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Thread: AM vs PM dove hunts

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Default AM vs PM dove hunts

    When I was a kid, my dad and most surrounding farmers would turn up some dirt and broadcast wheat for the dove opener. We'd start on one field opening morning, and rotate every morning of labor day weekend to someone else's field for other shoots. We'd shoot maybe the first 2 or 3 weekends of the season and that'd be it for dove season. As time went on, less farmers prepped a field in the area and less doves were being killed so at some point it all stopped. Fast forward to the last couple of years of me doing my own fields. With the new rules and restrictions early season of afternoon hunting, I pretty much only hunt afternoons now. I've tried morning hunts for the relief in temperature, but they have all been much slower hunts than compared to the afternoon hunts. I'm curious to see if it's the same way for y'all. And I'm talking about the first season. After rifle season opens it's all over for the doves!

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  2. #2
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    I used to run a dove club - we always had great afternoon hunts, but some members begged for an early season morning hunt. Mostly to beat the heat. I was counseled by a wiser member NOT to do it, as it would "burn" the field and subsequent shoots would be less productive. He explained that doves would be at their hungriest at first light and pour in. And shooting them would push them to other fields... where they would stay.

    I went ahead and did an early season shoot.

    He was right.

    Birds poured in at first light. The shoot was a burner.

    The rest of the first split was far substandard though.

    I learned from that. No more first split morning shoots until the LAST weekend. Didn't matter then, as most of the second and third split birds would be migrants coming in.
    "Only accurate rifles are interesting " - Col. Townsend Whelen

  3. #3
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    we have great morning hunts and they keep coming back, maybe because we don’t kill em all.
    Windows Down!

  4. #4
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    anecdotally, i've found that you should shoot doves when you have them, dont shoot with people that need more than a box of shells, and get out off the field (AM or PM) as soon as you can.
    Ugh. Stupid people piss me off.

  5. #5
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    By box you mean...


  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by 2thDoc View Post
    anecdotally, i've found that you should shoot doves when you have them, dont shoot with people that need more than a box of shells, and get out off the field (AM or PM) as soon as you can.
    #dfc mother*******

  7. #7
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    Had a few good late season morning hunts over the years,

    This year I’ve been invited to NC to shoot opening morning through some folks with work, I’m looking forward to it
    Houndsmen are born, not made

    Quote Originally Posted by 2thDoc View Post
    I STAND WITH DUCK CUTTER!
    Quote Originally Posted by JABIII View Post
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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Swamp Rat View Post
    He explained that doves would be at their hungriest at first light and pour in. The shoot was a burner.
    THIS! Daybreak dove hunts are the teets!

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by 2thDoc View Post
    anecdotally, i've found that you should shoot doves when you have them, dont shoot with people that need more than a box of shells, and get out off the field (AM or PM) as soon as you can.
    sorry kids, y’all
    aren’t welcome to
    learn how to shoot on 2ths field, experienced assholes only
    Windows Down!

  10. #10
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    my kids turned out ok.
    i am all for taking kids hunting.
    I'm just not all about those few kids banging away after everyone else is done. My kids learned valuable lessons in life by adhering to rules for grown ups. I dont coddle or let them win at HORSE or tic-tac-toe. Many other parents should try it so I dont have to share the planet with 20yr olds that think they make the rules. They dont.
    Ugh. Stupid people piss me off.

  11. #11
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    Have 1 box of shells, and a hot wife that likes to drink beer on the dove field

    Will travel
    Member of the Tenth Legion Since 2004

  12. #12
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    Travel ?? That ain't your last name.
    F**K Cancer

    Just Damn.

  13. #13
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    Current prices, I can only afford to shoot 1 box of shells per outting.
    "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." John 15:12

    "Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord." Hebrews 12:14

  14. #14
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    I started limiting afternoon shoots to 2 - 2½ hours and out an hour before sunset too. That helped.
    "Only accurate rifles are interesting " - Col. Townsend Whelen

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by 2thDoc View Post
    my kids turned out ok.
    i am all for taking kids hunting.
    I'm just not all about those few kids banging away after everyone else is done. My kids learned valuable lessons in life by adhering to rules for grown ups. I dont coddle or let them win at HORSE or tic-tac-toe. Many other parents should try it so I dont have to share the planet with 20yr olds that think they make the rules. They dont.
    But bo, lil man just wants to shoot. He ain’t hurting nobody.
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  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by 2thDoc View Post
    anecdotally, i've found that you should shoot doves when you have them, dont shoot with people that need more than a box of shells, and get out off the field (AM or PM) as soon as you can.
    Ding Ding
    Double Secret Probation Officer

  17. #17
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    Dove hunts should be AM only until the college football season is over.
    Ephesians 2 : 8-9



    Charles Barkley: Nobody doesn't like meat.

  18. #18
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    My dove club has a limit of 10 and everyone out two hours before sunset. 90% of the time everyone is done and out the field way before then
    .
    80-20 Genaration

  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rubberhead* View Post
    Dove hunts should be AM only until the college football season is over.
    Got to bring a radio and shoot the afternoon. Way better that way
    Quote Originally Posted by Chessbay View Post
    Literally translated to, "I smell like Scotch and Kodiak".
    "Let us cross over the river, and rest under the shade of the trees"- Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Duckman#1 View Post
    My dove club has a limit of 10 and everyone out two hours before sunset. 90% of the time everyone is done and out the field way before then
    Limit of 10 members or 10 birds
    Houndsmen are born, not made

    Quote Originally Posted by 2thDoc View Post
    I STAND WITH DUCK CUTTER!
    Quote Originally Posted by JABIII View Post
    I knew it wasn't real because no dogbox...

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