By Brett Stayton
We made it through the dog days of summer, and the best time of the year is finally here. Fall doesn’t “officially” start until late September, and it’s still hot as shit outside. Still, most people generally consider right around Labor Day weekend to be the unofficial beginning of autumnal splendor.
Especially anyone whose calendars revolve around football and hunting.
This ain’t no football website though, so we’ll focus on the hunting. Dove hunting, in particular.
A good ole fashioned dove shoot in the United States of America is arguably the most underrated wingshooting adventure in the world. Anyone who has done it— and done it right— can confirm that a good day on the dove field is actually pretty similar to tailgating for a football game … except you also get to shoot birds.
A great dove hunt is more of a social event than it is a rigorous hunting expedition. If done right, the anticipation, energy, and excitement mixing with the post hunt smoked meats and cold beverages brings an element of camaraderie to dove hunting that you don’t find with other adventures afield.
Dove Hunting Season In America
While destination locations like Argentina receive more hype for their limitless dove hunts, dove hunting in the U.S. is phenomenal as well. Dove hunting is currently legal in 41 states, with most of them opening up their season in early September. The hunts revolve around massive flocks of mourning doves moving across the landscape and feeding on crops.
This September, almost 1 million dove hunters across rural America will grab a shotgun, a cooler, and a bucket seat, then spread out a hollerin’ distance apart across meticulously planted sunflower fields designed to attract giant swarms of flighty doves ready for a seed feeding frenzy.
Then all hell breaks loose …
Fast Paced Relaxation
Most hunting requires stealth, focus, and patience. Oftentimes it’s a solo endeavor, or it at least requires conversational silence. It also usually includes hours, or even days, building up to just one shot at making the hunt a success. However, wingshooting is a little more interactive in terms of shootin’ the shit with the boys and shootin’ at birds at the same time, and no hunt is more communal than a dove shoot. You basically just post up with the homies, kick back, and stay concealed behind hay bales, tree lines, field edges, barns, or whatever else the landscape provides.
As the magic hour sets in, huge flocks of countless birds descend from the clouds into the sunflower fields. The shotguns start singing, and with birds coming from every direction on the horizon, hunters stay on the lookout, keep their heads on a swivel, and talk back and forth in anticipation of an airborne, gunpowder-fueled game of whack-a-mole.
Because doves are so plentiful, most states have relatively large bag limits for hunters too, which means whackin’ ‘em and stackin’ ‘em usually entails hours of endless fun. In 2024, dove hunters smoked almost 15 million doves from the sky, which is only a drop in the bucket in terms of their national population estimate—which is well over 300 million.
Doves fly between 30-40 mph, so while they’re not cruising quite as fast as some species of waterfowl, they have an ability for aerial acrobatics that would make the cast of “Top Gun” proud. Contrast that kind of chaos in the air with the otherwise chill pace of hanging out with your buddies, and it’s easy to see why dove hunting has become such a beloved part of American hunting culture—particularly in the South.
It also goes without saying that anyone who’s never had a bacon-wrapped cream cheese-stuffed banana pepper dove popper right off the grill has never tasted the ultimate wild game appetizer. When the hunt’s over, fire up the grill, turn on the game, and crack open a beer.
Be Safe & Shoot Straight
To everyone hitting the dove fields this fall, we hope you have more fun than Jed York at a trailer park brothel, practice better gun safety than Plaxico Burress packin’ heat in a pair of sweatpants, and that nobody gets a concussion or blows out a knee.
And oh yeah, make sure you buy your hunting license/migratory bird tags and abide by bag limits so you don’t wind up running from a pack of game wardens like the time the Juice got loose in that white Ford Bronco.
So, cheers to September, cheers to football, and cheers to everyone that’s psyched to shoot some fuckin’ doves this week!
