2014 Dove Season

[dee]

I don't mind the fixed seasons. Here it's almost always really good the entire time as we are in the direct migratory path.

[elPolloLoco]

Academy has Rio game loads for 5.49 a box....I think they had some Winchesters for the same price as well.

[CJ]

I remember when a flat was $29. And it wasn't that long ago.

[YALE]

Academy has Rio game loads for 5.49 a box....I think they had some Winchesters for the same price as well.

Those Rio game loads are a steal at that price. That's below normal wholesale. Load up.

[svauto-erotic855]

Don't buy cheap shells. I patterned all of them that I could get my hands on last year and will stick with $15 + per box loads or my own hand loads for the rest of my life based on what I saw. The El-cheapo Winchester 100 to a big box universal shell were the worst of the bunch; 30% patterns or slightly under that with a full choke at 35 meters in a 28" circle with dense spots all over the place. I got the same results from several different guns.

I'd shoot nothing but Fiocchi Golden Pheasant if they offered this load in 7.5 shot. These promise to be just as good; www.bandpusa.com.

[CJ]

Don't buy cheap shells. I patterned all of them that I could get my hands on last year and will stick with $15 + per box loads or my own hand loads for the rest of my life based on what I saw. The El-cheapo Winchester 100 to a big box universal shell were the worst of the bunch; 30% patterns or slightly under that with a full choke at 35 meters in a 28" circle with dense spots all over the place. I got the same results from several different guns.

I'm scared to even try. Truth is I don't really care. I get plenty of birds. I've considered throwing a ton of badass components (Win AA hulls, quality wads, hot shot, etc.) to see if it really equates to more birds, but truth is when I don't get a bird, it's probably because I missed it. All I really load is buckshot, because that means business.

[svauto-erotic855]

^^^^
That is one way of thinking but ask yourself this. What is your time worth? My free time is so limited that it doesn't make any sense to use it in a half ass way. I am sure that I could buy a live bird for what each shell cost me but shooting them on the fly is what makes it fun. It is also really fun to average less then 2 shells fired per bird killed; your hunting partners will think that you are a god.

[motoman]

Don't buy cheap shells. I patterned all of them that I could get my hands on last year and will stick with $15 + per box loads or my own hand loads for the rest of my life based on what I saw. The El-cheapo Winchester 100 to a big box universal shell were the worst of the bunch; 30% patterns or slightly under that with a full choke at 35 meters in a 28" circle with dense spots all over the place. I got the same results from several different guns.

I'd shoot nothing but Fiocchi Golden Pheasant if they offered this load in 7.5 shot. These promise to be just as good; www.bandpusa.com.

Whatever works for you I guess, but I don't buy it. I've shot everything from the cheapest Federal, Rio, Winchester, and Remington game/target loads and have never had an issue. If I can nail clays and mini clays one after another with cheap shit, a dove won't be any different. If I miss it's because I'm too far behind it or under it, not because of the ammo.

[svauto-erotic855]

I have shot trucks full of the cheap shit also and was never unhappy about it until I decided to see how the stuff patterns. I spent 2 days in a field with all of my favorite shotguns and learned a bunch in the process. The engineer in me demands that I fuck with stuff to get the best results.

[Sleeper]

Shooting a friends reloads deffinatly pattern better and i get extra yardage. I still buy the cheapest crap i can buy and if they are flying good limit in a hour and go home.

If they would let us keep more id get more serious. I think we should be able to keep say 100 birds vaccume sealed and frozen. Dove all year mmmmmm mmm.

[motoman]

Dove all year mmmmmm mmm.

Yes!!!

[YALE]

Shooting a friends reloads deffinatly pattern better and i get extra yardage. I still buy the cheapest crap i can buy and if they are flying good limit in a hour and go home.

If they would let us keep more id get more serious. I think we should be able to keep say 100 birds vaccume sealed and frozen. Dove all year mmmmmm mmm.

Buy farm raised pigeon. It even tastes better, because it hasn't been flying for weeks on end before you shoot it.

[svauto-erotic855]

If they would let us keep more id get more serious. I think we should be able to keep say 100 birds vaccume sealed and frozen. Dove all year mmmmmm mmm.

You can keep more; just not in the same place. I have a freezer at my shop, office, and at home.

[CJ]

That is one way of thinking but ask yourself this. What is your time worth?

Well, that's why I don't reload bird shot. Because my time is worth more than the hours on end it would take fiddling with shot and a turrent shotshell press. It's the only ammo I buy really.

[Cannon88]

I will shoot the cheapest ammo I can find for dove. For ducks I have to use steel, and even the cheap stuff isnt cheap anymore, so I spend a little extra for quality ammo.