Opening Day of Dove in S. Alabama

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Opening Day of Dove in S. Alabama

Postby Deltaman » Tue Sep 23, 2014 8:34 am

Our opening day dove crowd started gathering around 11:00 a.m. at a farm in Fairhope, and the grill was already smoking when we arrived. Stuffed peppers, bacon wrapped duck breasts, and several types of sausage were the first victims to be grilled. With the sunny weather, there was no need in baking in the sun until the birds started moving, and the crowd grew as the day progressed. This was a typical southern dove hunt, with many of the surrounding farmers and their families coming together for a day of fun, and the dove hunt was just a bonus! Around 2:30, a few birds started working the field, shots were being fired from other nearby fields, so we headed to our stands. The action started as soon as we reached the hay bales we used for cover, and birds continued streaming into the field. Lots of birds, with a few white-wings and collared doves in the mix. Got a call from one of the surrounding fields around 3:30, letting us know that the Game Warden had just checked them, and was headed our way. You would've thought is was a drug bust the way they skidded into the drive and stormed the field, state, federal, and even some marine police in the mix. The warden that checked me was a federal man, and based on past history, they are usually the hard asses, but this guy was as nice as they come. It was the state wardens that were the hard asses to some of the folks. Several of the hunters had their kids on the stand, and made the mistake of putting all the birds in one bag, and the state boys gave them hell for it (fyi- if hunting with somebody, always separate the birds, they take that shit seriously :shock: ). I watched as one of the state wardens pulled a federal guy aside, and I could hear him saying that he wanted to charge us for baiting, but I heard the federal man say to him "this is Alabama agriculture at it's finest, and perfectly legal". Damn state man was chomping at the bit to write some tickets :evil: As it turned out, no tickets were written, but some of our hunters were grilled and threatened, and their kids came away with a healthy fear of the man. Despite the experience, it was still a great hunt (even though we quit after the warden check :( ), and when we got back to the shed where we gather, a fish fry was in full swing, with Alabama football on the big screen, dropping the hammer on Florida. We ate fresh fried fish and drank cold beer until we were ready to pop, ending the day with a bang before heading back to Mobile. Found out later that two of the surrounding fields were not so fortunate, and were ticketed for baiting :(
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Re: Opening Day of Dove in S. Alabama

Postby quackhead » Tue Sep 23, 2014 11:17 am

That's disappointing to hear! So anyone that dove or waterfowl hunts is baiting because they hunt over their food source?
Glad you had fun other then that
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Re: Opening Day of Dove in S. Alabama

Postby Duckdog » Tue Sep 23, 2014 1:13 pm

That's such bullshit!!
But, believe it or not,...happens pretty frequently!
And they wonder why we don't trust them!!

A guy I know, and his two sons got cited for baiting last year for waterfowl hunting a corn field and there were some ears of corn laying around...
Rotten sonsabitches...
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Re: Opening Day of Dove in S. Alabama

Postby The Duck Hammer » Tue Sep 23, 2014 2:02 pm

Sounds like it was a blast other than the GWs. Never had an issue with the baiting thing even though some of the fields we hunt have piles of grain spilled in them due to clumsy old farmers. :)
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Re: Opening Day of Dove in S. Alabama

Postby Flightstopper » Tue Sep 23, 2014 3:18 pm

Duckdog wrote:That's such
And they wonder why we don't trust them!!


My thoughts exactly
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Re: Opening Day of Dove in S. Alabama

Postby Rick » Tue Sep 23, 2014 7:30 pm

Know there at least was a long tradition of sowing winter wheat for dove season in some parts of the South.
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Re: Opening Day of Dove in S. Alabama

Postby Olly » Tue Sep 23, 2014 7:38 pm

That's some BS Deltaman!
“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” ― Samuel Adams
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Re: Opening Day of Dove in S. Alabama

Postby Duckdog » Tue Sep 23, 2014 8:19 pm

I'd have to fight that one as far as my wallet would allow...
If for no other reason, than just to make the GW look like a dick.

I can't remember where I read it, ( I think it was on a dog forum), but there were a bunch of guys being cited for basically hunting a freshly cut field up in the Northeast somewhere.
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Re: Opening Day of Dove in S. Alabama

Postby Deltaman » Wed Sep 24, 2014 8:16 am

Rick wrote:Know there at least was a long tradition of sowing winter wheat for dove season in some parts of the South.


Yes Rick, that is correct, and is exactly what saved us. The other fields that were ticketed did not top sow wheat. One of them was feeding the birds wild bird seed, and had plowed it under, and the other field that I know of that was ticketed (next door to us), was feeding them brown top millet along the drive and adjoining ditch.
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Re: Opening Day of Dove in S. Alabama

Postby Flightstopper » Wed Sep 24, 2014 8:39 am

Deltaman wrote:
Rick wrote:Know there at least was a long tradition of sowing winter wheat for dove season in some parts of the South.


Yes Rick, that is correct, and is exactly what saved us. The other fields that were ticketed did not top sow wheat. One of them was feeding the birds wild bird seed, and had plowed it under, and the other field that I know of that was ticketed (next door to us), was feeding them brown top millet along the drive and adjoining ditch.


Well yeah, that'll do it.
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