Dove, Dogs, and Shotguns

Today, in central and north Texas, thousands of hopeful dove hunters seek to bag their 15 dove. Stores like Academy and Bass Pro have pallets of shells and dove decoys on the floor seeking to entice last minute buyers and me I’m stuck at work.

A mild cool front set the mood this morning on my drive in, as I remembered small tid bits of opening days in the past. My 1st chocolate lab, Scooby, taking off across the field seemingly deaf to my commands, my cousin Billy bitching about a slow start, my dad waking me up and an ungodly hour to get the best spot. All these things are what make hunting so addicting. The good days and bad fade away but the memories last. So as you come in from the morning hunt, telling stories of near misses and hits, take it all in, because it just doesn’t get any better than waiting for the sun to rise on opening day.

As for me, I’ll get my chance this weekend, as I suspect many dove hunters will. I’ll give you a full report of the hunting on a new dove lease in North Texas. I would love to hear from you on where you hunted ( you don’t have to be to specific) and how the birds were flying on this September 1st.

Be careful, and remember “Safeties ON!”

• Only in Texas .... Apparently some of the people moving out to the country are surprised during dove season. I came across this article from WFAA, and couldn't help but see some humor in it. Lori Castoldi awoke last week to the sound of gunshots near her Prosper home.      "It was all around......
• Twitter Updates for 2009-06-27 RT @DoveHunting101: New blog post: Man Fined Over Migratory Bird Treaty http://bit.ly/dHVQM FOR BEATING A SEAGULL # Swine Flu declared pandemic, 1st in 41 years http://bit.ly/CnWqt # Using positive reinforcement training yo train your hunting dog. http://bit.ly/Zt81d # Tips on Starting Kids Out Hunting http://bit.ly/jdFYt # Just broke 100......
• Top 7 Things to do before Dove Season I can't believe it is already July 21st. In a little over a month I will be waiting for the sun to come up over a field in North Texas. As my plans get finalized, I thought I would put together a checklist to get you ahead of the pack......

• Boats for Hunting Ducks Hunting ducks is typically either done in a blind or in the water or next to the bank, or in a boat. Boats for hunting ducks are set up differently than typical fishing boats or pleasure boats. These boats have a flat hull that gives them a very low profile......
• Strangers in the Night Troy Peterson secured the two gas cans into the trunk of the car and slammed the trunk lid.  A few minutes later, he was on the road.  The hunt had commenced. Troy pointed his Impala in the direction of – well, of nowhere in particular, actually.  He just drove.  Mile......
• Are you waiting for a better deal, or are you procrastinating? On Memorial Day our family went over to a friend's house. They had recently gotten a Wii Balance Board, which is basically a high-tech scale with pressure sensors that measure your left-right balance, your front-back balance, and your weight. The software that came with the unit is Wii Fit, which......