Dove Hunting Shotgun and Shells
Cooler mornings signal the coming of dove season and for wingshooters everywhere it is a happy time indeed. Dove hunting has been a long-standing tradition for many hunters and the milder weather makes for a good time afield with family and friends. Your favorite shotgun has been cleaned many times leading up to opening morning and is already in the truck. A vest packed with a few boxes of Federal shotgun shells and a bucket packed with ice, cold drinks, and a ham sandwich, is all you need for a day of dove hunting.
The Right Shotgun for Dove Hunting
Choosing a shotgun should be a personal endeavor. While most dove hunters may not own a shotgun specifically for hunting doves, choosing the best one for the dove field can make a huge difference after a day afield. Pick the shotgun that is most comfortable and easy to shoulder with a good check weld. Dove hunting requires quick shots and a shotgun that doesn’t move smoothly into position for the shot can make for a frustrating day in the dove field.
The 12-gauge semi-automatic shotgun is the most popular among dove hunters, even though I’ve personally watched a hunter knock down dove after dove with a .410. There is always a showoff or two in the group, but the 12-gauge shotgun will probably always dominate the dove hunting fields. With so much more bang for your buck, the 12-gauge load will win out most of the time when hunting doves. However, with the advanced materials in today’s shotshells, the 20-gauge and 28-gauge are close behind.
Practice Shooting Your Shotgun
Don’t wait until the big day to reacquaint yourself with old Bessy. Get to the range and shoot a little to prepare. Shooting skeet, trap, and 5-gun at the range will prepare you for hunting doves, and it’s a lot of fun. Choose a quality dove load like the Federal Ultra Clay & Field and stick with it. Practicing with the same shells you plan to hunt doves with is vital and will make a difference. The range is a great place to practice your follow through and angle shots and make sure that your shotgun is functioning well.
If you don’t have access to a range, there are some things you can do to prepare for hunting doves right in your backyard. I remember, as a boy, my dad bought a clay thrower so that we could practice for dove and quail. It was so much fun that we found ourselves setting up the thrower all year long just to shoot some clays. A clay thrower is a great way to practice at home if you have the place. Whether you use a simple hand thrower like the MTM EZ-Double Throw or a portable clay thrower like the Allen Claymaster you can hone your shooting skills at home before hitting the field to hunt doves.
The Right Dove Hunting Shotgun Shells
There are many different load sizes built with different materials for shotgun shells today. You could probably write a small book about the options available today, so I will keep it simple. Shotgun shells in sizes #7 ½ and #8 are the most popular size of shotshells for hunting doves. Affordability becomes a factor when it takes between 5 and 7 shots per dove killed. A very affordable option for hunting doves as well as shooting clays is Federal Ultra Clay & Field shotshells.
The Federal Ultra Clay and Field shotshells have become a popular choice for hunting doves. The more than capable shotgun shell is the perfect choice for the range and the field, as the name implies. You can have fun practicing at the range or in your backyard, then take the same shells to the dove field and be confident that they will get the job done. Federal Ultra Clay & Field provides plenty of muzzle velocity to maintain power downrange.
The Right Choke Tube for Dove Hunting
The purpose of a shotgun choke tube is to compress the shot leaving the barrel. This compression gives you a different pattern and/or performance downrange. Choosing the right choke tube for dove hunting will depend on the situation where you are hunting. If you are hunting doves early in the season, when they haven’t been shot at, a skeet choke or improved cylinder choke tube will quickly open the spread of pellets downrange. This larger spread of pellets at close range will help you hit more doves during the early season or when hunting less pressured doves.
In contrast to early season dove hunting, the late season can present a more challenging shot. Anyone that has hunted doves during the late season has experienced the changes in flight pattern and speed that a dove takes to come into a field to feed. Doves tend to avoid the field edges and fly faster and more erratic as they come in. This is when a modified choke or even a full choke might be better than a skeet or improved. The longer shots require a tighter group so that there are enough pellets left in the group when making those late season shots when the doves are further away and flying erratic.
