Fast Food - the Sport

[Charley]

Great dove hunting this weekend. Season opened here this weekend. That is really fast food. Lots of birds - the guys who I shoot with did a great job of setting up the fields.

I've had to miss the opening weekend for the last several years as family obligations required a trip to the lake. Not this year.

Shooting was good on both Saturday and Sunday. Limits both days. Birds in the freezer for some time in the fall when we can have a great dove cook-off contest.

Only hickup was with the Beretta 12 ga. autoloader. The pin that holds the trigger group in the gun dropped out. The trigger group got loose and wanted to slip out also - causing a misalignment in the feeding mechanism. I wasn't hitting very well with it anyway.

Put the little Beretta 20 ga. O/U into service. Only two shots with a lot fewer pellets in the load. Should have been a pretty big handicap - got more birds with fewer misses using it though. Hope I can do as well with it later this afternoon.

Remember guys - if you want to eat, you have to kill.

 

[Huntsman]

I was playing with a Beretta o/u 20 the other day -- it was so lithe and balanced. Stacked tubes are so much more elegant than any autoroller.

Good Hunting,
Huntsman

 

[Charley]

Had the first ones for dinner Saturday night. Nine of us. Cooked about 75 doves. Marianated them in italian dressing overnight. Then removed the breasts from the bone. Put a slice of jalapeno pepper between the breast halves, and wrapped pretty tight with a half slice of bacon and scewered with a toothpick. Then on to the charcoal grill.

Gosh darned, they were just as good as I remembered from last year. The fresh pepper in the wrap was not too hot, just a bit of flavor added. And the charcoal grilling made them a bit more interesting.

Maybe there will be a few more days - weather has really turned though. I believe most of them have since moved on south. Still waiting on a part for the 12 ga. Last time I was out with the 20 I shot miserably. Poor location in the field, facing the sun. First two shots I got two birds - one with each barrell. Then things really went to pot. Lots of shells, few birds down. Need to practice, practice, practice.

Good luck to all the dove hunters.

 

[Kent Wang]

Does dove taste like pigeon?

 

[Charley]

I've never eaten pigeon so I cannot offer a comparison.

However, the way these doves were prepared with Italian marianade, bacon wrap with pepper, and cooked over charcoal, the taste of the dove breast was pretty well disguised - whatever it was. My guess is that pigeon cooked the same way would probably taste the same.