Trad. dove hunting?

[moleman]

In my state there are very, limited oppotunities for bird hunting of any kind, except for Doves which are plentiful. Just wondering if any of you have tried it with trad. gear.

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

Never tried it myself but guys on here say not to use flu-flus as doves are apparently fast enough to dodge them once they hear the fletching

[moleman]

I can believe that! Seems like they have sonar when im wingshooting with my old Browning A-5.  

I know of a guy on another forum that I frequent that kills a few out of the air each year. I love to bowhunt for anything that is legal so I tried it a couple times this year. I have shot pheasant out of the air and feel pretty good about my chances on one of those hunts. I went dove hunting 3 different times with my longbow this year and have yet to come close to endangering the life of a dove. Them suckers are FAST!!!!!!. It has become a challenge now and I will keep trying until I get one. One of the things I learned this year is flu-flus slow the arow down too fast. Next year i will try to find an open grain field where I can shoot regular fletched arrows. I will also try the mojo decoys.

Bisch

[rastaman]

I cheat. I shoot them off the ground or out of trees.  

[instinctivebowman]

i have taken 2 in ten years,  missed  hundreds. We have an archery product specific to small birds. The dove buster it will pluck them out of the air if you can manage to hit one,The DB gives you a little more room for error. I have been trying to kill a quail with it for 7 years, i have missed more than a hundred. ive had hunting partners kill them but i cant seem to get it done, we have a new lightweight 4 wire product geared more towards quail that we are getting ready to put online pretty soon

i prefer to use regular fletch arrows or at least a hybrid feather to increase speed


x2 on bisch with the mojo, the closer the better

moleman, slide over to central il and hunt pheasant with us, check out my site. we have a guided pheasant bowhunt. its cheap if you have a few friends go in on it with you
jeremy

[JamesKerr]

Never tried it but imagine it would be a fun challenge.

[tuscarawasbowman]

Tried shooting them off the ground this year. Didn't kill any but I did give one a pedicure...

[Izzy]

Like Rasta Man, the ground or treed is much more effective. Its fun but not as much as watching your arrow fly within centimeters of hitting one on the wing.

         I remember someone posted pics here a while back of some trad doves. We cant hunt them here in NY, theyre a symbol of peace says my governor.    

[jonathan creason]

Dang, I have to shoot a whole box of shells to get enough for a snack.  I'd be one hungry fella with the longbow.

[Dimondback]

I would love to try it....but....the public field where I have my only opportunity to hunt has a dude on a bucket about every 20 yards and it is like WW3. I think "peppering" folks with my arrows would go over well.  :D

[Troy Breeding]

Tried it one time. I picked a spot in the field that none of the gunners wanted. After about 30 minutes of heavy shooting I heard something behind me and turned to see a conservation officer standing behind me.

His first words were  "what the heck are you doing".

I replied "dove hunting"

I thought he was going to fall down laughing.

Didn't even check to see if I had proper lics. Just walked off laughing.

Troy

[straitera]

Tried wing shooting dove w/my lb a few times. Tried shooting airborne aspirins also. Now when I think about hunting dove w/my lb, I take an aspirin. Closest I've come to killing either one. Admire folks that can though.

[tradbower]

Heck I can barely hit em with a shotgun  

[Troy Breeding]

Later that evening after the field closed I was talking with some of the other hunters (or should I say getting a lot of ribbing from the others) when the same offices came back by.

When he saw me he started laughing again. After finally have his laugh he stated "I was watching the field from a distance when all of a sudden I'd see something yellow go up and come back down. In a few minutes I'd see the yellow go up and come back down again. I had to check it out."

He checked everyone else for dove count and lics, but never checked me. hehehehe!

Troy

[xtrema312]

I have done extensive clay target shooting and dove hunting.  Those birds can mess with a very competent shooter when they get all wound up.  Best thing to do is get a decoy or three. Set up on an area where they are not pressured, and wait on those low and slow birds coming in to set and feed.  Keep hid and draw slow.  I have never bow hunted them, but I have had them float in like a butterfly and land within feet of me.

Now if you just want to go frustrate yourself, try to shoot them in a field full of guns.  They can reverse direction and be 10' away faster than the string leaves your fingers.  You would be better off shooting bats. That I have tried with bow. Fun, but nothing to show for the effort.

[PaddyMac]

I have killed many doves with my Ruger Red Label longbow, but the thought of doing it with my Bob Lee recurve seems a little futile unless I can catch them napping.

But to the original premise about bird hunting in Indiana, here:

 http://www.ultimatepheasanthunting.com/USA/Indiana/directory/

Released pheasants are more my speed.

[Thumper Dunker]

Only got one but I also cheated ,was sitting in a tree. Im having a hard time getting a crow.

Iowa's first dove season, i got three off of old telegraph wires of an abandoned rail line while deer hunting, missed a couple that were at about 45 yards out that were passing, by about 15 yards. Got one that was coming straight at me with about a ten yard shot, I think it was planning on landing in the tree branch that was above me. Jumped a few out of a weedy patch in a picked bean field every day for three days straight, missed one shot at them three days in a row, about a foot late every shot.

[ishoot4thrills]

Originally posted by Troy Breeding:
Tried it one time. I picked a spot in the field that none of the gunners wanted. After about 30 minutes of heavy shooting I heard something behind me and turned to see a conservation officer standing behind me.

His first words were  "what the heck are you doing".

I replied "dove hunting"

I thought he was going to fall down laughing.

Didn't even check to see if I had proper lics. Just walked off laughing.

Troy