Just 4 more weeks!

[Outfitter]

Just 4 more weeks and a wake up till Dove season opens in Texas. It's a big time social event down here with family and friends getting together to kick off the fall.
Seeing lots of birds and even a bunch of white wings. They are definitely increasing their range northwards.
I still can't believe we have not had a single 100 degree day so far. It will probably be 120 in the shade on opening weekend.
Any other bird hunters out there?

[djeaux]

Originally Posted by Outfitter

Just 4 more weeks and a wake up till Dove season opens in Texas. It's a big time social event down here with family and friends getting together to kick off the fall.
Seeing lots of birds and even a bunch of white wings. They are definitely increasing their range northwards.
I still can't believe we have not had a single 100 degree day so far. It will probably be 120 in the shade on opening weekend.
Any other bird hunters out there?

I'm not a dove hunter, but I'll be happy to stop by when you start frying them!

[RTXBOB]

I'll be out there Labor Day. But then again most doves are fairly safe with me out there.

[Outfitter]

Originally Posted by djeaux

I'm not a dove hunter, but I'll be happy to stop by when you start frying them!

Breasted, wrapped in bacon with a slice of Jalapeno inside, cooked over a Mesquite fire.................Oh hurry up September 1st.
Bring it on djeaux! The more the merrier for dove hunting. You had better be a great liar though as there will be some real professional with me.

[Outfitter]

Originally Posted by RTXBOB

I'll be out there Labor Day. But then again most doves are fairly safe with me out there.

I hear ya RTXBOB, One of our guys cracks me up. It's always, BOOM, BOOM BOOM "$hit". I start laughing now as soon as he gets the 1st shot off.
He'd starve if his wife wasn't such a good shot.

[Pug]

OK... hold on a minute...
What's the difference between a dove and a pidgeon? We've got plenty of pigeons and "mourning doves" around these parts, and I've never heard of anybody shooting them to eat'em.
There's plenty of "coo-cooing" from the doves every morning in my backyard, and friends have tried all kinds of tactics to keep pidgeons from landing and depositing their droppings on their homes.

Obviously, there's something that distinguishes a "dove's delicacy" from the "pesky poopers" we have up north, here.

Once-in-a-while there's a "pidgeon shoot" in one surrounding neighborhood or another... just to get rid of some of them.

Any "disease-laden qualities" of the local fowl aside, would the meat be any different than that of the doves you're salivating over?

Is there a comparison (cooking/preparation) to a fowl like a chicken, pheasant, quail, or duck that you can offer, so I'd have more of an understanding of you guys' impatience to get out and get some?

Good luck and good hunting! Sounds like a good time!
Pug

[bluegrassboy]

I'm counting the days until dove season, too! Right now, it's blistering hot here in NC. I hope it cools before opening day so I can take my lab, Jake, with me. He enjoys it as much as I do. Our hunt club does a big opening day BBQ before we all hit the field. This year will be the last opening day with my stepson for awhile. He reports for Navy boot camp in October. So, I'm hoping we have some good weather!

[Outfitter]

Originally Posted by Pug

OK... hold on a minute...
What's the difference between a dove and a pidgeon? We've got plenty of pigeons and "mourning doves" around these parts, and I've never heard of anybody shooting them to eat'em.
There's plenty of "coo-cooing" from the doves every morning in my backyard, and friends have tried all kinds of tactics to keep pidgeons from landing and depositing their droppings on their homes.

Obviously, there's something that distinguishes a "dove's delicacy" from the "pesky poopers" we have up north, here.

Once-in-a-while there's a "pidgeon shoot" in one surrounding neighborhood or another... just to get rid of some of them.

Any "disease-laden qualities" of the local fowl aside, would the meat be any different than that of the doves you're salivating over?

Is there a comparison (cooking/preparation) to a fowl like a chicken, pheasant, quail, or duck that you can offer, so I'd have more of an understanding of you guys' impatience to get out and get some?

Good luck and good hunting! Sounds like a good time!
Pug

Hey Pug,
You got me on the taste of pigeon, can't say I have ever tried it. Probably tastes like crow.
Since doves eat mostly grain they don't have a very strong taste thus the reason we wrap ours with a slice of jalapeno and bacon. When the bacon is done you eat the bacon and jalapeno and throw the dove over your shoulder. Just kidding.
It's really the social aspect of the hunt and feast that makes it special. Watching a well trained dog retrieve, sitting around camp preparing the doves and smelling them cook over a mesquite fire and seeing who can come up with the most outrageous stories of past exploits and conquests.

[Outfitter]

Anybody using the Mojo Dove decoys? They are legal here and boy do they work great. We set up by a pond and put a couple of them and some stationary ones out 20 yards or so in front of us and the doves break right to them. I love technology.

[Directman]

I am looking forward to Dove season in Illinois it starts September 1. I have been shooting sporting clays all summer to keep sharp. I use the method to cook mine.