you have loads of dove this season! Let us leave you with a great and easy recipe. Cut out those breasts and marinate them for a few hours or overnight in Italian dressing. Wrap each breast with a strip of bacon and secure it with a toothpick. Throw them on a medium heat grill and when the bacon is done, those breasts will be just right. Fresh bacon-wrapped dove is a treat you don’t want to miss. Good Hunting!

And before you go…check out the Texas Hunter Dove Stool.