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will the doves stay for this cold snap?


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Most of the doves have already left the area that I hunt. Did well opener went out again tuesday morning and last night managed 5 between the two hunts. Did not see near the number of birds. However in a few weeks depending on the weather you may have another chance at some doves. should be more migrating down.

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I hunt south of the metro and I do pretty well until the first real frost. Season's first cold snap like this will push a lot of the northern birds to start moving which actually increased the number of birds I see. My best hunts tend to be the week or two after the first cold snap. Once nights consistently get into the 40's they'll just start moving out and you'll see fewer and fewer.

Key is to focus on gravel pits, etc first thing in the morning when they come out of the roost and then water in the evening. Best shooting is 20 min before sunrise until about 30 min after for morning shoot. Evening slowly gets better from about 5PM until sunset with a huge flurry of activity at sunset as they come in to get their last drink for the day.

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I noticed this last night. I went to the same spot as I did on opener and there were just as many birds. The difference was the birds seemed to be flying in flocks. There would be the sporadic bird here and there and then a sudden wave of 50-60 birds, slow for a while and then another wave. It was fun but the key was getting myself to focus on one individual bird to shoot at when a group of 50-60 was flying over.

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Yup, same thing for me. The standard groups of 1-3 pretty steady with huge waves. Pretty epic shooting this weekend. Fast and furious for an hour or two in the morning, pick up shots during most of the day, and then fast and furious again in the evening.

Decoys working for the loners and small groups but not really for the big waves. Pretty typical. With the warmer weather kinda coming back I'm hoping that the pattern will hold for while. At least until duck opener.

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