Opening Day of Dove Season

A friend of my dad has a beautiful piece of property in Charles City. It is bordered by the Chickahominy river and the Chickahominy lake. And every year he has an opening day dove hunt there.

         On opening day legal shooting doesn’t start until noon and the birds typically don’t start flying well until around 2. So, we got down to Charles City and started up the grill.

         We ended up with quite the spread for our pre hunt lunch. Hot dogs, Italian sausages, baked beans, chips, cookies, and brownies. Filled our stomachs up and then it was time to head to the field.

         We drove into the field and there were four doves on the wire that flew off. By the time everyone got set up it was about 1:15. Early on the birds were coming into the field steady but none of them seemed to be coming my way. Then finally I hear somebody yell “coming to ya”. I turn and look and throw the gun to my shoulder. As I get the bead trained on the bird he makes a sharp turn to my left. I swing the gun with him and squeeze the trigger. Boom. Still flying. Boom. Still flying. Boom. He falls. My dad says he got it but I didn’t hear his gun go off and maintain I think I got him on the third shot. It didn’t matter it would be far from my last opportunity.

         The day went on and the doves were flying fairly steadily. One thing that is tough for me in the dove field is everyone is always yelling to each other. It is teamwork you have to have to let people know where the birds are coming from and if they are near them. But I struggle with it because it makes me feel like I rush and don’t shoot as well.

         As the day went on there were lots of birds flying and lots of yelling across the field. Then a light rain started and then before long the bottom fell out and a very hard rain started coming down. We packed up our stuff and headed to the truck.

         My dad said a few years ago they had a big storm come through and right after the birds started flying great. He was right. We sat in the truck checking our weather apps and watching the field through the windshield. As the rain lightened, we started seeing birds coming in. It started with one flying over and then a couple on the line. Then we heard the first shot and said “we better get back out there”. This cycle would repeat itself two more times with weather coming in and out.

         When we first got back into the field the birds were flying but they seemed to be avoiding the corner of the field I was sitting in. But before long I had a few more shots and took a couple more birds. And by the end of the day, I had had a lot of shots and five birds sitting under my stool.

         I shot just south of two boxes of shells to only get five doves. But that is dove hunting. Of everything I hunt doves is one of the most fun but most challenging to shoot. When they are flying good and you are shooting a lot it is amazing. And shooting them is such a challenge that when you do shoot and see one fold up and fall out of the sky it is a great feeling of accomplishment.

         Dove hunting is almost addicting. I didn’t shoot well over the entire course of the day but those five good shots I made were enough to make me want to sit in a field from sunrise to sun down.

         Another storm rolled in and out with the birds flying even better after. Then another. Finally at around 6 o’clock it was time to leave.

         I wasn’t really ready to leave. I could have stayed until sun down. I also always feel like I get my shooting figured out after the end of the first day. And once I get it figured out is always when it’s time to leave. But I unloaded my gun and threw my gun, my stool, my empty shell boxes and my birds in the truck and headed for home.

         When I look back on it. I could complain about not shooting well enough or the number of people in the field, or how other people were shooting, or the birds not flying my way. But I think about how much of a blessing it is to have a place to go where the birds fly into the field. I am blessed to spend time hunting with my dad just like I have since I was a kid. And I am blessed by the feeling of accomplishment when you make a good shot and see that bird fold up and fall out of the sky.