Anybody else getting the itch?  It's time to start thinking DOVE!

July 4th is come and gone and I'm starting to daydream about dove hunting when I'm supposed to be working.

For the last 4 - 5 years, I've done opening weekend with the day hunt outfitter that operates around Waco and Frost, but last year we had a little un-warranted aggravation, that could not be blamed on the dove.  Deciding its time for a change, me and a buddy are trying Puddin's operation near Woodson.  Anybody here hunted his leases before?

Hoping to take a fifteen bird limit each day will have to settle the urge this year...the spousal unit would have me living in my truck if I even admitted to thinking about going to Argentina two years in a row.  

To get folks in the mood, here is a link to the video shot by the outfitter we hunted with last year.  Cordoba  

4700 rounds in three days, with about a 64% average. ...my ugly mug can  be found in there somewhere.

Grouse and ptarmigan opens Aug 10th.  I am pumped to have have my started dog out and my 18 month dog in tow, hopefully she we learn a thing or two.

Probably head down to ND to chase Huns and sage grouse, if time permits a SD pheasant hunt and grouse hunting in WI when I am home for the holidays.

In between I will be hitting the grouse woods and the ptarmigan willows every day.

Hunted on Puddin's places the last 2 years.  Drought has been so bad that there aren't that many birds.  Pray for rain.

I will probably sign up and go again this year.  Woodson was OK two years ago.  Murray was bad -- everything was dead.

Me, too.  While it isn’t real upland hunting for the dogs, at least we get to go out and they can retrieve.  It’s amazing how they instantly know what is going on and they just sit and help me watch for incomers – they don’t go busting through cover looking for bird by scent as they do during the regular season.

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/1-2012%20Hunting/9-19-12-MaggieandChaseinalfalfa-1_zps12f940ee.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/1-2012%20Hunting/9-5-12-MaggieandChasescanningforbirds-2.jpg

The dogs and I are lucky in that I have sole permission to hunt on about 2,000 acres of beautiful 18th Century PA Dutch farms owned by my extended family.  None of the farmers are hunters.  

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/2010%20Hunting/9-9-10-Latedayhuntng-2.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/1-2012%20Hunting/9-14-12-Maggielookingovermeadow.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/1-2012%20Hunting/9-5-12-Chasescanningtheskies.jpg

Sometimes the action gets pretty hot:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/2011%20Hunting/9-14-11-Birds-2.jpg

Here’s Maggie marking down a falling bird while Chase brings another to hand:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/2011%20Hunting/9-14-11-Chaseretrieve-Maggiealertformore.jpg

The good news is that doves are usually abundant on the family farms; and even in slow years, there is plenty of shooting to be had.  The bad news is that with no one else hunting this land, the birds tend not to move around very much, especially before most of the corn has been chopped.  So, the dogs and I must cover ground like regular upland hunting in an effort to jump-shoot the doves.  Being pointy dogs, they are usually out a couple hundred yards ahead of me – no problem with regular upland birds – they just hold the point until I get there – but doves don’t hold for points, so most just flush and fly away.  Now and then one is dumb enough to come back over me.

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/2011%20Hunting/9-14-11-Maggieretreive-1.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/2011%20Hunting/9-1-11-ChaseRetrieve-3.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/2008%20Hunting/DoveHunting-Firstday-8-1-08-Famarsa.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/2008%20Hunting/DoveHunting-Secondday-9-2-08-Partof.jpg

Countin’ the days!!

Beautiful dogs, beautiful land, and a beautiful Famars shotgun!  Your pictures are always great.  Thanks for posting them.

Beautiful beautiful animals.[Gotta quit posting from my smart phone without my reading glasses ]

Beautiful pics, dogs and fantastic land.  That is hunting at its finest!

I picked up a case of AA 28 ga this week. cant wait for dove season

Sub gauges are fine for clays, but when it comes Sept 1, I still want to throw as much lead as possible.
1 1/8 oz of #8s is more my speed for dove.  

There have been morning on a white wing flyway where I have wished for a box of 3" #6 to reach into the clouds

Time to start thinking about doves...  My good man, when did I ever stop thinking about them?  I love dove hunting!

+1   Amen!

Had some flying over today, made me start counting the days...

TRG

Drove past the sunflower fields on 287 Saturday, about 30min before sundown...unbelievable

Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile

First dove scout of the season!  The dogs and I went down in the valley to the family farms to see if we could find any good flyways.  It was 97 degrees and ghastly humidity with no shade out in the fields.  Also, there is only one small brook on the farms for cooling off, so I had to be very careful of the dogs, especially Maggie at age 15.


Last season, we saw hundreds of doves in July, but come Sept 1, they were pretty thin.  In fact, last year was one of the worst dove seasons in memory – only one or two days of real hot-bbl shooting.  This first scout produced some doves, but not big numbers by any means.  Not sure whether that is meaningful or not.  Of course, no corn or beans were cut and it was steenkin’ hot in the middle of the day – worst possible time of the day to find doves.  We’ll be going back several more times before the season opens.

Ms. Maggie looking for birds coming in over the distant hill:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/7-19-13-MaggieScouting-1_zps0ebaa4bc.jpg

Chase checking out a steep little walnut grove where birds often hang out mid-day:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/7-19-13-ChaseScouting-2_zps26def431.jpg

Maggie cooling off in the little brook:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/7-19-13-MaggieScouting-3_zps2eac8769.jpg

A pair of swans on the farm pond (they do not get along with the dogs, but they look good).  Tons of doves around the pond - even a few nice dead trees.

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/My%20Home%20Town%202011%20-/7-23-13-Swansonfarmpond_zpsafd23ec4.jpg

Bridge over little brook leading to 1700’s worker’s houses:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/My%20Home%20Town%202011%20-/7-23-13-Bridgeandpathto18thCenturyhouses-2_zpsc15d99ba.jpg

Chase running a long fenceline next to beans with corn behind:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/7-19-13-ChaseScouting-1_zpsba18930b.jpg

Mid-day thunderheads building out of the steam over cut alfalfa and wheat fields:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/7-19-13-Fenceandsummerfield-BampW_zps38654038.jpg

Porch on the 1700’s farm house on a hot summer day:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/My%20Home%20Town%202011%20-/7-23-13-1700sFarmhousePorch_zps81e2a7c1.jpg

Same very old farm house from the front:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/My%20Home%20Town%202011%20-/7-23-13-1700sFarmhouse-BampW_zps53a453ca.jpg

On the way back home, the dogs and I stopped at the fast, cold trout stream that runs around the base of “my” mountain and we all took a nice swim (yes, me, too, but I’m NOT going to post pics of THAT):

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/7-19-13-HayCreek_zps339365f0.jpg

Five more weeks to get through and we can finally get out and kill some birds!!

Birdogman;  How is the wild bird hunting in PA?  I know there is a huntable population of grouse but it isn't anything to get excited about from my understanding.  How about pheasant and quail?  Any wild ones still around in any huntable populations.

In a word, poor.  When I was younger, this area was pheasant central - they were everywhere, the more you killed, the more there were.  It never occurred to me that anything could change.  And then it did.  It all ended forever in just a few years.

Now, we have plenty of doves in some places - I didn't mess with them back in the day - not worth the expenditure of a shell.  We have pretty decent populations of ruffed grouse in the north central parts of the state, some in the southwest, too.  The south east and south central areas have a few  grouse - enough to attract a dedicated fanatic like me, but not enough for a normal hunter to bother with. .

There are virtually no wild pheasant or quail.  The only quail hunting anymore is on preserves/hunting clubs.  Even when I was a kid, there weren't many quail, but there were some.

The PAGC stocks pheasant and if you are lucky enough to have access to a big, sparely used game lands, the pheasant hunting can be quite good - much more challenging than it was back in the day.  Happily, I have such a place - 8,000 acres and rarely see another hunter.  The birds have the time and space become acclimatized and learn to be quite wary.  Some always carry over into the next year.  

If you don't have easy access to such a place, you will probably be stuck hunting in a mob, waiting in line for your turn to push through a field after 10 other groups already hit it that morning, trying to find one or two terrified, confused stockies. Not my idea of a good time.

If you ever make your way to AK send me a PM, I will put you on so many grouse and ptarmigan your shoulder will be sore.  That is of course you don't mind hunting behind some short haired dogs

I enjoy your posts over on UJ as well.

Those pictures are unbelievable.

That green stuff on the ground is a little strange looking...everything in our part of the worlk is starting to take on that dead brown look.

The guy in this video makes it look easy.

Impatiently waiting for September 1.

It seems like every state has a dove season but us.

And we have a shit load of them.

For some reason they are a protected bird here.

If only I could hunt dove in my back yard. Dont know why they use my big tree for roosting when my dogs go ape shit with them up there. Probabyl 20-50 birds at a time in my tree and surprisingly clean.

I live near a public area and that very active during dove season.  Can't wait.

I run a Remington 870 Wingmaster in .20 gauge.  I also have a Benelli M2 tact that I have been wondering if I should buy a longer barrel for it, or spend the money on a used pump.

I'm waiting anxiously. I have a pheasant hunt scheduled for September 7th.

Buddy of mine is planning on driving to Montana to shoot "lots of different birds",  in late September, on public access lands.  Since he signed up for my 9500 mile dove trip last year, I guess I can stand a total of 40 hours in SUV to walk a couple of dozen miles in search of something I haven't hunted before.


Anyone else done birds in that part of the word?  It looks like its too early for pheasant, but almost anything else that flies is fair game..Dove, quail, chuckers (WTF is that?) , partridge, SWAN , grouse, and maybe even turkey.

I'm gonna need to make and study a set of flash cards, or something, so I'll know what to shoot at. Wonder if there is an iPhone app for that?...maybe some kind of mount to hold the phone to the side of the barrel, identify the bird in flight via the camera, then flash a green or red screen

MT is probably not going to be spectacular this year millions of acres came out of CRP this year and are all under plow.  Still birds to be found but nothing like years past.  Depends on where you are hunting in the state plenty of sharptail grouse, the pheasant population likely took a dive from the CRP, Chuckar will be unaffected as they live in places that no plow can reach, have fun chasing those devil birds, Hungarian partridge numbers are likely down as well.  Good luck, hope you guys have a dog.

Reading the title, I assumed you have an itchy area somewhere on your body and wanted to switch bath soaps..  I couldn't have been more wrong. Thankfully.

Can't wait for upland on our family place up in North Dakota. Unfortunately my mother agreed to take 140 acres out of CRP with the guy leasing it, and the neighbor has most hoods out. Chasing creatures could be tough...

I believe we are up to three Vizslas now, so we got the dawg part covered.  
Not sure what a Chuckar is, but from what i read about their habitat, I'm not too keen on chasing them up and down canyons.
Buddies are talking camping some of time.  That sounds good to me, as long as I can find a shower once or twice during the week...if not, the dogs are going to start shying away from us at some point.

Are there qual in MT?  They claim to have a season for them?

No wild quail that I have ever seen, the DNR does not list a season for them either.  Preserves probably have them but those are pen raised birds.  I have only chased sharptails and Pheasant.  You guys doing a horseback hunt or are you going to walk?  If you are walking, start walking 10 miles every day now and have some good boots.  

devil birds

I've been too lazy and busy to get out the last few years, I need to try it this year.

Maggie, Chase and I went scouting for doves yesterday.  The weather was odd – interesting skies, soaking wet cover, lots of humidity, but not nearly as hot as it has been.  For whatever reason, we saw quite a few doves and spotted a new flyway which we’ll have to give a try 11 days from now.  I carried my rifle, making a pretense of killing groundhogs because that is what I’m supposed to do, but my heart wasn't in it and we didn’t look too hard for hogs.

Well into her 15th year now, Miss Maggie stayed pretty close to me, but did quite well.  Somehow she knows when we are looking for doves instead of regular upland birds and she scanned the skies relentlessly:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/8-23-13-Maggieafield-1_zps7240d55a.jpg

Chase got right into his dove routine as well:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/8-23-13-Chaseafield-1_zps1e43b7b3.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/8-23-13-Chaseafield-3_zps8311ce33.jpg

We noticed this fine lady munching an apple.  She had just one spotted fawn with her.

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/8-23-13-Ms_zps93e38700.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/8-23-13-Fawn_zps87f5b0cd.jpg

Teamwork:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/8-23-13-MaggieandChaseafield-2_zps769c4e26.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/8-23-13-MaggieandChaseafield-1_zpsb9dcd94a.jpg

We wandered past the ol’ swimmin’ hole and everybody jumped in for a dip.

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/8-23-13-ChaseattheSwimmingHole_zpsfde352f6.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/8-23-13-SwimmingHole-1_zps515d2a1b.jpg

The dogs gave me nice hard points on two different quail.  This was exciting stuff for all of us, but real upland hunting doesn’t start for a while yet, so I just flushed the quail and waved good-bye to them.  This was a double-dawg point:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/8-23-13-DoubleDogPointOnQuail_zps827c18a9.jpg

Old log farmhouse:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/8-23-13-LogHouseWindow_zps1ed6de18.jpg

Chase enjoying a little brook at the end of the day:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/Dog%20Romps%202010%20-/8-23-13-Chaserunninginbrook_zps617f4fe0.jpg

I've shot prairie dogs in MT. for several years.
A few years ago two of us went there in Sept. to bird hunt...we hunted hard(pretty much daylight to dark)for three days and bagged five sharptails.
We spent the rest of the trip in prairie dog towns...I'd be sure and take a couple of rifles and ammo.
We don't venture into chucker country,pheasants open later,I've never seen a quail there and very few huns.Don't know when their turkey season is open or when sage grouse is open.
We did see lots of doves around wild sunflowers while driving to prairie dog towns this summer.

Good luck!

We've agreed no Devil Birds...

Started out doing a mile on the side of the river bank,  walking on a steep slop, working by way up and down the 30' sloped bank as I go. I'm up to two miles a day now and one mile down a dirt road.  I dont have time to get i more than an hour after work, so Im counting the tough slope to make flat land seem easy .  Gonna try to get double that in on the weekends between how and the trip


I'm paranoid about snakes...I wear snake boot or gaters in TX, even Pheasant hunting in the winter (can be mid 60s)  Do we need those in MT in early October, or is the extra weight just stupid?

I've been wondering if prairie dogs were an option in early October?  What part of the state did you find them in?

I am in the same boat when it comes to snakes.  Error on the side of greater protection.  All my dogs get the rattle snake vaccine and the snake boots and sometimes chaps are worn.  I would rather be tired than have a dead dog or me in the hospital.

Daughter and I going to public land opening day. I hope we don't get shot. I think we're maybe far enough from the metromess that the people shouldn't be there won't be. We'll see.

As others have said, quite a bit of CRP that was formerly very productive for birds has been plowed under.  Bird hunting conditions are not going to be nearly as good as they were.  There has been more rain, so that is a positive factor.

That said, if you can find undisturbed grassland and grasshoppers, you will likely find sharptail grouse.  Hunting them requires covering a ton of ground and good dogs.  You will earn every bird.  Hunting prairie grouse (I like to hunt Greater Prairie Chickens, too - but you won't find them in MT) in big sky country is, for me, among the best hunting I get to do.

Chase points on sharpies:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/South%20Dakota%202010/9-29-10-Chasepointingchickenonbigflat.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/South%20Dakota%202009/Dakota-2009-10-6-09-MaggiePoint-Cha.jpg

A couple sharptail points by Maggie:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/South%20Dakota%202010/9-21-10-Maggiespoint.jpg

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/South%20Dakota%202010/9-24-10-Magienailsachicken.jpg

Bird down:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/South%20Dakota%202010/9-24-10-Maggiebringsherchickentobag.jpg

Retrieve:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/South%20Dakota%202009/Dakota-2009-10-6-09-ChasesRetreive-.jpg

I don't travel all the way out there to shoot PD's, but in our bird hunting rambles afield, the dogs and I usually come across quite a few PD towns.  I bring a rifle along in the MH and now and then will take a break from bird hunting and give the dogs a well-earned rest by taking an afternoon off to kill some PD's.  If the towns have been shot over (as most have) you will need to stalk to get within range and you will only get one shot.  Hunting such towns with a light rifle is real hunting, not just shooting.

They look kinda like this through a strong rifle scope:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/South%20Dakota%202010/9-26-10-PDs.jpg

The Old Man getting ready to kill one a few hundred yards out.  Bringing some sort of bipod or shooting sticks would be a good idea because the grass is too tall to shoot from the prone most places and the shots are long enough that shooting from sitting or kneeing (as shown here) is often not steady enough:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/South%20Dakota%202010/9-29-10-Deathinthelonggrass-therifleman.jpg

Typical view of PD town.  The PD's on this side of the lake have all gone to ground, but by shooting all the way across the lake some targets can be found:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/South%20Dakota%202010/9-29-10-Deathinthelonggrass-gameaccrossthelake.jpg

When it comes together:

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/South%20Dakota%202010/9-25-10-PD-1.jpg

In general, you want to stay away from PD towns and you do NOT want your dogs anywhere near a PD town.  Some of them have fleas that carry plague.  The areas in and around the PD towns are usually full of snakes.  ^%$# prairie rattlers don't rattle to let you know they are there, plus their color makes them blend into the cover rather than stand out.  Be careful when belly crawling up on a PD town through the grass.

http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee263/Birddogman_photos/South%20Dakota%202008/7thDay-2008-PrairieRattler.jpg

In terms of snakes generally, if you stay out of PD towns and away from "snaky" looking ground (you will learn to recognize that - unfortunately that is often where there are the most birds, too), you should be OK.  I get my dogs vaccinated with Red River just in case, but they've never been hit in all the years we've hunted out there and the countless miles we've covered.  I don't worry about snake boots and all that for myself, I just stay away from snaky places and am careful where I step.  I  figure that if I get hit, it's just my time.  Of more concern, frankly, are the porkies and skunks that hang in in low, wet places.  Keep the dogs out of such places - you won't find sharps there anyway - and you will find out of season phez there - you don't want your dogs exhausting themselves working phez.

You will probably find doves, especially around sources of water, but I don't bother with them when I've spent the time and money to hunt out there.  I don't want to waste the time, carry the extra ammo or to run the dogs all around retrieving them or have the dogs think that I want them to find doves.  I only hunt them near home on the family farms before the real upland seasons open, but once the real upland seasons open I leave the doves alone and do only upland hunting.

You may see some phez in the grassland out there, but the season won't be open and there are better places to hunt phez.  Probably the only species confusion that you may have will be hen phez.   It is possible to mistake an immature early season hen phez with a short tail for a sharp and not realize you've killed an out of season bird until the dog plops a dead one in your hand.  Don't ask me how I know this.    When in doubt, if you don't hear the famous sharptail "laugh" on the flush, don't shoot.

You might find a very few Huns if you hunt for them, but they won't be found in sharptail cover - more likely in vast wheat stubble fields and the like.

There are no wild chukar or quail in MT that I know of, so those species aren't an issue.

Please post some pics and stories when you get back.  Good luck on your trip!

I didn't realize I was one short of the limit until I got home.  

Nice...better to be one over than one under  that mistake starts getting expensive.

I think you meant that the other way round.  

Ooops...

I only got 10 yesterday. Brought a little 16ga sxs that I hadn't shot much and it cost me a few birds. Ok, more than a few.

We limitted out...on beer and whiskey after the hunt, but it was sad ...theee dove between two of us.

300+ acres of sunflowers, surrounded by stock tanks, with plenty of mesquite for roosting.  Video from the lease two weeks ago show 100's of dove at 6:00 or 6:30 in the evening; but they moved out within the last week or so.

We'll try again after the weather changes.  A little front will move them around

OK
Time to start thinking 2014 DOVE with an ever optimistic attitude.

Milder weather and more rain have the native sunflowers looking great compared to the last couple of years.

We are seeing a lot of local whitewing.

I'm trying a different lease this year.  A little more expensive, but it is less than an hour from the office, so week day hunts will work without having to slip off early.  Opening day and opening weekend will not require an RV, hotel, or sweating in a tent ... That pretty much justifies the extra dollars for me

I'm heading out to our deer lease on Thursday to do some mowing before opening day.  We don't have dogs, so having shorter grass makes them easier to find.  We have plans to plant some sunflower at some point in the future, but the drought has us spooked, so for now we just hunt over some dove weed patches between the roosts and stock tanks.  I picked up 3 motorized Mojo decoys a few weeks ago.  I can't wait to see if they work!

We both know Mojo don't work.

TRG

He's a manager at Siesta Sherpa Mart!