Dove hunting - why?

[usmc]

ive been trying to kill 2 doves that hang out at my window; and coo morning noon and night...... ive missed twice, time for the .410. and yes i plan to eat them!

 

[Spitpatch]

Number one rule of hunting......You eat what you kill!

Drummed into me since I was a kid.

Good rule, and I hold a great amount of respect for those who choose to adhere to it. As others here, I do choose to engage in hunting of species for reasons other than obtaining nourishment. However, I have "expanded my dietary horizons" on many occasions, consuming possum, coon, rockchuck, prarie dog, cougar, beaver, rattlesnake and parka squirrel, finding these quite palatable if selected and prepared properly. I cannot bring myself to try coyote or crow or skunk, but I do not hesitate to hunt them, and have been hungry enough to eat them had one been placed before me.

"Lady, If you were hungry enough, you'd not only eat dog, you'd fight for the scraps."

Paul Newman, in "Hombre" (replying to an Indian agent's prissy wife and her abhorrence of the concept of reservation Indians consuming dog meat).

 

[Spitpatch]

Oh, usmc, leave 'em alone right now. They're nesting for cryin' out loud (pun intended: they're Mourning Doves).

 

[Angler]

Number one rule of hunting......You eat what you kill!

Drummed into me since I was a kid.

Sounds like a rough childhood.

 

[1evildad]

I looked at dove hunting as teach my kid to TRY sit still and wait quietly, Work the dog. For me and mine it was a great experience.

 

[Capn Jack]

Used to eat everything I shot.....

Government curred me of that.....





Jack...

 

[Dave Workman]

Used to eat everything I shot.....

Government curred me of that.....

Jack...

Cap:
If I'm not mistaken, many of the locals down there actually do share the harvest of doves for meat on the table. I'm not personally into shooting that many doves in a day, but I know guys who have gone down there and had the times of their lives. I couldn't afford the ammunition, much less the plane fare...

When in Rome, one supposes, but I grew up being satisfied with a couple of grouse, maybe a pheasant and so forth.

On the other hand, I've been guilty of shooting a hundred prairie dogs in one sitting.

 

[Capn Jack]

Used to hunt Doves with my trusty Red Ryder then later with a Benjamin pump.
They are dumber than a Grouse and would just sit on a wire, or limb and duck
at the sound of the BB's going by until you hit them in the head. Half a dozen
made a good meal. (But Meadow Larks tasted better and had more meat).

Jack...

PS ...Never could hit them with a shotgun....

 

[ZigZagZeke]

Maybe you've never seen a local skeet champion sitting under an oak tree with 2 birds and 3 boxes of empty hulls, crying in his beer about not being able to hit those little suckers. Doves don't fly at 45 mph unless they are loafing. I've paced them at 60 mph in my car and they can make a 90 degree turn without slowing down. They are the most challenging wing shooting there is. My dad could clean one in about 90 seconds and he always cooked them wrapped in bacon in a dutch oven. I learned to shoot a shotgun on doves when I was 12. I had a bolt action .410, which was a huge handicap, but I still got a limit most years. Since then, hitting anything else is easy.

 

[mjbskwim]

First off,killing animals for food or to protect crops is not a sin.And that;s all part of that Shakespeare Fantasy book (see Gangs of NY)

Did you know that most hunts overseas,the meat is given to the locals? All that Buffalo?
Feeds the local tribes and culls out the bad seeds.
Same with the doves.I would guess there is a gigantic pot of stew made right after the hunt.
And the farmers are more than glad to pick up the shotgun hulls instead of having no crops left.
Heck,they probably make pillows out of the damn feathers too.

Don't see a down side.

 

[Gunner3456]

I'll shoot all kinds of critters from coyotes to skunks and ground squirrels and gophers and the neighbor's dog if needed.

I can't shoot doves. They mate for life. That's just me. I suppose I could if they were destroying crops, but I never see that many.

 

[.40cal EMT]

I'll shoot all kinds of critters from coyotes to skunks and ground squirrels and gophers and the neighbor's dog if needed.

I can't shoot doves. They mate for life. That's just me. I suppose I could if they were destroying crops, but I never see that many.

But doves are just pigeons... that are white. I've no issue shooting any small game, heck my grandmother pays me to bop these huge ground squirls things that distroy her property, I won't eat those. Think they are called mountain beaver

 

[hermannr]

But doves are just pigeons... that are white. I've no issue shooting any small game, heck my grandmother pays me to bop these huge ground squirls things that distroy her property, I won't eat those. Think they are called mountain beaver

are you talking about Aplodontia rufa rufa or Marmota monax? BTW: Either vis ver edible as they only eat vegetation

 

[.40cal EMT]

are you talking about Aplodontia rufa rufa or Marmota monax? BTW: Either vis ver edible as they only eat vegetation

So they are Grey Diggers, not mountian beaver. My mistake, I've shot a few pigeons they are ok to eat, grandma got mad when I shot a couple quail a few years back and when she got home Grandpa and I were cooking them in her oven, guess she liked to see them run arround

 

[Jamie6.5]

I'll shoot all kinds of critters from coyotes to skunks and ground squirrels and gophers and the neighbor's dog if needed.

I can't shoot doves. They mate for life. That's just me. I suppose I could if they were destroying crops, but I never see that many.

So do Canada geese Gunner. Would you not hunt those either?

Man, you are passing up some tasty stuff!

 

[Gunner3456]

So do Canada geese Gunner. Would you not hunt those either?

Man, you are passing up some tasty stuff!

Let's understand something. You do what you want to do, and I approve of it, for you.

I long ago stopped thinking it was fun to kill things just to kill, unless I could justify it, such as shooting ground squirrels for the sake of the land, irrigation ditch banks and crops, and shooting coyotes because they kill our young wild turkeys and/or eat their eggs.

I already posted once that I passed up the absolutely biggest and most beautiful 5x5 typical blacktail last deer season because he was living on our property and my wife and I both agreed we'd rather be able to see him alive than to mount his head and eat him. I could have shot him right out of one of our great room windows at a range of maybe 100 feet, and I had several opportunities.

We have Canadian geese and mallard ducks on our property regularly. Sometimes the geese are thick on our large lawn. I'd rather look at them than shoot them. We live here partly because we can watch wild turkeys, quail, and almost anything else you can think of.

Now, if I was hungry everything would change, but I'm not.

I understand people who like to kill game and I used to every year. I have no problem with it for everyone else. I'd even help you clean it and hang it, and I'd tell you you'd danged well best make good use of the meat.

My wife's family owns a 4,000 acre ranch in E. Oregon. The deer go right into the barn to eat the alfalfa. That ranch is where I hunt because there is crop loss and damage, and they are the larger mule deer. I can justify that. Besides, the meat is better being alfalfa and wheat fed. When you have fed something, I guess maybe you feel more entitled.

I know I sound schizo, but I can shoot targets including clays and have just as much fun as shooting a goose or a dove.