The BEST dove shoot

[DUCK BUSTER 68]

Our best field up there was the one beside the new I-85(when they were still building it)on the field Gordon Floyd owned & Ken Davis used to farm wheat on.Man,those were the good ole days for sure.

[Mergie Master]

I've never shot it myself but from hearing friends and others who got an invite I've been told that the CF Sauer farm in Honea Path, the folks that own Dukes Mayo, has some of the best barn burner shoots in the state. They all say these shoots are consistently good year after year.

[DRDUCK]

Ol Gordon still to this day could not figure out how we always had more birds than him and were just across the street. lol. I remember he would send Jimson D across to look and they still would never figure it out. Hell, some of them even tried to jump ship like M. Turner and bug the shit out of me to come hunt with us. Baawwwaaaa.

[Swamp Rat]

I've also had some good shoots, with good eats, at the Dupont place in Boykin.

[Catdaddy]

Anywhere in Darlington county is hard to beat. I've been on a many of barnburners.

I also remember a public shoot on DNR property(Marlboro County) when the limit was 18. I got 18 in just a few minutes and 12 of them were banded.

[Swamp Rat]

Catdaddy, the first two or three of the year on that club you turned me onto are pretty danged good.

[Swamp Rat]

This is what I consider the best dove hunting area in the state...



That having been said, I KNOW there are other pockets of good shooting all over the state, as we have witnessed with these posts. But, day in and day out, the shaded area on that map has ALWAYS produced the best shoots in my memory.

[Mergie Master]

It seems anywhere in the "Sandhills" region has always had good shoots and good populations of birds.

[Turd Ferguson]

I agree the sandhills are great- I usually do opening day in Chesterfield with a group of 50+ and have had nothing to complain about the last 15 years- if you didnt scratch out a limit it simply means you should have had both eyes closed

[Slaya]

The best fields I have shot were in Boykin, Hartsville, Sumter, Lydia, Ashwood, and Darlington, based on good numbers from week to week.

Been on some good shoots in Elgin, Camden, Lugoff, Wedgefield, New Zion, Turbeville, etc., but they were always spotty. Be good one week, so-so the next.

[Swamp Rat]

Food, ground cleanliness, and field MANAGEMENT (or lack thereof) is key.

[Foie Gras]

I don't know if it's the BEST dove shoot, but I've been on some good ones at Clayton Lowder's place in Sumter. Used to be able kill a limit in a timely manner and have a great time with all the folks that were there. Been kinda down the past couple years, but all good things must come to an end. He still has the hunts out there and I still look forward to going every year.

[Salt Marsh]

The best annual shoot I had the pleasure of attending was on a Plantation that was on an island.

The manager would call 5 or 6 of us a couple of days before the owner came down in early October. He would pick us up and take us over to the Island. The objective was to have **** dove breast in the freezer when he arrived. The owner loved to eat dove.

When we got to the island, we would go directly to the field. You were dropped at a stand and you started shooting. About every 30 minutes the asst. manager came by on horseback and picked up the birds. There were taken to a couple of cooks who sat under a palmetto tree on the edge of the field. They dressed and iced the birds right there.

If you ran low on shells, you just raised your hat and a young gentleman of the Gullah persuasion would come running across the field with a couple of boxes more. The same for cold drinks. The shoot was called off when the appropriate number of birds had been dressed. The only thing that resembled work was you did have to pick up your own birds, but the fields were so clean, that was never an issue.

In the years I attended this shoot, we never failed to meet the quota. Unfortunately, this shoot ended when the owner of the Plantation passed away and his kids sold the place.

[SCTIMBER]

Opening day in Lake Vue. Been going there since 1992. Every year. In 15 years they have had probably 3 "down" years. Always get your limit, but in the three "down" years, you had to work a little.

Art, quit hunting in my backyard