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
). 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
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
"It ain't what you don't know that gets you in trouble. It's what you know for sure, that just ain't so"
Mark Twain
