Nebraska Dove hunting

[Bill]

Well the Nebraska Dove opener is today. I work. So how did the rest of you do that were able to enjoy the dove opener.
I took Molly out for her morning constitution and in the 20 minute walk we heard around 20 shots or so and it was only just light out so someone was having a good time.

[klsm54]

We can't hunt doves until noon here in PA. Unsporting, or so they say, to shoot when they seem to be grouped up early in the day. Of course it wouldn't be the only law we have that makes no sense...

[Bill]

Mexico would love it if we took at least double the numbers of Doves that we do. The Doves are eating their crops.
Mexico is wanting us to reset our dove seasons so that they can cut down on the problem a bit but it has to be done by a NAFTA meeting and voted on but its going to cost 6 Million to set up the meeting and the vote and Mexico won't spend the money to do it. Too bad as I would love to hunt doves about 2 weeks earlier.

[jimiowa]

klsm54 said:

We can't hunt doves until noon here in PA. Unsporting, or so they say, to shoot when they seem to be grouped up early in the day. Of course it wouldn't be the only law we have that makes no sense...

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger Scott. After Iowa Congress aproved a dove season and the DNR set a season, the bird watchers got an injunction to stop our season.
They are protected as songbirds.

[dovehunter]

This was the worst opening weekend (Saturday & yesterday) that I can remember over the last several years. There were birds everywhere until the season came in. On Saturday five of us killed exactly one bird. I didn't even fire my gun yesterday and don't think I even saw enough birds to make up a 12-bird limit. Hopefully the situation will improve - it can't get much worse. How'd the rest of you do?

[Bill]

It wasn't my greatest dove hunt of the century but it was adequate.
I started hunting on a 1/2 section of ground that was typical western Nebraska. It looked like a pool table. One redeeming value it had was a shelter belt about 150 yds long. In the middle of it was two oil wells that weren't operating. Seeing as how these were the only things sticking up higher than 16"s all the doves in the area congregated to them. Good shooting for about 15 minutes. Then the lady that lived across the road and down a bit came out and started screaming "You GXXDxM SOB's go shoot in your own back yard. And she didn't stop screaming this. About the only words I could understand were the swear words. I think she was foaming at the mouth too. I had already set out my decoys so I thought, Just ignore her. Doves kept coming into the tree's and I'm set up on the opposite side of the shelter belt from where the road is and she has a shelter belt on her side of the road and her house is on the other side of that. SO what does she do when I don't quit shooting. She gets her car out and drives out onto the road and starts playing her car stereo as loud as she can. Even hollers at me "How do you like that" So another bird comes in and I shoot it and I now have three birds in the bag and what does she do? She starts honking her horn. Well by this time I am getting aggravated and just a bit stressed so when the next bird comes in I missed it. Easy shots. Miss the next one and it also is an easy shot. Grumble grumble honk honk is how its going now. Well she got her way. I packed up and left. I found out later that I wasn't the first one that this had happened to. I guess that it doesn't make any difference whether its her property or not she don't like hunters and so anyone that hunts on that property gets harassed and NO one better ask permission on her property either.

I went home with 3 birds in hand for the morning to research the area for some more CRP ground without a anti hunter living next to it. I went out again in the afternoon and found a section of CRP ground that was full of sunflowers and hemp and not one single tree on the place. After driving around it and looking it over I did see one thing. A John Deere combine sitting in the middle of a long 80 acres. About 50 yds in from the road. It was in the mid 90's and hot so I grabbed my Dove seat with the cooler inside and headed for it. Smart move as I had pretty decent shooting the rest of the day. The kid with me was having a bad day and not getting his leads down right and was missing just about everything he shot at so about 50% of the birds that came in got away. It also seemed that the majority of them came around his side of the combine. So the few that came around my side I got to shoot and ended up with a total of 7 birds for myself for the day. I didn't complain.

[deputydon]

Bill there IS a law to handle the woman!!!!

[Bill]

The worst part about the whole thing D-D is that she OWNS the land I was hunting on.
Found that out yesterday when checking into what could be done about her. I also found out I wasn't the first person that she has done this to.
Some of the guys have learned to use her. They go set in the center of the property and start shooting. Not really at anything in particular really, just shoot a few times. She comes out and starts her tirade and driving up and down the road. In doing this she chases the doves out of the shelter belt and they go to the oil well sheds which you set next to. You then have really good shooting and she is ALMOST far enough away to be able to almost ignore her. ;D
Myself personally, I think that she needs to be reported for harassment and have her extra money taken away she is being paid for letting people hunt on her property along with her CRP payment.