September 1st is traditionally the beginning of the hunting season in most states. Here in Kentucky there are probably more people afield on this day that on any single day through the entire season. Most all of them are there to join in one of the fastest, most challenging, most frustrating, yet more rewarding of all hunting days; The Dove Shoot. This day can also be one of the hottest days of the year and September 1, 2026 proved to be such a day.
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| Results from an Oklahoma Dove Shoot - Circa 1980's Also, The only Known Photo of my Old Stevens Model 311 16ga Double Barrel Shotgun (Bottom of Image) |
My alarm went off long before I was ready for it to do so. Even so, that annoying chime provided the nudge I needed to climb out of bed and head out to the dove field. All week long I felt the anticipation building as the days leading up to opening day seemed to drag by. The day broke clear, calm, and already warm long before the sun came up and as I loaded my gear into the back of my Jeep I could see the first blush of dawn filtering through the trees. My last chore before heading out was to fix a cup of coffee which provided a much needed boost to my already elevated sense of anticipation by reducing the sleepy fog that annoyed my first few moments of the morning.
Kentucky has some odd key points to their hunting regulations one of which I have not been able to grasp the reason for. That is on opening day of Dove season, legal shooting time is 11:00am. I suppose they have their reasons for such a rule, but it mattered little for I was heading out early to a location I had used a couple of years before. It is public land and a designated Dove Field often planted with various crops of sunflowers, millet, and other natural food sources dove tend to flock into.The reason for my early start was to hopefully get there early enough to stake out a good shady spot before the anticipated crowds began to filter in. What I discovered almost threw a wrench into my plans.
As I pulled off the back road onto the access road I was surprised to discover the area closed to the public and preserved for a controlled special draw Mentor Hunt provided by the wildlife department for the first 4 days or so of the season. My plans were almost circumvented, but I was not far from another location I had used in the past so I decided to drive over there just to check out the possibilities. Turned out to be a good idea for unknown to me, the state had created another dove field in that area. I discovered the reason they did so, was in conjunction with a special draw Mentor Hunt to provide some relief from the hunting pressure on that first location, but there was a catch.
This new location is also a designated wetlands area and so the regulations require that hunters use non-toxic shot (no lead shot allowed) like steel or bismuth shot. All I had on me was the traditional Dove/Field nbr 8 loads with lead pellets. To make a long story short, I ended up driving all the way home and grabbed the only steel shot I had which were 20+ year old high brass nbr 4 duck loads. Somewhat of overkill for dove, but that was all I had. Actually they proved more of a handicap simply because nbr 4's simply do not have as many pellets, about half, thus reducing the odds of hitting a small flying missile like a dove with his afterburner kicked in. They are better suited for larger birds like ducks.
Thusly prepared, I returned to the dove field well ahead of the legal shooting time and setup within a shady area on the eastern side of the field. As it turned out, I proved myself worthy of being known as the world's worst wingshot. Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed the day pulling out around 2:30pm when the heat of the day began to rise into the near intolerable range and the shooting action tapered off. I met and talked to several other hunters and probably prevented several of them from potentially getting fined for they too knew not of the steel shot regulation and had to scramble to obtain some before shooting time. All in all, it was a great opening day of the hunting season, a day which stirred back into life many memories of dove hunts from my past.
Those many September 1st opening days from years past in Oklahoma have become some of the best memories. My good friends Ralph and Rocky, along with my brother Ken would converge at Rocky's place before sunrise and then head out to the location we simply called 'Out at Morris' for a morning of fast paced shooting action. When the sun got up high in the sky and the temperatures climbed even higher, we'd pull out for a mid-day break and then head back out there later that evening until sundown. Seems I was a much better shot back then and would often limit out or at least approach a daily limit. I really miss that old Stevens Model 311 16ga Double Barrel shotgun for it was a sweet shooting dove and quail gun (see the image above). The sights. The sounds. The aroma of dew-wet field grass. The anticipation. The excitement. Then, all the around the campfire stories those mornings provided are priceless pieces of my personal history. They are some of the best 'Beyond the Campfire' moments and too many of them I have missed in recent years.
Being well into my retirement years provides me with ample time to once again enjoy such moments. Even so, I have failed to do so way more often than I should have. Plus, those early morning rises. The hotter than tolerable late summer heat waves. And the lack of being able to hit the proverbial broadside of a red barn, has dampened my enthusiasm somewhat, but not eliminated it. Making this most recent outing has rekindled to some degree that enthusiasm, and I do plan on getting out another time or two this season...after I obtain a couple of boxes of field and dove load nbr 8's steel shot shotgun shells.
