Dove Season 2019

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stokesrj
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Dove Season 2019

Post by stokesrj »

Arizona is a great state to hunt doves and the season opens September 1st which is less than a week away. This year I'm even more excited than usual for that opening day to get here. Arizona Game and Fish reports say that the doves had five or six broods this year so expect record numbers above the already high normal population.
So, I've been preparing, planning, scouting and scouting some more. And as usual it pays off to scout so we can be in the right place come opening day. I normally don't bother with decoys but they do work so I bought a Mojo dove tree and a new motorized decoy they call the Elite and eight stationary dove decoys. I went out yesterday and set them up at a stock tank way out in the middle of nowhere to see what would happen.
The morning was kind of slow but then about 7am the flights started coming in and the doves were lighting all around my decoys. That would make for some close range but fast darting type of shooting. Then I came back in the afternoon and set up the tree and you can see the video that they would swoop towards the decoy but peel off making for some pretty easy dove shooting. Did I just say easy dove shooting? I meant easier dove shooting. This video clip is an unedited continuous clip.
https://studio.youtube.com/video/gsVXNp ... Fmy_videos
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Re: Dove Season 2019

Post by ebrownw2 »

Breast them out, marinate in coca-cola, dip in milk/egg, then coat in self rising flour, and deep fry. Best dove nuggets ever.

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Re: Dove Season 2019

Post by SPEEDY »

Marinate in coke, oh nasty.
I like to soak birds and rabbits in a simple salt brine, but the rest sounds good.
I'm soft and I don't care. :dance:

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Re: Dove Season 2019

Post by stokesrj »

Doves are great marinated in Italian dressing and then grilled. We also make pepper poppers out of them by placing a breast fillet in half of a jalapeño pepper with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon. And then dove tacos are great too. We always have a big family dove cook out on opening day as the limit is 15 per person and with four of us shooting that will be 60 doves a day for the first three days.
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Re: Dove Season 2019

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Day two of the 2019 season is complete so I thought I would give a little update. Day one I shot my Benelli Ultralight 20 gauge with the ShotKam attached and got 15 good clean kills on camera while shooting agricultural fields opening morning. Today I moved to a waterhole and set up a decoy spread with the mojos and switched to my little Winchester Model 23 410 bore side by side. The decoys worked like a charm and I was able to get my limit again of 15 birds in short order. I was using up a bunch of leftover mismatched shells of odd sizes, mostly 2 1/2" target loads of #9 but also some number 6 and even number four that I had used on squirrels about 30 years ago. They all killed doves seemingly the same. Here is a pic of my decoy set up and the 15 doves with my model 23.
zHosFTMrROSBTmhtDn22SQ.jpg
Tomorrow I'll switch back to the Benelli and get some more ShotKam kill shots.
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Re: Dove Season 2019

Post by SPEEDY »

Nice haul, bagging out us always a good feeling.
I'm soft and I don't care. :dance:

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Re: Dove Season 2019

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I used to hunt them very hard. Decoys do work and they'll pull birds that weren't even interested from several hundred yards out. Used to enjoy watching them detour and come over the see what the fuss was about. Haven't hunted them now in a number of years. Burned out but it was a lot of fun while it lasted. Now we lease to an outfitter and opening day they had about 30-35 hunters out in the morning. Evening hunt was substantially less. Assume most followed the law and didn't come back out after getting their limit in the morning. Our bird population isn't as good as it normally is. Not sure why since there were hundreds of thousands before the milo was harvested. Assume they went to easier pickings. Sure is neat to watch the youngsters as they bang away at the little diving and zipping targets.

As for eating them, have tried several methods including the one Bob mentioned with the jalapeno, bacon and cheese. That one is tolerable since the add ons cover up the taste of the meat. I'll stick to ribeyes or even a good hamburger with bacon and cheese... I'm not one for wild game unless it's been fattened up on supplemental protein, etc. Best ever was a Red Stag off a game ranch. He was allowed to hang for about a week before being processed and he was superb. Still waiting to take a couple of Axis off the place but no time to get it done.

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Re: Dove Season 2019

Post by stokesrj »

I love wild game meat of all kinds and I also love a good ribeye. But my favorite is ribeye cap steak. :)
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Re: Dove Season 2019

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stokesrj wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:02 pm I love wild game meat of all kinds and I also love a good ribeye. But my favorite is ribeye cap steak. :)
ok, gotta ask, what is that? Never heard that term.

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Re: Dove Season 2019

Post by mchughcb »

Nice little 410 sxs.

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Re: Dove Season 2019

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thechamp wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:07 pm
stokesrj wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:02 pm I love wild game meat of all kinds and I also love a good ribeye. But my favorite is ribeye cap steak. :)
ok, gotta ask, what is that? Never heard that term.
It's the most flavorful part of the ribeye, the part that the judges taste on a steak contest. Here is a link that has pictures of the cut. https://blog.thermoworks.com/beef/ribey ... ust-right/
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Re: Dove Season 2019

Post by thechamp »

stokesrj wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:45 pm
thechamp wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:07 pm
stokesrj wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:02 pm I love wild game meat of all kinds and I also love a good ribeye. But my favorite is ribeye cap steak. :)
ok, gotta ask, what is that? Never heard that term.
It's the most flavorful part of the ribeye, the part that the judges taste on a steak contest. Here is a link that has pictures of the cut. https://blog.thermoworks.com/beef/ribey ... ust-right/
Well learned something new. Have noticed different sections of a ribeye do have a different taste/texture but didn't know anything further. Never knew it existed and certainly never seen it in any of our butcher's cases. Thanks! :dance:

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Re: Dove Season 2019

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mchughcb wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:34 pm Nice little 410 sxs.
Thanks, it is my second Model 23 classic with the beavertail forearm and pistol grip stock, for some reason I shoot it better than any of my english side by sides and the beavertail helps when shooting fast like I did today, you couldn't touch the barrels. I bought the first one thirty years ago and pretty much used it up, then I found this one made at the same time 1986 but new in the box so I grabbed it. Maybe I just try harder with the little 410 bore but so far my batting average with it is better than my Benelli 20 gauge.
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Re: Dove Season 2019

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thechamp wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:52 pm
stokesrj wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:45 pm
thechamp wrote: Mon Sep 02, 2019 10:07 pm

ok, gotta ask, what is that? Never heard that term.
It's the most flavorful part of the ribeye, the part that the judges taste on a steak contest. Here is a link that has pictures of the cut. https://blog.thermoworks.com/beef/ribey ... ust-right/
Well learned something new. Have noticed different sections of a ribeye do have a different taste/texture but didn't know anything further. Never knew it existed and certainly never seen it in any of our butcher's cases. Thanks! :dance:
Costco carries the ribeye cap in their prime beef section. They go fast so they don't always have them. My wife doesn't care for this cut, but everyone else in my family loves it. I usually but not always Sous Vide them and then sear on my big green egg. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zf-gY-NS44
Some times I just grill them as usual, they are truly great.
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Re: Dove Season 2019

Post by SPEEDY »

thechamp wrote:
As for eating them, have tried several methods including the one Bob mentioned with the jalapeno, bacon and cheese. That one is tolerable since the add ons cover up the taste of the meat.
That's why I brine them, if they are especially strong then brine them in milk, it draws the blood and more overpowering flavours out of the meat.
stokesrj wrote:
Thanks, it is my second Model 23 classic with the beavertail forearm and pistol grip stock, for some reason I shoot it better than any of my english side by sides and the beavertail helps when shooting fast like I did today, you couldn't touch the barrels.
Money doesn't always make a gun shoot better, it comes down to what fits you best, that could be $200 gun or a $20,000 gun.
I'm soft and I don't care. :dance:

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