Henry Rifle Forums

Tomorrow will be my 41st dove opener. When I was a kid, Sept. 1 was always as good as Christmas, and that's never changed. I love the "gray ghosts". They're a challenge to shoot and a real treat on the dinner table.

Got the alarm set for 3:30 a.m., as it's a fairly long drive to my shooting locale. I just hope I can get at least 3 hours of sleep. I'm also going to do some bass fishing between the morning and evening flights.

Ah, what a glorious day!

Good for you! Hope you have nice weather and catch some fish and shoot some doves. It has been years since I went out for doves, but I used to TRY to shoot them with my semiautomatic shotgun with 7 1/2 shot but it had a modified barrel. But I had fun and a few of them made for good eating. This was when I lived in eastern Pennsylvania and around sunset was when I got the most shooting.

Good luck hunting for Doves and fishing for Bass, ditchparrot.

We generally have 2-6 Mourning Doves (sometimes even more) at any given time pecking the ground for birdseed in our backyard along with about a dozen other species. Dove hunting is prohibited in CT. We really enjoy them anyway. I love the whistling sound of their wings as they take flight.

I'd enjoy seeing photos of your dinner plate with tomorrow's harvest.

I've not heard the expression "gray ghosts" before --- interesting.

I don't know how we've managed to attract two Mourning Doves to our patio bird feeder, but enjoy seeing them there "cleaning up" after the messy sparrows and occasional Blue Jay or Cardinal. The early morning calls they make to each other are very pleasant to hear as I'm watering the plants. Pleasant, and yes, a little "mournful" also. That's their unique attraction.

Have a great day enjoying your 41st dove opener, and the bass fishing in between.
Be safe.

A 3:30 wakeup is brutal! Enjoy the hunting and fishing. Hopefully you can post some pictures afterwards.

good luck indeed .... I haven't dove hunted in many years but wouldn't hesitate to go again .... there is a farm field down the road from our home that is well lined on opening day .... for the last few years it was planted in corn, this year soybeans .... we literally drove by it a few minutes ago and only saw a half dozen or so doves sitting on the adjacent power lines .... with a tropical storm due to move through, I have no clue how the numbers will be affected

It was a really good day. I got 11 birds in the morning (the limit is 15), then enjoyed the excellent camp brunch that the hosts put on. I caught 30 or 40 chunky bass during the mid-day hours, then went back to the creek bed in the evening hoping to get my last four birds. I got three with little problem, but never got another shot over the final 90 minutes before sunset and had to quit with 14.

Wish I could've gone back today, but I've got too much stuff to clean up and some other errands to attend to. Might try again tomorrow.

congratulations indeed .... sounds like a great opening day ..

ditchparrot wrote:It was a really good day. I got 11 birds in the morning (the limit is 15), then enjoyed the excellent camp brunch that the hosts put on. I caught 30 or 40 chunky bass during the mid-day hours, then went back to the creek bed in the evening hoping to get my last four birds. I got three with little problem, but never got another shot over the final 90 minutes before sunset and had to quit with 14.

Congratulations on your very successful day hunting and fishing. Thanks for the report. I'd love to see some pictures of your dinner table.

Congrats on getting the 14 on the 41st...what a great day of hunting & fishing!

X2 to CT_Shooter's comment. Yes, photos of the hunting harvest on your table would be most delectable to see.

ditchparrot wrote:It was a really good day. I got 11 birds in the morning (the limit is 15), then enjoyed the excellent camp brunch that the hosts put on. I caught 30 or 40 chunky bass during the mid-day hours, then went back to the creek bed in the evening hoping to get my last four birds. I got three with little problem, but never got another shot over the final 90 minutes before sunset and had to quit with 14.

Wish I could've gone back today, but I've got too much stuff to clean up and some other errands to attend to. Might try again tomorrow.