Rock Home Isle
54 Cal.
I love to hunt. It’s been a passion for my entire life. Fall…to me, is a season that signals freedom. It’s a time of year to venture out into the field in search of game.
Just got home from our annual family Dove Hunt, and finished a nice dinner with my wife. I normally take photos of my hunts and excursions, but this family group that I hunt with…it’s a pretty physical hunt, not the leisurely hunts that one would expect for a dove hunt. I plum forgot to take any images this year, much to my wife’s chagrin.
I took my dad with me today. He’s getting up in years, and I cherish these times that we have together.
It was such a fun time hunting with friends and my cousins, today. My cousin’s son hunted for the first time today. He’s 9 years old, and I could tell he was very nervous…I put a bottle of ice water in his shooting vest, and some homemade beef jerky in his front vest pocket…and the two of us did a couple hours of the morning hunt together, at our second stop of the day. The little guy was using a bolt action .410 (what is my cousin thinking…he needs to be hunting with a Fusil or at least a percussion double barrel)…it was very obvious that he’d been versed in safety and Hunter etiquett. He hunted so hard today; got 5 doves, was very proud of himself, and had a great time. During the heat of the day, at our 3rd stop, he spent a lot of time hunting with my dad in the shade of a huge elm tree…flight after flight came into them. I don’t know how many more he got, but his excited voice indicated it must have been productive.
He didn’t last much after our 3rd stop of the day, was really tuckered out by 10:30…just done…
I started this annual family hunt shortly after I married my wife. I met these cousins at a family picnic, and we started swapping stories. I remember loading all the kids up and going out to the farm pond and catching a 5 gallon bucket of bullfrogs. That was so fun. One thing lead to another and I was invited to come out for a dove hunt, a couple months later. At this time, I was in my early 20’s and my cousins were 12 & 6 years old. I’ve hunted with these boys for the last 33 years…they are men now, with families, and the hunt has grown to an annual event; with a small dedicated group of family and friends marking their calendars, for Labor Day Weekend each year.
It’s a very different hunting style than I have ever been exposed to as a Dove Hunt; we call it “Combat Dove Hunting”. As a group we caravan to a site, these hunt locations are abandoned homesteads from the Great Depression, or old overgrown hedgerows, near water and feed. Once we arrive, we get out, everyone gets ready, and we move through the area, taking doves as they flush from their roosts; all the while reloading as quickly as possible. There were times today that the sky just filled with doves.
After we’ve cleared through and pushed the doves, we setup in pairs, reload, and take stands and wait. It doesn’t take long and doves are streaming back through the trees, back to their roosts. After an hour or so of steady shooting, we’re finished, we pack up and go to the next site. Rinse & Repeat…all day long; for 3 days.
The layout of the locations vary, we cover many miles of country each day, of the long weekend. And today we literally got into thousands of doves. I wish I had been able to make it for the whole weekend. Very good year…Dad & I were successful enough that there will be a Dove BBQ Monday with my grandkiddos at my dad’s house.
And the best thing about where we hunt? Most of the doves I shot were Eurasians…invasive species, no limit. Once in a while I’d screw up and bring down a morning dove; lots & lots of Eurasians and maybe 8 morning doves, amongst the 10 shooters, that made the trek this year.
I’m retired now, last spring was my last year as a professional educator. It’s a pretty physical hunt, we cover lots of ground, actively, post up, then head out to the next location…the combination of heat and activity…wears me out. I made it through the first day and I need some time to recover.
Mid to Late September I’ll be ready to go back for a late season dove hunt. It’s a favorite hunt, much slower pace, more time at productive location. More time to talk and catch up…
Then we start looking at how the November pheasant season is shaping up…it’s hard to say right now, with all the crops still in the fields.
October 1st marks opening day of Rabbit Season.
Just got home from our annual family Dove Hunt, and finished a nice dinner with my wife. I normally take photos of my hunts and excursions, but this family group that I hunt with…it’s a pretty physical hunt, not the leisurely hunts that one would expect for a dove hunt. I plum forgot to take any images this year, much to my wife’s chagrin.
I took my dad with me today. He’s getting up in years, and I cherish these times that we have together.
It was such a fun time hunting with friends and my cousins, today. My cousin’s son hunted for the first time today. He’s 9 years old, and I could tell he was very nervous…I put a bottle of ice water in his shooting vest, and some homemade beef jerky in his front vest pocket…and the two of us did a couple hours of the morning hunt together, at our second stop of the day. The little guy was using a bolt action .410 (what is my cousin thinking…he needs to be hunting with a Fusil or at least a percussion double barrel)…it was very obvious that he’d been versed in safety and Hunter etiquett. He hunted so hard today; got 5 doves, was very proud of himself, and had a great time. During the heat of the day, at our 3rd stop, he spent a lot of time hunting with my dad in the shade of a huge elm tree…flight after flight came into them. I don’t know how many more he got, but his excited voice indicated it must have been productive.
He didn’t last much after our 3rd stop of the day, was really tuckered out by 10:30…just done…
I started this annual family hunt shortly after I married my wife. I met these cousins at a family picnic, and we started swapping stories. I remember loading all the kids up and going out to the farm pond and catching a 5 gallon bucket of bullfrogs. That was so fun. One thing lead to another and I was invited to come out for a dove hunt, a couple months later. At this time, I was in my early 20’s and my cousins were 12 & 6 years old. I’ve hunted with these boys for the last 33 years…they are men now, with families, and the hunt has grown to an annual event; with a small dedicated group of family and friends marking their calendars, for Labor Day Weekend each year.
It’s a very different hunting style than I have ever been exposed to as a Dove Hunt; we call it “Combat Dove Hunting”. As a group we caravan to a site, these hunt locations are abandoned homesteads from the Great Depression, or old overgrown hedgerows, near water and feed. Once we arrive, we get out, everyone gets ready, and we move through the area, taking doves as they flush from their roosts; all the while reloading as quickly as possible. There were times today that the sky just filled with doves.
After we’ve cleared through and pushed the doves, we setup in pairs, reload, and take stands and wait. It doesn’t take long and doves are streaming back through the trees, back to their roosts. After an hour or so of steady shooting, we’re finished, we pack up and go to the next site. Rinse & Repeat…all day long; for 3 days.
The layout of the locations vary, we cover many miles of country each day, of the long weekend. And today we literally got into thousands of doves. I wish I had been able to make it for the whole weekend. Very good year…Dad & I were successful enough that there will be a Dove BBQ Monday with my grandkiddos at my dad’s house.
And the best thing about where we hunt? Most of the doves I shot were Eurasians…invasive species, no limit. Once in a while I’d screw up and bring down a morning dove; lots & lots of Eurasians and maybe 8 morning doves, amongst the 10 shooters, that made the trek this year.
I’m retired now, last spring was my last year as a professional educator. It’s a pretty physical hunt, we cover lots of ground, actively, post up, then head out to the next location…the combination of heat and activity…wears me out. I made it through the first day and I need some time to recover.
Mid to Late September I’ll be ready to go back for a late season dove hunt. It’s a favorite hunt, much slower pace, more time at productive location. More time to talk and catch up…
Then we start looking at how the November pheasant season is shaping up…it’s hard to say right now, with all the crops still in the fields.
October 1st marks opening day of Rabbit Season.
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