Shotgun fun doesn't get any better, at least when birds are falling

Shotgun fun doesn't get any better, at least when birds are falling
STAMFORD, Texas – The interminable wait finally ended Sept. 1. Another fall hunting cycle was ushered in by the start of dove season in most of Texas. During a weekend West Texas hunt with Texas Best Outfitters, I followed a surreal caravan of trucks and SUVs along a dusty ranch road before daylight.

There were 20 vehicles in the dove hunting parade. I'm sure the locals knew the drill, but early travelers who hadn't seen a car in 20 miles must have been stunned awake by the dove hunters' HOV lane.

Some folks mark their calendars in anticipation of the first Dallas Cowboys kickoff. For a million of us, Texas seasons don't revolve around football, basketball, soccer and baseball. Our primary seasons are dove, duck, deer, quail and turkey. Here are some observations following four opening-week dove hunts:

• Dove hunting is the most fun you can have with a shotgun. It's the only shotgun hunt where sportsmen feel obligated to travel with a case or more of shells. Dove hunting can be as serious or as laid back as you want it to be. Half the fun is standing close enough to a hunting companion that you can give him or her or her a hard time when an easy shot is missed or congratulations on making a difficult double.

• Doves are the most challenging of the common game birds to shoot. They're small and fast and take evasive action when they spot a hunter.

Pick shots carefully and a 50 percent shooting average is easily attainable. When doves are sparse, however, I'm reminded of a baseball hitter mired in a slump. The hitter starts pressing, losing his rhythm, swinging at pitches out of the strike zone. So does the hunter. I watched hunters last weekend attempting shots that an Olympic champion could not have made.

Like a batter in a slump, a slumping dove hunter has to shoot his way to respectability, but the best approach is to avoid marginal shots and concentrate on easier shots.

• There's a good reason doves are referred to as migratory game birds. A field that was hot yesterday could be ice cold today. Doves will relocate for three reasons. One is weather. Opening weekend was unusually cool with scattered rainstorms. Cool temperatures and rain will trigger a dove migration.

So will a lack of food. If birds deplete the food supply in a field, they'll look for a field with more abundant groceries.

Hunting pressure is the third factor. Doves put up with only so much shooting before moving to a field where they're not bothered.

The traditional Sept. 1 opening day fell on a Tuesday this year. That's good for hunters who can take off during the week. Hunters who could not go afield until the weekend fared less well.

It makes you wonder if the general dove hunting public wouldn't be better served by a season that begins the first Saturday in September.

• A spinning wing dove decoy is the best $40 insurance policy you can buy against a slow hunt. When birds are sparse, the decoy will attract them into shooting range.

In my experience, motion decoys don't seem to work as well in a field where a lot of hunters are firing a lot of shots. Maybe the constant gunfire has the birds nervous and wary of any movement. The decoys also don't work as well for me in the late season.

• The best thing about dove season? Doves are the harbingers of autumn. The other major seasons follow close behind.