Popping The Poopers

[gunsup0331]

My neighbor asked me if i could do something about the doves crapping on his car  
 So this morning I got up early and did some pest control :)



Shots were 25-30yds, hits were all body shots, i dont really trust the Quest for head shots past 20yds.  All the birds dropped instantly from massive trauma to their vitals so i considered them clean kills. The most damage came from a wing shot which mustve put some wobble on the Gamo Magnum (8.3g) as it traveled through the bird, the exit was pretty messy!   I considered prepping/eating them, but a country-boy friend of mine said i shouldnt eat city birds :(

All in all not bad for a quick 6am front porch hunting trip

[only1harry]

Good shooting.  4 mourning doves before most people have their morning coffee is pretty darn good!

I have a pair or mourning doves living in my spruce for about 10yrs now (could be their offspring - don't even know if they live that long) and leave them alone ever since I saw how the mother protect one of the young ones that had fallen out of the nest or had attempted to take its first flight and was on the lawn.  She guided it to the bushes in front of my house and then stayed with it all day and night until it was able to fly again the next morning.  She 'd fly back and forth to the nearest tree to encourage it to do the same, and finally the next morning it flew right to her and then they flew together back to the nest.  The young one was lucky to have made it that long with the neighborhood cats around. They migrate south during the winter and amaze me how they find their nest and come back to my spruce every year, so I don't bother them.  This is the first year the Starlings which seem to have grown in #'s recently, stole their nest so the doves moved to a tall maple tree in my back yard.  They also stole 2 robin's nests and the Mocking bird's.  So this year I 've declared war on all Starlings and Grackles :)

[Progun]

Excellent shooting there Brandon.Pull the breast out of those city Doves, wrap a piece of bacon around and secure with a toothpick and grill 'em till the bacon is done and you will put to rest your country boy friends  theory about city birds not being good to eat.

[longislandhunter]

I agree,,,, fine shooting for sure and go ahead and cook those birds,,,,, they'll be delicious....

Jeff

[shadow]

Do I smell Dove cookin lol, great shootin and pic and as Jeff said ......GREAT EATING!. Ed

[only1harry]

Yep dove tastes pretty good.  It's not by chance that they are most widely hunted and eaten bird in the US (in the tens of millions).

[gunsup0331]

Well then  Next time I will definitely try cooking (grilling w/bacon sounds Gooood) these bad boys!!
 Dont have too many Grackles around here but there are some monstrous crows in a tree a few houses over, im just waiting for one to come within shooting range :)

[gamo2hammerli]

Excellent....4 birds in one early morning sitting.  I've got a Storm XT....same as a Quest....and haven't used it for hunting yet....it's very accurate up to 15 meters.  Soon.........

[daveshoot]

I have given doves a pass... never liked the meat as much as quail, and they don't cause trouble in the gardens. Nothing against those who choose to remove them! I have shot plenty in the past and eaten  'em.
They are just on my personal protection list here in the yard.

Actually I feel kinda sorry for anything that stupid and defenseless. There is another family living in my sun porch now. Unfortunately for them, that is about mid range to my target, but they have actually gotten used to the shooting. I was shooting over the chrony this morning about 8 ft from the nest, and it just watched me.

In the past I have watched them lose young, usually as they start to learn to fly, to both cats and crows. I don't get a lot of those species in the yard any more. It pays to have a pass.