Dove Opener 2022

 RePhil, Davey, Michael and I left Mulberry @ 5:15 am on Thursday, September 1 - opening day for mourning doves in Indiana.  We drove down to the SW of Clinton, Indiana to some private ground that used to be a strip mine.  Reclaimed it's now a camping ground, lake, and hunting area.  It took us 2 hours to get there.

We arrived at 7:15 and the doves were already on the gravel.  We parked the truck and RePhil had to get rid of some coffee while the rest of us unloaded the truck.  The doves could not help themselves, they just kept coming in.

We set up the decoys right at the edge of the gravel / grass area, sadly facing into the sun.  Davey and RePhil walked about 20 yards South to the campers and used them as "cover."  Michael sat next to the boat and I just plopped my bucket down right next to the truck - using the tailgate to hold my "beverages."

And boy did the doves come!  In flocks of 20, 30, 40 and 50 - dive bombing the decoys.  We could not keep our guns loaded.  RePhil limited out.  Davey not quite.  And Michael and I split another 15 or so.  Davey estimated that if Michael and I would have been in his and RePhil's location, we could have limited out.  Those other two went through 2 boxes of shells each (25 round boxes x 2 = 50 shells x 2 hunters = 100 rounds!) to get 24 birds.  Michael and I did not shoot 25 times each.  But you know what?  We all had fun!

What worked for us is that there was a crop-dusting helicopter flying around and some other hunters across the way.  These two things kept the birds flying - at least until 8:45 - because after that, there were no more shots.  So we snacked on deer salami and then headed into New Goshen for lunch at 11.  After lunch, Davey and Michael fished while RePhil and I napped.  We left at 2 pm.

Davey and I cleaned all the birds - 39 in all.  Good opening day!


MPK unloading the truck while RePhil relieves himself of some coffee.
Note the tint in this photo as the sun is just coming up.

Davey "helping" RePhil tie his boots

The spread for me and MPK.  Two Mojo decoys and several stills on the ground.

MPK "hiding" by the boat - I took this picture from my bucket near the tailgate of the truck.
You can just see the campers around the boat - that's where Davey and RePhil are hunting.
In fact, that's Davey out there picking up some birds (center of photo).
Yes, we are hunting very close to one another!

That's dove blood on the truck.
Michael shot a dove coming right to left - as it fell, it bounced off the truck leaving this mark.


The day's haul.  That'll be some good eatin'!



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