Well that was my first and LAST public dove hunt.

[strider12]

You guys sound like a bunch of crybabies. If someone or his kid is doing something out of line next to you. correct the adult. If you don't want to do that move. I have been to public hunts for years and not had any problems. went this year with my kids and the field was packed. worked like a well oiled machine. also you left to early, that field is covered up with birds after 4. If someone wants to shoot at a bird a mile high, who gives a ****. If they shoot you , shoot them back

 

[GeauxLSU]

You guys sound like a bunch of crybabies. If someone or his kid is doing something out of line next to you. correct the adult. If you don't want to do that move. I have been to public hunts for years and not had any problems. went this year with my kids and the field was packed. worked like a well oiled machine. also you left to early, that field is covered up with birds after 4. If someone wants to shoot at a bird a mile high, who gives a ****. If they shoot you , shoot them back

So I should have stayed for even MORE shooting? You apparently missed the point. Yeah... uh... no.
I figured someone would chime in and say that though. It's not my job to educate 100 adults on proper hunting safety or etiquette. (Perhaps if they were on my land.) It's my job to get my son the hell out of there to somewhere sane.
Glad you and your son had a good shoot.

 

[blazedawg87]

It's amazing how sane and informed you are about SOME things.
The thing I hate most about it is, it REALLY was not even remotely the experience I was hoping for my son...

Dove hunting is down right, hands down, without a doubt the most fun you can have hunting. If you get on a good field (which we do every year) with good people on it you will have an absolute blast! (pun intended). We had 12 hunters on around 8 acres of land, all of which are smart and if you holler "LOW BIRD!!!" nobody around you will shoot at that bird unless it is to an area where no one is sitting. Every person on the field but 2 shot their limit saturday from 430-7.

 

[GeauxLSU]

Dove hunting is down right, hands down, without a doubt the most fun you can have hunting. If you get on a good field (which we do every year) with good people on it you will have an absolute blast! (pun intended).

Yep, which is why we went. I had some GREAT times dove hunting as a kid. And that was long before there was such as thing as a 'dove field'.
I have a few doves on my place. I may try and plant a field next year (though I can't imagine the deer will let me).

 

[rugerceltics13]

It doesn't have anything to do with controlling their population, it is sustainable and stable, therefore hunting is allowed. The dollars hunters pay to harvest the birds go back into making sure the population continues to thrive.

well i learned something new today

 

[GeauxLSU]

well i learned something new today

They also taste very good.

 

[jeffdt]

Hunted pheasants ONCE on public land up in Wisconsin. The old BONG AFB land, never again. I found enough lead shot in my pockets to re-load four or five 20 gauge shells. You've heard of steel rain? This was lead rain. I feared for my springers life.

 

[VanillaGuerrilla]

Sorry you guys had to duck and cover. Reminds me of the range in sugar valley. Stories like this make me wish Walmart gave an IQ test to people wanting to buy ammo.

 

[Dovebuster]

My experience is similar to yours on the WMA hunts, but to be honest. My experience on private pay shoots isn't much better. I grew up as you hunting on grandparents land with relatives and a few invitees. That is the reason I guess I was reared to mistakenly believe that hunting was a "gentleman's sport". Now it is just anyone who can afford a gun, license and shells. I did however have a pretty good experience on a pay shoot this past Saturday. I shot on Bill McGarity's place in Social Circle, Georgia and it was a group of good folks and some folks got off a lot of shots. You just have to realize that a dove is the most fickle animal in the woods. They can be in one place by the hundreds one day and no where to be seen the next, for absolutely no reason. Good folks, good food, and good sportsmanship. That's what Dove hunting should be.

 

[rugerceltics13]

They also taste very good.

doves or pigeons?