I would switch to improved cylinder choke.

I'm at a 1:1 bird:shell ratio so far this season - looking to continue that trend. Only seen two birds though..

I brought my wonderful Browning Maxus which has not been cycling properly for 3 years. I had taken it to McClelland's gun shop (official Browning repair place) and the guy swore he had fixed the problem.

First thing in the morning, my son and I saw a beautiful flight of doves . . my son got a double with a Franchi Instinct Over Under . . . . I pull the trigger and hear nothing but a click. Fu$#!ng thing would not fire on the first shell now.

Luckily the cheap-o Academy Yildiz 20 guage was in the truck. I took back my Franchi and and my boy shot fine all day with his low rent semi-auto and a skeet choke, limiting out really quckly.

He out-shoots me so effortlessly and he has had no training. He just has some innate hand-eye thing going on. He shot 60% on a sporting clays course the first time he ever touched a shotgun.

You will get it but adding new gear has rarely helped me and his ability to drop birds no matter what is in his hands is a bit demoralizing. Plenty of time on the range will be your best bet, getting that muscle memory and proper form down pat.

Benelli ethos. Hot high brass - blue quail and dove. Muller decoy choke. I stopped shooting o/u for games and exclusively shoot ethos/sbe3 (upland, waterfowl) as they are set up the same. Shooting different style guns has been problematic for me as they point totally different. Like a 55/45 pattern for killing.

AgBQ-00 said:

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Dove can be pretty damned hard to hit. I like to use #8 or #9 shot. Normally go with the heavier powder load. I am a terrible shot though so it takes me a couple of boxes to limit.

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Lol you mean a couple cases? Or was that a humble brag?

The "whatever's cheapest" crowd drives me crazy when it comes to dove hunting. Dove loads are cheap. It's literally a buck or two per box more. Now, if we were talking duck loads I get it. But to each his own.

Got to get out in Taylor, TX yesterday. Actually killed some birds (I'm not a great shot but 8 of these are mine). Picked up a Yildiz Legacy HP O/U 20 gauge this week...sharp looking and budget friendly...first 3 trigger pulls resulted in 2 dead birds...then the average plummeted. Saw tons of birds but most were just too far off one direction over some houses. Great time though!

SquirrellyDan said:

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AgBQ-00 said:

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Dove can be pretty damned hard to hit. I like to use #8 or #9 shot. Normally go with the heavier powder load. I am a terrible shot though so it takes me a couple of boxes to limit.

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Lol you mean a couple cases? Or was that a humble brag?

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My worst to limit ever was 7 boxes. It was so bad I was laughing at myself. My best ever was a box plus a few. So 2 -4 boxes is where I normally hit. Should have said a few.

Beretta A400 Xplor 20 gauge with 26" barrel.

I tend to put more thought into what goes in my cooler than my gun.

If you're missing a bunch, sit the next few birds out, drink a beer or two and try again. Works for me.

Most of my hunts if you sit out 2-3 birds you sit out the whole hunt!

JD05AG said:

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If you're missing a bunch, sit the next few birds out, drink a beer or two and try again. Works for me.

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Drinking and hunting don't go together. Don't drink and hunt

PANHANDLE10 said:

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OP, you are way overthinking wingshooting. It's not like trap or skeet or all that orange plastic stuff. Just close your eyes and load a shotgun shell. They're all the same. Stop aiming the gun. Swing the gun and pull the trigger, but for god's sake stop thinking so much.

Every time I see a dove flying towards me I tell myself "Don't Think Just Shoot."

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Lot of truth to this. I tend to hit the birds that catch me by surprise and tend to miss the ones I saw coming from 400 yds out.

I shoot a Beretta A400 Xplor 12 ga, 28 in barrel, and rum Remington Heavy Dove #8 (best balance of range + # of pellets in the air) with a modified choke. Will occasionally go with a full choke if there are large groups going high and fast.

Another thing to remember is that a dove taken off a fence, the ground, or a tree branch tastes exactly the same as one taken on the wing. You can't brag about it to your buddies, but your grill won't give a damn one way or the other.

Negative.

Hunted the South zone opener yesterday and hunted again today in LaPryor. There where birds but not the clouds that are usual, I got my limit both days but my parents fell just short. Either way we are gunna got back after them this Saturday and Sunday.

Used my Browing Citori 20 gauge made in 1975, with Some Remington 1oz 7.5's.

In Atascosa Co just east of 37 off 3006. One bird yesterday evening and 2 so far today. If I hit every bird I saw (and most I've seen were from 100+ yds away), I still wouldn't have a limit. Took 85 birds last year over 2 long weekends. This place needed the rain last week, but it sure screwed up the hunting.

Oh well, still beats being at work.

cledus6150 said:

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Hunted the South zone opener yesterday and hunted again today in LaPryor. There where birds but not the clouds that are usual, I got my limit both days but my parents fell just short. Either way we are gunna got back after them this Saturday and Sunday.

Used my Browing Citori 20 gauge made in 1975, with Some Remington 1oz 7.5's.

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We hunted that field Tues evening. I had a limit plus two Eurasians. i hope he gets y'all in- a different field this weekend. There were enough birds for a 2 man limit and maybe 3 more limits, but that was about it along that road. Do you know if he still has that huge sesame field South of La Pryor?