Dove hunting

Hunters are heading inland to hone their skills and get their first action of the season.

North Zone Dove season opened this past Saturday, and I had the opportunity to head up to Orrville, AL for a classic southern style hunt. The Eubanks family hosted this shoot. It’s common for most early season hunts to begin as a social event with food and fellowship. Hunters gather to tell stories and spend time with friends. Our pre-hunt meal consisted of slow cooked ribs and all the fixings.

Shooting doesn’t usually start until the afternoon, when the birds start flying. A typical dove field is previously planted with corn, sorghum, or millet. Leftover grain from the harvest attracts doves in great numbers. The best dove hunts are in large fields and have number of hunters spread out throughout the field to keep the birds flying. Here are some tips on picking a good spot to hunt:

Good places to set up in the field include isolated shade trees, power poles, and hay bales. Using these objects to hide around. Perfect concealment is not necessary. Basic camouflage is all you need to hunt these birds. On breezy days, doves will cross a field on a tail wind. Then , they circle back into the wind to land and feed. Decoys like this mojo dove helps draw birds to you.

North Zone includes Clarke, Washington, Monroe, Conecuh in our area and is open Sept 4th - October 3rd . South Zone opens up October 2 – October 31 and this includes Baldwin, Mobile, and Escambia counties in our area. For Fox Ten Outdoors, I’m meteorologist Jason Smith