Steve Sutton
Well-known member
Missed the "Official Sept. 1" Dove and Grouse opener but not the follow on weekend.
Mike and I headed East and North last Friday in hopes that there would be Doves in place on the high wheat.
We arrived to find the area DRY as you can tell by the photo:
Except for those areas where the sprinklers were going
Cooler this year than the last couple but still warm enough so that some shade was nice...we got there a little early so after 45
minutes or so of not seeing anything I was already starting to think I'd made a long drive for a waterhaul....nothing to do but wait to see
for sure...an hour later I had a pair of Mourning Doves and then looked up to see what I would have sworn was a pair of Whitewings
heading my way. Bigger and more direct in their flight than Mourning Doves. I managed to double on the pair and was still unsure that I
hadn't just killed not only a single, but a double, on Whitewings when Mike brought the first one in....
I could see the collar on the first bird before he made it back and it suddenly dawned on me that they weren't WhiteWings but Eurasian
Collared Doves. I'd seen a couple in the last year or so and even heard of a few people shooting them but sure wasn't expecting one,
much less a pair of them.
Mike was pleased....
and being the considerate young man that he is mentioned how neat it would have been for Aspen to have been there so that she could have
retrieved the second one to add to her "life list"....
he didn't mention how neat it would have been for you to have shot the one that Aspen retrieved so I'll have to "assume" that he was
planning on me shooting them both and you just acting as the agent by which Aspen's company was being enjoyed.....
As it got a little later it became obvious that we were off the main flight line and "for once" in my life I moved rather than trying to will
the birds to change an established flight pattern....(in reality it was seeing a half a dozen more "bigger doves" flying a power line that
made me move...from that range I couldn't tell for sure that they were also Eurasians but they were sure "bigger" and that was enough to prompt a move....As you can see they are almost twice the size of Mourning Doves.....
The move turned out to be a good one and I picked up another Collared Dove and filled out the rest of my Mourning Dove limit, (neat that the
Eurasians don't count against the regular limit), and Mike said that he enjoyed the elevated and more comfortable than rock seating arrange-
ments as well....
Saturday evening found us under the same flyway early enough to catch the bulk of the flight. Had another pair of Collared Doves fly over
and I would have doubled on them except that I missed the first shot, and then saw three more before calling it quits.....
Started working our way home on Sunday a.m. looking for Grouse. No Blues in the first spot but we did see a good number of Mule Deer....
In fact, if Grouse were as common as Mule Deer seem to be this year we'd all need to buy a couple of extra freezers....
Gave up on locating the Blues and went to a favorite Ruffed spot and found both them and the first changing leaves of the season and ended
up with a pair of juveniles and a real sweetheart of an adult Red Phase bird.....
Mike wanted me to be sure to advise you that if you try to bag out on the Quail openere that he and I will be making a loop to your
house to pick up Aspen and to make sure that not only you, but also ALL of your neighbors, know how neglecful you are as a parent...
You should also be advised that once Aspen is in our possession you will have trouble reclaiming her....both from Mike and myself
and I'm sure Aspen as well since you appear not to be planning on taking her out again...
Steve
Mike and I headed East and North last Friday in hopes that there would be Doves in place on the high wheat.
We arrived to find the area DRY as you can tell by the photo:
Except for those areas where the sprinklers were going
Cooler this year than the last couple but still warm enough so that some shade was nice...we got there a little early so after 45
minutes or so of not seeing anything I was already starting to think I'd made a long drive for a waterhaul....nothing to do but wait to see
for sure...an hour later I had a pair of Mourning Doves and then looked up to see what I would have sworn was a pair of Whitewings
heading my way. Bigger and more direct in their flight than Mourning Doves. I managed to double on the pair and was still unsure that I
hadn't just killed not only a single, but a double, on Whitewings when Mike brought the first one in....
I could see the collar on the first bird before he made it back and it suddenly dawned on me that they weren't WhiteWings but Eurasian
Collared Doves. I'd seen a couple in the last year or so and even heard of a few people shooting them but sure wasn't expecting one,
much less a pair of them.
Mike was pleased....
and being the considerate young man that he is mentioned how neat it would have been for Aspen to have been there so that she could have
retrieved the second one to add to her "life list"....
he didn't mention how neat it would have been for you to have shot the one that Aspen retrieved so I'll have to "assume" that he was
planning on me shooting them both and you just acting as the agent by which Aspen's company was being enjoyed.....
As it got a little later it became obvious that we were off the main flight line and "for once" in my life I moved rather than trying to will
the birds to change an established flight pattern....(in reality it was seeing a half a dozen more "bigger doves" flying a power line that
made me move...from that range I couldn't tell for sure that they were also Eurasians but they were sure "bigger" and that was enough to prompt a move....As you can see they are almost twice the size of Mourning Doves.....
The move turned out to be a good one and I picked up another Collared Dove and filled out the rest of my Mourning Dove limit, (neat that the
Eurasians don't count against the regular limit), and Mike said that he enjoyed the elevated and more comfortable than rock seating arrange-
ments as well....
Saturday evening found us under the same flyway early enough to catch the bulk of the flight. Had another pair of Collared Doves fly over
and I would have doubled on them except that I missed the first shot, and then saw three more before calling it quits.....
Started working our way home on Sunday a.m. looking for Grouse. No Blues in the first spot but we did see a good number of Mule Deer....
In fact, if Grouse were as common as Mule Deer seem to be this year we'd all need to buy a couple of extra freezers....
Gave up on locating the Blues and went to a favorite Ruffed spot and found both them and the first changing leaves of the season and ended
up with a pair of juveniles and a real sweetheart of an adult Red Phase bird.....
Mike wanted me to be sure to advise you that if you try to bag out on the Quail openere that he and I will be making a loop to your
house to pick up Aspen and to make sure that not only you, but also ALL of your neighbors, know how neglecful you are as a parent...
You should also be advised that once Aspen is in our possession you will have trouble reclaiming her....both from Mike and myself
and I'm sure Aspen as well since you appear not to be planning on taking her out again...
Steve
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