Thursday, April 21, 2005

Little bird, big bird Well, Bob White has done it again. It's somehow fitting that during turkey season, he offers a story on dove hunting. While we're out there after the only bird we let ourselves shoot on the ground, trying to talk one in close enough to pop him in the face, Bob reminds us that at the other end of summer, we'll be hunkering down along a fencerow, doing our best to put an ounce of lead somewhere in front of a tiny, twisting target that is never the same twice. Check out his latest Thursday Morning Art Review for a homey piece that will take you back a half-century to a family gathering laced with good food, fellowship and a couple humorous surprises. Here's a tiny sample of the action on his first-ever dove hunt. "Half a dozen birds were crossing downwind. I watched the lead bird and waited... and waited... threw the gun up and fired." In quite different ways, doves and turkeys are the toughest birds to kill. If you don't hunt them both, it's hard to explain. Doves spend a lot of time sitting on telephone wires and scratching under bird feeders, where a BB-gun would give you an unfair advantage. But come September, stand along the edge of a field of wheat stubble or sunflowers and watch them dip and dive as they come at you from every direction, offering a variety of shots that beats anything the best sporting clays set-up can dish out and you'll have some idea. Try to hit five in a row. I'll bet you ten bucks you can't do it. Turkeys, on the other hand, look as big as a tank as they stroll toward you, all fanned out and unaware of your hidden presence. Think of them as 25-pound targets, though, and you'll miss or wound them every time. Shooting a turkey is like shooting an apple off a stick, since the head and neck are your only legitimate target. With a super-tight choke, you're throwing a softball-sized pattern at that apple at close range. If the apple bobs, you miss. Keep that in mind and you'll take home a lot more turkeys. I'm counting the days 'til my New York turkey hunt. My family reunion coincides with Mothers Day and turkey season. That's when my brother Mike and I get together back in western New York to visit Mom, brother Pete, sister Chris and their families and spend a few mornings hunting turkeys. This year, his son, Adam, will join us again, and my son, Jon, plans to fly in from Seattle. With New York's generous two-bird limit, we'll have 8 tags to aim at filling. As optimistic as I am, I'll be happy if we each tag one bird, or if they each get one. It's as much fun watching them come in as it is shooting them, although it would be nice to bring one home for the table. There's always my Wisconsin hunt, which comes during sixth period this year. From reports I've heard, Wisconsin's first period probably produced a record harvest. The weather was perfect, birds were abundant and big toms were practically committing suicide. Second period opened with a cold front, but still not enough rain to bother birds or hunters. While farmers and gardeners are hoping for a soaker about now, turkey hunters are watching the calendar and hoping it stays dry through their hunt. I wish you early hunters well, but hope you guys leave a few birds for us late-season tag holders to play with! Later... 9:15:49 AM    comment []