The King & Rooster have been dove hunting since the fall of 1998.   In that time we have learned that while doves may be plentiful throughout West Virginia, the publicly accessible areas that provide quality dove hunting are somewhat limited.  This is largely due to the state's mountainous terrain and lack of large farming and grassland areas.  There are, however, two excellent dove hunting areas along the Ohio River that are open to the public.   They both have plentiful seed bearing weeds, areas of planted corn (and sometimes sunflowers), nearby grit, and water.  We have hunted these areas hard with success and while we enjoy using these prime dove hunting areas, we are always attempting to expand our potential hunting locales.  One pressing reason for this is that these two areas are not a secret and receive a lot of early season hunting pressure.

1998

1998 was our first attempt at Dove hunting.  We learned as we went along, at first shooting mainly only birds we flushed and later, learning where to position ourselves to let the doves come to us.  We got out in the field a total of 5 times that fall and knocked down 8 doves, retrieving 6.  It would become an obsession to us to find all the birds we hit, and we would get better as the years rolled on.

9.11.98

The King with 2 doves taken by the K&R.  A hazy, hot and humid day, we walked about 5 miles to get these two doves.   

9.11.98

The Rooster with the two doves taken the second week of dove hunting.  Another hot and humid day, we shot better this day but lost 2 we had knocked down.  We made it a point to start making the first priority after hitting a bird to marking where it landed.   

9.03.98

A shot of a beautiful late summer sunset over a dove field.   

1999

In 1999, we expanded on the previous year's experience to put many more doves in the freezer.  From an out-of-state venture to Indiana to busting our asses in the fields of WV, we got out 4 times to get 30 doves.  Although the Indiana trip was memorable, it was disappointing overall.  We learned that paying for the right to hunt can be fraught with hazards.  The highlight of the season was a 5 hour hunt in the heat of a blistering hot day that resulted in 9 doves - all taken on the flush.  We still talk to this day of the cold Mt. Dew downed at the end of that hunt.

9.03.99

The Rooster with the 9 doves taken on a blistering hot September day.   This dove season was our first after a summer of intensive clay busting.  The practice resulted in much better shooting than the previous year.

9.10.99

The King with 6 doves taken a week later.  Although we were proud of the number of doves we took, we were also proud that we lost NO doves the whole season.  What we killed, we took home.   

9.08.99

The King reflecting on one hell of a day dove hunting.  There is always something magical about being the last hunters to leave the field.   

Date Unknown

Getting ready to feast on the spoils of dove season 1999. 
  

2000

In 2000, we felt ready to reach a new level of proficiency in dove hunting.  We had several hunting areas to choose from and had honed our shooting and retrieving skills over 3 years of bird hunting.  One thing we didn't count on was a lack of doves.  In the course of 7 days afield, we collected 20 doves.  It seemed like we had to work twice as hard as the previous season to kill less birds.  Luckily, we found a few honey holes tucked away that provided some solid dove action.  The best action occurred at the beginning of the season.  We took 12 doves over the course of the first two days of the season.  The Rooster also took something else home from those first two days - a bad case of poison ivy.

9.13.00

The King waiting on doves on an awesome late summer day.

9.13.00

The Rooster displaying 3 doves taken from our new honey hole.  This hole produced dove after dove in 2000; one of the few fields that consistently produced.  

9.13.99

Three doves taken after a hard day of hunting in the heat.   

10.05.00

In 2000, we started a tradition of feasting on our dove take the night before duck season starts.