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"Dove hunting"
by Berry Gay

Dove hunting for me means a new year of hunting has begun. My first dove hunts started in 83’ or 84’. It was my first chance ever to get to be part of the hunt. I had a wonderful neighbor in his 50’s. His name was Johnnie Felkner. He had his grandson in for the summer and invited to take my brother and I along to do some dove hunting. First trip out I will never forget. My dad had a gun that had been passed down from someone in the family it was a 20 gauge under 22 cal. over. It was quite heavy. I had shot it a couple times before with my brothers out rabbit hunting and really liked it. We proceeded to go out to a pond on some BLM land that we could hunt on. I can still remember how hot it was sitting in some cattails at the edge of the inlet waiting for some doves to fly in, on their evening chase for some water. Finally they started coming in. My first shot was straight across the pond as one flew right over the center of the pond to get to the sandy shoreline to get a drink. I had missed and someone was yelling at me. What had I done wrong??? Well I forgot that my brother was straight across the pond under some cottonwood trees and I guess some of my shot hit in his vicinity. OOPS!!!! Well darn I hadn’t hit a dove and great my brother was ok. I learned a great lesson that day and that was to really take the time to figure out where everyone is setup so I wouldn’t make that mistake again. I cannot remember if we ended up with doves on that first hunt or not but I always remember the close call I had. In the 20 years since I have never done anything like that again.

Well onto the here and now!!!! The last 5 years that we have dove hunted in Colorado has been Mourning Dove

very productive. Don, Shannon, and myself have found some very bountiful dove hunting spots. One of the first years the three of us hunted together we found a spot we nicknamed the “Gauntlet”. It was a stretch of river that we stumbled across one evening that was one of the craziest things to this day that I have seen. Doves flying like ducks is the best way to explain it. They were flying strictly on the river in groups ranging from 1 to 6. When we realized how they were flying we put together a game plan. There was an island in the middle of the river with some tall growth on it. I took the point and the other two fellers took the backside of the island. The birds would get to me I would shoot anything I hit would hit the water the other two would then get there shots and all the doves would float directly to them. Man what an evening. We cleaned them up.

We have continued to hunt primarily this area and it has been very productive for us. I have not seen another night since when they were so set on flying the river though.

Key ingredients to a successful dove hunt

Friends that love to hunt and play poker!!!

Friends that are not taking sinus medication (long story)

Good dogs that don’t mind a few stickers.

Bug spray

Lots of good food and the love for Grilled doves.

Colorado recipe for dove

Filleted dove breasts cleaned and soaking in water

Sliced Jalapeno

Sliced onion

Bacon

Toothpicks

Take a toothpick put on a slice of onion, piece of dove breast, slice of jalapeno, piece of dove breast, slice of onion, and wrap with bacon. Season if desired and put on grille on medium heat until done. Enjoy!!

Note: if you like them spicier put an extra slice of jalapeno!

Dove season starts on a Wednesday this year I believe

We will be kicking of our dove hunt the first weekend of September. We will be staying at Prewitt reservoir. Come join us if you like. If you have questions leave them on the forum and we will get you the answers.