I had a goal for this year’s early dove season, which runs for the first 15 days of the
month of September. That goal was to take at least one dove with each of my shotguns,
which includes some recent new additions. I keep an informal record of which of my
firearms has taken game, and after reviewing the list I saw that there were several
shotguns that had never taken any game.
After making four additions to my shotgun battery over the last year-and-a-half, I’m up
to nine total. Those new additions which had never taken any game consist of the Winchester
SXP that I wrote about in April of 2023, the
Winchester SXP Trench model that I wrote
about in May of this year, another defensive-type shotgun that I picked up this year,
called the MAC 2,
which is a Benelli M2 Tactical clone, and finally a New England Firearms single-shot .410.
Therefore, my first priority for opening day was blooding those four. Of the four, the
long-barreled SXP was the best bird gun, so my plan was to pull that one out last, after
taking at least two birds each with the other three. It didn’t quite work out that way,
but I did more-or-less reach my goal.
Ben and I went out to the area of the Gila River farm fields for opening day to a field
that we had never hunted before. We did scout the field the week before so that we would
know where we were going in the dark. We saw lots of doves there. What we wouldn’t know
until opening day, was how much competition we would have there. We’ve hunted popular
dove fields before, so we were prepared to experience the sound of birdshot falling near
us.
A new thing that I wanted to try was setting up dove decoys. I bought a set of six, plus
one mechanical one with flapping wings. The photo above is what I came up with to display
them. I just used my favorite homemade target base with some full-length furring strips
drilled to accept 4-foot long dowels.
When we arrived a half-hour before first light, yup, there were other trucks already there.
We parked near one and I got out to talk to the guy to coordinate shooting positions.
I set up the “dove tree”. It all went together pretty quickly in the field. I put the
mechanical flapping dove on a stake on the ground instead of in the tree because I was
worried that the movement would shake the tree enough to cause the static doves to rotate
upside-down. I didn’t want to have to constantly be tending to the decoys.
Not long after legal shooting time, the first shots rang-out across the field. I started
with the single-shot .410. I managed to take down one bird before I had a mechanical
malfunction. I put that gun away and grabbed the red-dot equipped, short barrel MAC 2.
I had a devil of a time hitting anything with that shotgun! Finally, I knocked down one
bird. People around me were knocking birds down left and right, while I had only two birds
in my bag! In my frustration, I decided that it was time to get serious, so I pulled out
the long-barreled Winchester SXP Hybrid Hunter next.
Two dove taken with the short-barreled, red-dot
sighted Winchester SXP Trench gun
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Now that was more like it. I was consistently knocking birds out the sky now. After
bagging seven birds with the SXP Hybrid Hunter, I caught myself and remembered that I had
one more shotgun that needed to come out and play. The limit is 15 birds and I was now up
to 9. I put the Hybrid Hunter away and pulled out the short-barreled Winchester SXP Trench
gun.
This gun is also red-dot equipped. Trying to swing at flying targets with a red-dot
equipped short-barrel shotgun was something new to me. I did not fare well with the MAC
2, how would I do with the Trench gun?
A difference between the MAC 2 and the Trench gun is that I had a modified choke installed
in the MAC 2. The Trench gun is fixed-cylinder choked and cannot take interchangeable choke
tubes.
The first few opportunities with the Trench gun resulted in misses. Should I use that
floating red dot, or should I just swing keying on the muzzle of the barrel as I would
with a normal bird gun? Finally, I managed to knock one down. As I took the first few
steps toward the bird to retrieve it, another trio of birds came flying over me. I swung
quickly, and knocked down number two with the trench gun! It was so fast that I still
don’t know the answer to my question.
At that point, the day was getting hot and the birds had slowed down considerably. It was
already around 100° on its way to over 110° for the day. Many other hunters had already left
the field. I headed for the tailgate of the truck to begin field dressing my birds.
That concluded opening day for me. I can’t say whether the decoys did any good or not. At
worst, they didn’t hurt. We were not in the best part of the field. The hunters to the west
of us shot almost constantly it seemed.
The 16 gauge Remington 1100 had not been out
of the gun safe for a couple of years.
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I returned to this field again on Thursday, several days later. I got there about the
same time, a half-hour before first light. But where did all the birds go? There was
only one other hunter there, up at the west corner, the best place. I went back to my
southeast corner. I once again set up the dove tree, but I roamed further, trying to
find the birds. On this disappointing day, I knocked down only two birds using my 16
ga. Remington Model 1100. Okay, so now I’m up to five shotguns taking game this season.
I got out one more time before the season closed. But those early morning hunts were
killing me. The drowsy drive home from those early morning hunts were a bit scary. In
past years, you could only hunt until noon in the early season, but now you are allowed
to hunt all day. I chose a place near a desert watering hole closer to home for an
after-dinner, until sundown hunt.
The water hole was totally dry, but was surrounded by roosting trees. The two shotguns
accompanying me on this hunt were my 16 gauge Browning A5, and my 12 gauge Benelli Nova. The doves were plentiful.
Notable on this hunt were two doubles I took with the A5. Not BANG-BANG doubles, but
two single-BANG doubles. Since it was roosting time, on two occasions I had a pair of
doves land in trees, which stayed put while I snuck up and took both birds with single
aimed shots!
Unfortunately, when I pulled out the Nova, I found that I had not plugged the magazine
to accept only two shells. Rats! I had to put the Nova away. It would not be taking
any birds today. I ended up taking eight birds on this hunt, all with the A5. I’ve got
to say, that I sure like these evening roosting time dove hunts better than the early
morning hunts.
So the final count is 6 of 9 shotguns took game this season, not bad. I also tried
something new this year for cooking the doves. I made bacon-wrapped dove morsels, as
I have in years past, but with the addition of a squirt of barbecue sauce over the tops
before putting them in the oven. That seems like an obvious enhancement, but it's
something that I had not tried until now. What a delicious difference that made!
