| Now's the time to prepare for dove season |
Outdoors 2
| Frankfort, Ky. – Nothing humbles a hunter like dove season. Your shotgun’s barrel grows hot as shell after shell falls to the ground. Empty boxes stack up along with empty hulls. Alas, far fewer doves meet this fate. At the end of the day, even an experienced hunter may not bag a limit. “Doves are harder than clay targets to hit because you have varying angles and they can change directions and speeds,” said Major David Casey, assistant director of Law Enforcement for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “Most people don’t lead them enough.” If you’d like to improve your chances in the field this year, now is the time to start practicing. Skeet and sporting clays provide good practice for dove shooting. But an inexpensive trap thrower and a friend are all you really need to hone your skills. “Anything that lets you practice high, fast-flying overhead targets would be good,” said Casey. “You can set up a portable trap on a high bank and let somebody throw the targets high over your head.” On the skeet and sporting clays ranges, change up the rules to provide more challenging practice. Call for targets with your gun held low rather than pre-mounted. Ask a friend to delay the target release so you don’t know when the bird will be launched. “If you miss the first two birds, add three feet to your lead,” Casey recommended. “Don’t shoot where the bird is – shoot where it’s going to be. The vast majority of the time when people miss, they’re shooting behind.” The speed of the shells you choose can affect your success. Select a higher velocity shell, usually with No. 7 1/2 or 8 size shot. The faster shot will reduce the distance necessary to lead your target, eliminating some guess work and likely putting more birds in your bag. “You’ll shoot better with a faster shell because you’re not shooting behind the bird,” said Casey. “But you can fix that by leading them. Better shells aren’t that big of a deal.” Lastly, make sure your gun fits. A quick jump-shot on a dove is a lot harder to make if you’re struggling to get your gun in position. Check your gun’s stock length and make sure it is neither too long nor too short. For a quick stock-length check to get you close, bend your arm into a right angle and place your stock sideways in the crook of your elbow. With the stock lying along the inside of your forearm, extend your index finger and line it up with the trigger. The trigger should hit right at the first joint of your finger. If this joint extends beyond the trigger, you may need a longer stock. If it falls short, you may need a shorter stock. Minor stock-length problems can be fixed with a thinner or thicker butt pad, but you may need to take your gun to a gunsmith for major fixes. Also check the stock height to make sure your eye sees straight down the barrel when you shoulder the gun. You should see nothing but the gun’s sight bead when you look down the barrel. If you can’t see the sight bead with your cheek seated firmly on the stock, the comb, or top of the stock, may be too low. You can build the comb up inexpensively, using layers of closed-cell foam and two-sided tape. With a better gun fit and some good old-fashioned practice, solid hits on those speedy and elusive opening-day targets will more likely be the norm than the exception. Kentucky’s dove season traditionally opens September 1. Be sure to check the 2008 Kentucky Dove Hunting Guide, available in mid- August, for confirmed season dates. The guide will be available wherever hunting licenses are sold and on the department’s website at fw.ky.gov. |