GUNS Magazine December 1958 - Jeffersonian

of the field. Soon a high-Bier came zooming by, right overme. I centered him with the 7lh's, and he bounced intoth e stubble behind me.In two short hours I had kno cked down a limit of birdsand missed that many mor e. The only time I got up wasto retrieve dead dove. A lazy man's sport? Perhaps, butfor shooting action hotter than the weath er, it can' t bebeat. Th at same field paid off for two weeks. The birdsscattered then, but certain water-h oles produced results theentire season.A good water-hole around sundown is just ab out topsfor fast action. If the speedy doves ar e really pouring in,you can pick out th e type of shots that ha ve always beenyour downfall. othing will sharpen your eye like experi ­ence. I used to shoot over a dink y stock pond in our backpasture. Thirsty doves alwa ys came in from the same direction.Th ey stuffed their craws in a mullein patch at thefar end of the pasture ; th en headed for the cool pond .The pond was wedged in a low place at the foot of asharply sloping rise. The little mourners would come peltingdown that slope like bullets. The first two years I shotthere I don't think I averaged over three birds to a box ofshells. But I kept banging away. Now, with luck, I candrop a limit with each box of ammo . It was at this pondI decided that you never shoot ahead of a dove. If youmiss one, the chances are good the chilled 7lh's punchedholes in the air behind th e target.Mourning doves ar e remarkably adaptable. During thehun ting treks I've made I was surprised to find them overmuch of the high western, plateau country .Two years ago I dr ove to Lassen County in northernCalifornia for a crack at th e stately sage-hens. I beganzig-zagging across the great Bats of knee-high sagebrush,all geared up for an exploding chicken. I kept hearinggunfire rattling against the ridges behind me. Finally,un able to contain myself any longer, I got in my pickupand headed in the direction of the shooting. I was positivethat some sage gro use hunters must ha ve found the endof the rainbow.What I found was a freshly harvested wheat field. Icould see nimrods hunkered against piles of the pale, chaffystraw . Suddenly, a pair of doves came swerving towardsone of the hastily improvised blinds. A blue-shirted hunterreared up, knock ing one of the birds spinning. The shootingI had heard were dove hunters enjoying th eir sport onthe high plateaus where you' d (Continued on page 40 )Autoloaders rate high with dove shooters using7 12 shot. Waterhole is good location to hunt.