1 Sept marks the start of a lot of shooting sports in the US. Early goose (resident Canadas), dove, archery deer, etc….
I was fortunate to spend the 1st with a friend shooting doves over a mowed sunflower field. Plenty of shooting and work for the little black dog. To help you understand, our mourning doves occupy somewhat of the same niche as your wood pigeons, except that dove shoots are more social affairs, almost like your driven grouse/pheasant. A good day sees limits and lots of camaraderie, and the 1st defiantly was that.
Seeing as it’s a well attended day, the game wardens are also out in force. Their role is checking licenses, as well as legality of equipment. For the law abiding this is just part of the game, for the idiots this is a chance to “loan” your gun to the state should it be unplugged, or perhaps to make a generous donation if licenses or shells are not in compliance,
That said, for me the best was yet to come. Checking my phone in the field I found I was also drawn for a special hunt inside the fence of an inactive military base known to house exceptional bucks. Better, the draw date was during the expected rut.
To top it off, a few days later I was able to use my airline miles and book my trip back to the highlands this fall. Six weeks from now I’ll be taking the long plane ride to the giant duty free shop in London, then connect and head north. The only unknown is that due to schedules I couldn’t get a flight into Inverness , and instead will be flying into Aberdeen, But that give me an excuse to make at least a drive by visit to Balmoral and Cairngorms.
October can’t get here fast enough.
I was fortunate to spend the 1st with a friend shooting doves over a mowed sunflower field. Plenty of shooting and work for the little black dog. To help you understand, our mourning doves occupy somewhat of the same niche as your wood pigeons, except that dove shoots are more social affairs, almost like your driven grouse/pheasant. A good day sees limits and lots of camaraderie, and the 1st defiantly was that.
Seeing as it’s a well attended day, the game wardens are also out in force. Their role is checking licenses, as well as legality of equipment. For the law abiding this is just part of the game, for the idiots this is a chance to “loan” your gun to the state should it be unplugged, or perhaps to make a generous donation if licenses or shells are not in compliance,
That said, for me the best was yet to come. Checking my phone in the field I found I was also drawn for a special hunt inside the fence of an inactive military base known to house exceptional bucks. Better, the draw date was during the expected rut.
To top it off, a few days later I was able to use my airline miles and book my trip back to the highlands this fall. Six weeks from now I’ll be taking the long plane ride to the giant duty free shop in London, then connect and head north. The only unknown is that due to schedules I couldn’t get a flight into Inverness , and instead will be flying into Aberdeen, But that give me an excuse to make at least a drive by visit to Balmoral and Cairngorms.
October can’t get here fast enough.
