Opening day of Dove Season is a big day in my book. It’s the only season opener I fixate on, and this year that fixation started back in mid-July as I began to look at gear needed for dove hunting.
Then, September first finally came around. And while opening day is full of promise, unfortunately for me it is also full or disappointment. Dove hunting isn’t overly difficult, but it also ain’t easy.
On August 22nd the Arizona Game & Fish Department sent out their annual dove season outlook. Here in Arizona dove hunting is a big deal where we see more hunters in the field than at any other time. So, the dove report is kind of key piece of news.
This year’s report teased ‘birds should be plentiful’ which is exactly what dove hunters want to hear. The opening line stated, “When it comes to dove hunting in Arizona, one thing is pretty much indisputable: There’s never a bad season opener.”
This is the kind of wildlife agency news I’m here for, and I was fired up. This was going to be a good opener.
All that focus on gear, like decoys, warm weather hunting apparel, and the associated odds and ends that make your hunting more enjoyable and hopefully successful, had me more than ready to face off against those fast moving brown missiles…especially now that I knew they were going to be ‘plentiful.’
Or so I was led to believe.
When that magical 30 minutes before sunrise came, the time when legal hunting may begin, it became clear that the doves did not get that particular memo. At least not where I hunt.
The great dove no-show of 2023 was the result of a late monsoon season storm that rolled through the Phoenix Valley the evening of August 31st. I should have known there was going to be a problem when the ole iPhone started blaring that ‘this could be a nuclear disaster end-of-the-world event’ sound.
In terms of my hopes and dreams for a successful dove hunt, that’s pretty much what it was – the end of the world. When they warn you of a massive dust storm and instruct you to pull off the roads if driving, you just know that’s not a good sign for dove hunting.
While opening day of dove season is usually nothing but clear skies and sunshine, storms the night before left the Phoenix Valley dark and cloudy at the 6:02am sunrise. Photo by P. Erhardt
By the time zero dove thirty rolled around it was clear the high winds, thunder, lightning and rain of the previous night were not going to make this an opening day to remember. Well, certainly not fondly, anyway.
But I was undeterred, and hell-bent on hunting regardless of whether or not there were going to be any birds to hunt. I was pretty sure the storm pushed birds out of the desert area I hunt, but somehow let delusion get the best of me and convinced myself the birds were going to be there, and in droves.
They were not.
The more I looked down the more I realized I wasn’t putting even the smallest dent in the Fiocchi Field Dynamics Dove Loads, despite the fact I absolutely triple-shot at what birds I could. Photo by P. Erhardt
What there was plenty of was humidity. In case you didn’t know, Arizona is what you might call a dry state, mostly due to its near total lack of water, absolutely oppressive heat and what seems to be 405 days of sunlight packed into a 365-day year. Yeah, it’s that sunny here.
What we got on opening day with 79% humidity. Growing up on the East Coast, and having spent lots of time in Florida visiting my grandparents, I know that 79% humidity is nothing. It’s a reprieve. A blessing even. Here in Arizona it’s the first sign of the apocalypse, that is if you go by how much people complain about it.
With that humidity also came the remnants of the previous night’s storm. Instead of clear skies we had a heavy, overcast sky. Now, to be fair, this made for a somewhat comfortable opening morning with a light breeze coming out of the East.
The problem, however, was that the cloud cover made it really hard to identify birds in the 30 minute period before sunrise. Roosting birds in the desert did begin to move, but as dark undefined blobs of bird crossing against the backdrop of leftover storm clouds, and backlit by a rising sun, they were one of two things. They are either doves or an Arizona Game & Fish violation waiting to happen.
I’m opposed to getting fined. So not knowing which it was, a dove or a hunting violation, I opted for the no-shoot. I know, no guts no glory, but also no fines.
Once the sun did rise it was much easier to identify the birds…if there were any birds to ID.
A dove opener where not too many birds are flying turns into a sit and relax situation. I spent a lot of time sitting around hoping the 20ga. Franchi Affinity 3 Sporting shotgun I was hunting with this season would get at least a little more action. Photo by P. Erhardt
Truth is there were doves flying, just not a whole lot due to the storm, and what birds did come my way were often out of reach. I still shot at them, of course, because what’s the point of opening day if you don’t at least try and hit a couple doves?
Eventually I did get one bird. It must have been one with a death wish to have come close enough to me to feel the wrath of my opening day frustration. Realizing one was going to be all I was likely to get that morning, I seriously considered having it stuffed. An opening day trophy, if you will. I’d only need 14 more opening days like this one to complete the coveted bag limit trophy room display.
Somewhere around 7:45am I decided to pack it in, hoping that the weather would clear and the late afternoon would offer a chance at opening day redemption.
The few birds I did see, the ones that came close enough to get a shot off at, are probably thanks to the help of MOJO Outdoors’ Dove a Flicker ground spinning wing decoys and their Dove Tree which I packed with decoys. By-the-way, these were easy to carry in and set up, so there is no reason not to bring them. Photo by P. Erhardt
Around 4:30pm I headed back out, hoping to salvage the lackluster opener with at least a couple birds. No. Such. Luck.
The weather did not clear. Instead there were more dark clouds, and even a light sprinkling of rain. The threat of another monsoon season event had me heading back in an hour before sunset even though I knew that would be my best chance to see increased dove activity.
Call me silly, but the idea of standing in the desert holding a shotgun pointed towards the sky as a massive bank of dark clouds turns into a thunderstorm is not what I would consider a good time. Again, no guts no glory, I know.
Thankfully dove season isn’t just one day. I have until September 15th to turnaround this miserable start and achieve some level of dove hunting success. Otherwise it’s wait until Arizona’s late dove season, November 17 thru December 31, for another attempt at dove redemption.
(Note: For the record, even a miserable day of dove hunting beats a good day in the office. Let’s be absolutely clear about that.)
— Paul Erhardt, Managing Editor, the Outdoor Wire Digital Network
