WB
Here in the South it's a fantastic tradition
Friday, July 01, 2022, 08:01

Dove are the first season of the year around Sept. 1. You basically find a food or water source and set on a bucket and wait for the sun to rise, or set. It's being alone in the quiet, or with a well organized group of friends with a pre or post hunt meal. One can have both experiences easily in a season.

It's a genuine reflective experience and the gun is not everything but it sure can add zest to the effort. I remember the 10" TC experiment, a DB 11 bore blackpowder time, my Winchester M24 12 with 26" barrels and some skeet #9 loads was magic. Last good time I tried to relive my earliest experience with my old replacement Stevens 5100 16 ga. double. I conjured up some real purple hulled Federals just for the occasion. I only got like 3 birds from that box of ammo but was well pleased with that. However I had such a headache that I had to drive home with my one eye covered, it hurt so bad. I thought I disconnected my brain. The little double is not light at 7 lbs. but the 1-1/8 oz. loads are the full equivalent of a 12 on a 20 ga. chassis. I should have used 7/8 or 1 oz. cheap Wal-mart Remingtons. But they have a black plastic hull and it was just not the same.

Anyway I did relive the time in the field with my Dad and his friends, swinging and missing those birds, a pile of purple hulls around my feet.