2024 Dove Season

It's getting close to kick off day here in South Dakota. The bird numbers are crazy good this year so I'm once again looking forward to a good season. Our season will open on Sunday September 1st. I plan on being out both Sunday and Monday. I dug my gear out and did a quick inventory of my dove stuff. We have a pretty good spread for the number of guys that hunt with us. My personal dove arsenal consists of 10 full body decoys, 2 spinning wing decoys, 1 motorized DIY dove vortex that uses two of the wind powered MOJO decoys and a couple dozen silhouette decoys. We hunt a small knob near one of the many creeks that cross the South Dakota prairies. Last year we shot over 160 birds from that little hill in the first few days of season. Some of the finest eating game birds available in South Dakota! Nothing like bacon wrapped dove breast with a sliver of jalapeno hot off the grill!! The viper Tristar in 28ga is going to be my primary, but I'll likely have to try out the new Pointer Acrius 28ga that I just picked up for slinging TSS/Bismuth at pheasants this fall.

I'm excited for this year as well. My buddy and I always hit the farmlands in southern California, almost to Mexico. Last year we both limited out within an hour each morning and we were picking and choosing the bigger birds to shoot. I am not much of a big game hunter, but shooting birds is always a thrill.

I also look forward to dove hunting. My in laws put in a bunch of canola this year so hunting should be really good. One of their farms has the first fields outside of town where lots of birds roost. One field in particular we've shot thousands of doves out of over the years. I enjoy shooting with 28ga or .410 then drinking beer while we clean birds.

Popcorn and sunflowers in the dove field back in June.
Almost mature now,

Prairie Sasquatch said:

I also look forward to dove hunting. My in laws put in a bunch of canola this year so hunting should be really good. One of their farms has the first fields outside of town where lots of birds roost. One field in particular we've shot thousands of doves out of over the years. I enjoy shooting with 28ga or .410 then drinking beer while we clean birds.

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I hear that! Those Vipers are sweet shooting guns!

Prairie Sasquatch said:

I also look forward to dove hunting. My in laws put in a bunch of canola this year so hunting should be really good. One of their farms has the first fields outside of town where lots of birds roost. One field in particular we've shot thousands of doves out of over the years. I enjoy shooting with 28ga or .410 then drinking beer while we clean birds.

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Y'all need any help?

quigley257 said:

Nothing like bacon wrapped dove breast with a sliver of jalapeno hot off the grill!!

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That is the ONLY way Dove should be cooked. Period!

I found soaking the Dove in the juice of the canned jalapeño does wonders for it.

It's just a shame how low the limit is. Luckily, we have Eurasian Dove multiplying. I don't know about states outside Texas, but they don't count towards your limit here.

Yea, Sept 1 rates right up there with Christmas Day! Have an awesome recipe for doves on the grill. Looking forward to an opening two day shoot.

ColonelGoose said:

Yea, Sept 1 rates right up there with Christmas Day! Have an awesome recipe for doves on the grill. Looking forward to an opening two day shoot.

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I always viewed Sept 1 as New Year's Day. It's when MY year starts!

Looking forward to a good start down here

going to be grilling up 30 dove for my fellow co-workers today, bacon wrapped on the grill. Gotta make room for the next batch of dove coming soon. Yum yum...

Brown in bacon grease, braise in a red wine, onion and garlic liquid. Thicken up the braising liquid into a gravy and enjoy. I was born and raised in southern NM and ate a lot of birds.

They are my favorite wild game down here.
Our deer are good, but not as good as the Midwest corn/bean fed ones.
They are the closest to upper end Beef !

I was really looking forward to dove hunting this year but Ms LRnut is flying to Russia Aug 31 from Denver and returning in mid-Sep, so I am returning to AZ after the dove season is over. BUT, I will be there for the quail opener. I am shooting 4 clay birds every day using my Claymore thrower to get back in form. My version of "cold bore" practice with a shotgun.