“Pitiable indeed is he in whose nature there is nothing in common with the spirit of the forest, and of the stream and of the field.”
Warren King Moorehead
Opening day dove hunt. A true Southern staple and tradition. Crowds of cavalier sportsmen gathered around agricultural fields slinging lead at shucking and ducking acrobatic little birds. A social gathering. Cook outs and comradery.
Hog wash! Not my thing. I have always looked at hunting as a different way to experience nature. Hunting is an immersive and interactive indulgence in the natural world. Killing for sport has no appeal to me. Hunting for meat, on the other hand, I see as a way to stay rooted in what we came from, not where we are going. Properly managed game species can be harvested in a sustainable manner. Hunting has always been a relatively solitary experience for me. I do most of my reconnaissance and scouting on my own. As far as the actual hunt goes, I like to have a trusted partner or two for safety purposes. But hunting as a social engagement…. You can have it.
I’ve always heard what an awesome experience it was to dove hunt on Shackleford Island, but have never had the pleasure. So recently, when a friend called me with an offer to go, I jumped at the chance. It was a few days after opening season, but a week day, so I expected there to be little hunting pressure. I was right. We were the only two people hunting. Shackleford Banks is part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore. Hunting is permitted when in the proper state regulated season, but the island is often busy with non-hunting visitors on the weekends. So for user conflict issues, weekend hunting should be avoided (and would definitely be avoided by this author).
There are no roads to Shackleford. The only way in and out is by boat. We loaded all of our needed gear and headed out just after first light. Truth be told, by the time we unloaded our gear and got set up to hunt, we were probably a little late. There were an awful lot of birds flying as we unloaded our gear. But not long after getting set, we began to get shots on dove.
Now, if you have never dove hunted let me tell you something true: doves are the hardest target you will ever have to hit. For starters, they are a small target. They are extremely aerobatic and are capable of very erratic movement as well as extremely fast speeds in straight line flight. They have excellent sight and are very cautious birds. If they spot you, they will take evasive and effective maneuvers to make a successful shot as difficult as possible. There are some great dove hunters out there. I am not one of them. Speaking personally, most doves flying over me are pretty safe. I enjoy the challenge, but I simply miss a lot of doves.
The ideal spot to hunt doves on Shackleford is around an area known as ‘the pony pens.’ There is, quite literally, horse pens in this area for the management of the wild horse herd on the island. What makes this spot ideal for dove hunting is that it is the narrowest part of the island. There is maybe 150 yards between the sound and the ocean. This area acts almost as a funnel for birds travelling across the island. The doves do not prefer to swim over water, so as the move they concentrate through this narrow area. A hunter has to be sure in his bird identification while hunting Shackleford as there is a plethora of shore birds and other avian species that call this island home. Some are quite obvious (if you mistake a pelican for a dove you need to find a new hobby) but some shore birds can be similar in size to dove, although none move like a dove. It’s better to let a shot pass if you are not sure. No one needs to be knocking killdeer out of the sky.
Our first set up look ideal until we discovered someone had dumped a bunch of bird seed in the area. Whether this was done by a hunter trying to better their chances or someone trying to discourage hunting by disqualifying the area, it is against the law to hunt doves over bait. If you are a hunter trying to bait the birds, you are wasting your time. Doves do not stop for bird seed dumped on the ground. Regardless, we moved a few hundred yards away down the island and found another promising spot.
For the most part we hunted in concealed positions taking shots at passing birds. Occasionally, having seen where some birds landed we would attempt to jump shoot the birds. This tactic was successful when it was possible to keep a dune or swale between you and the birds. If there was a clear line of sight and the birds could see you coming, they flew before we could get into range to take a shot. In the end, we only ended up with 7 birds between us. There was probably a dozen birds were had a really good chance at but missed. Aaaaaaand…. We probably missed 50 or so more overall. It was a good day in my book.
For more information check out Cape Lookout National Seashore
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