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John's Journal... Entry 162, Day 3

HOW TO DECOY AND CALL DOVES

Moving From the Water to the Field

EDITOR'S NOTE: Decoying and calling doves makes for an exciting, fun-filled sport. This tactic allows the landbound hunter to experience the thrills of waterfowl-type hunting, calling and decoying while actually hunting doves. The decoying and calling makes the sport of doveing more than a shooting sport and more than a hunting sport -- putting it on the same level as good waterfowling without the bad weather. With the proper equipment and knowledge about doves, outdoorsmen can enjoy one of the best wing-shooting sports in America today.

If my calling and decoying techniques helped me bag more doves over water, I assumed these same tactics also would pay dividends in the field. To give my strategy the best test, I found a tree on the edge of a field where doves liked to work, feed and rest. I reasoned that calling doves in to decoys should follow the same principle that successfully calling any other game followed. That principle claimed, "If you try to call from an area where the game normally and naturally wants to go, then the game will come in easier and quicker. If you try to call from a region out of the game's way or where the game doesn't want to go, the calling often can become difficult and unsuccessful."

So I set my decoys in a tree where I'd seen many doves sitting at different times of the day. I designated this tree a loafin' tree because doves flew into the tree and sat there for long periods when not hungry, thirsty, in need of gravel or wanting to roost. A dove would use a loafin' tree like a rural resident would a country store -- a place to hang around to pick up all the local information and socialize with folks. When the doves saw other birds perched in a loafin' tree, they'd come in for a social call.

TOMORROW: DECOYS AND LOAFIN' TREES


 

 

Check back each day this week for more HOW TO DECOY AND CALL DOVES ...

Day 1 - Opening-Day Dove Hunting
Day 2 - Dove Hunting At A Soybean Farm
Day 3 - Moving From the Water to the Field
Day 4 - Decoys and Loafin' Trees
Day 5 - Making Your Spreads


John's Journal