Louisiana is not the stellar Dove State, although we have every species of Dove there is. This is a hunt I really like but only seldom over the years do I find a decent place to hunt, seems like I get a good shoot about every 5 years.
You can hunt doves with just about any sporting type shotgun. The standard for Louisiana is a 12 gauge Duck Gun. Waterfowl hunting is big here so few own a special light shotgun just for Doves, except me of course I have two.
I was forced last year to use my Remington 1100 12 ga because the one place that had doves required no toxic shot as it was a waterfowl refuge. I found other hunters having good luck but I wouldn’t know, I only got one shot all day.
My normal Dove gun is a Browning A-5 light 20 which I’m not about to shoot steel shot through. Most recently I purchased a Yildiz 410 double, about as light and fast as you can get. Fast and light is what you need, other wise it doesn’t really matter if your shooting 7 1/2s, 8s or 9s.
As far as shells I use what operates the gun the best as a Semi-Automatic, especially an old one, can get finicky. With the 410 bore its 7 1/2s and a lot of luck. My old Dove Hunting partner down in Beeville Texas, Bill Franklin is the most accomplished Dove Wing Shot I ever saw. I can get close but sometimes I like to just watch my old friend shoot.
Bill was griping about the high cost of 16 ga shells and I found 410 shells to be just as aggravatingly expensive. So chances are when I fire up the first box of 410 bore shells I will break out the 20 gauge.
There are a lot of things I will be talking about in a Feature ODU Dove Hunt, but now its time to think about getting ready and reminiscing old times. I hope Billy reads this I would really like to go down to Beeville for a real Dove Hunt, it would be worth the trip to hunt with an old friend and to …Pass it on.