Dove Hunting: Top 7 Tips to Hunt Effectively

Best Dove Hunting TipsDove hunting may seem difficult to beginners but in reality, it is straightforward a simple and most enjoyable activity. Once you learnt the basic of shooting and hitting your target accurately then, believe me, on every pleasant day, you will be in the field to hunt. All it need is to drive to the area and employ the hunting tips and tactics to make an unbeaten dove hunting day. Besides the fact that dove hunting is an attractive bustle, you must have the hunting license and migratory bird permit and do not turn out to be anti-dove by extreme hunting.

Best Dove Hunting Tips

Following dove hunting tips will master you in the field of dove hunting;

1. Observe Dove Habits

Doves are seed-eaters and mostly land and peck on bare ground. Soon after dawn, they fly to watering hole from roost and shortly after that they move to feeding areas. Till afternoon doves linger there perching, watering and feeding nearby. And then flew back to congregation area.

2. Fix Dove Decoys

Placing dove decoys is not a necessary but beautiful tool for deceiving doves. You should exercise it if you are a beginner or there is a low availability of doves in the area. You may purchase shell or full body decoys or even robot-dove decoys. Place several decoys on the ground or near the fence. Tree decoys should be placed high to make them visible from the height.

3. Concealed Position

It is critical to conceal yourself, as doves can quickly identify you due to its keen eyes and high vantage. You must take hidden position or if you are in the open field then wear camo clothing matching your surroundings. This will deceive doves and bring them closer for easy hunting.

4. Perfect Dove Scouting

Hunting doves is a game of patience and good timing. You should not start shooting on seeing any flying dove. Use binoculars for this purpose and scout yourself during their movement. The best timing is before 9 A.M. and after 3 P.M. if you see doves followed by more, then it is the perfect time to shoot.

5. Shotgun Selection

Best Dove Hunting TipsWhile taking a shotgun with you for dove hunting, you should consider the “choke” and “pellet size”. Use modified or improved cylinder choke. It will lessen the difficulty in shooting and also will not crush the tightly targeted dove. Pellets should neither be tiny nor big ones. The well-suggested pellet size is 4s, 5s or 6s. Small pellets lose energy and cannot travel far while the big one will grind the bird if close gunshot.

6. Well-positioned before Shooting

While shooting at targeted dove in the sky, it is important that you are comfortable with your position and gun is well mounted to your shoulder. It is recommended to shoot while sitting but if you are shooting while standing then be flat-foot and do not stand on divot or rough surface. Gunshot jerk or straight looking in the sky would be difficult for you if you are not well-positioned.

7. Accurate Directed Shooting

It is the key tip for any hunting. Your gun should be well in the direction of the bird. If you do not want to miss your shot then keeps these points in mind. If the dove is flying parallel to your leadership, then keep the barrel 6 inches in front of the dove and then shoot. Another scenario may be dove is flying away from you. In this case, you should target it keeping barrel few inches below. The third case may be where dove is landing on the fence, and then aim and shoot accurately holding barrel on it.