Dove Season: The Curtain Rises
Sep 6th, 2010 | By Hank Shaw | Category: Hunting & Fishing Stories, Wild Game | Comments | 27 Comments |
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
Everything about dove hunting is ephemeral. It is a zephyr of a season, lasting just two weeks. Yet in that short span we rekindle friendships, some of which only exist in dove season. We recapture our lost humility: Doves are among the hardest targets to shoot, even with a shotgun — making all that summertime practice seem as if it never happened. And finally, once we manage to shoot a few, we remember just how wonderful it is to dive into a big plate of doves.
Then, in a flash, it’s gone. Our focus shifts back to deer, and then on to quail, pheasants and ducks. Those early mornings and late afternoons we spent standing in farm fields, scanning the sky, fade to memory.
So we live in the moment. Holly and I have been hunting doves relentlessly since the season opened Sept. 1. We know our window is small, and that one good cold snap could start the great dove migration that happens at this point every autumn; we’re expected to get such a cold front Tuesday. After that migration, it’s slim pickins.
There are two kinds of dove hunts, and I happened to have had both on Opening Day. The first kind of dove hunt is a true hunt — it is a search for a place where lots of doves happen to live, or at least fly over en route to water, grain (doves love safflower and sunflower seeds above all else), or a big ole’ dead tree, which is their favorite roost. It is a search conducted on public land, or on land owned by a friendly farmer who says something about having seen doves around in recent days.
Such was the hunt that my friends Kevin and Josh and I went on. Kevin had found the place — 90 miles south, down in Modesto — and it seemed a likely spot to find a good flight of doves. We awoke before 4 a.m. full of hope; I was certain I’d at least get a half-dozen. With a daily limit of 10 doves, I thought I was being conservative. Apparently not. After hours of tromping around, we saw maybe a total of six doves the whole morning, and shot none. Skunked. Sigh.
Fortunately I was invited to the other sort of dove hunt that evening. This is a “hunt” that’s really more of a “shoot” because the farmer is a) growing safflower or some other grain crop, ensuring the presence of doves; and b) there is both ample tree cover and water nearby. This farmer had it all scoped out. About 15 of us stood in a line and waited for the doves to arrive.
We did not wait long. The shooting was furious, and we all learned why it takes an average hunter between 5-8 shells to kill one dove. Doves are fast, and their aerobatics are bested only by their larger cousin, the pigeon. I had one dead to rights when it saw me — and reversed its direction instantaneously, in mid-air. All I could do was laugh.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
What is it like, hunting doves? You wear camo, or at least clothing in browns and greens, and stand near something like a tree, a bush or a row of grapevines — the idea is to remain just hidden enough so that a speeding dove might not see you until he’s in range.
Sometimes the birds fly in a consistent direction. Most often they do not. There’s a lot of, “Holy shit! That one came from right behind me!” or, “To your left!” or my favorite, “It’s right over your head!”
But even seeing a dove approach you from a distance doesn’t guarantee anything. Doves can fly up to 60 miles per hour, faster than any duck, and can, as I found out, turn on a dime. You need to shoot somewhere in front of them to actually hit doves. They’re that fast.
Most often the birds will come in flurries, punctuated by bouts of nothing. You get a little bored. Maybe you start looking at the plants all around you, or check your voicemail. That would be the time when a pair of doves whizzes by your ear, that distinctive whistling of their wings an audible “fuck you, hunter!” as you just stand there and watch their tails recede.
At least doves die easily. It doesn’t take much to bring them down, unlike pigeons, which in my opinion are the ultimate game bird — they can outfly anything else we hunt, and are far wilier than most other birds. Pigeons also can take an enormous amount of punishment before they go down. Doves, on the other hand, expire if you think undue thoughts in their direction.
At the end of opening day, I shot seven doves and came home with ten, thanks to a fellow hunter who did not feel like plucking that night. Several other guys limited out, and we most definitely had the makings of a dove feast.
A few days later, Holly’s friend Bill invited us to a farm field near Sacramento airport, and it has been more than a little productive since then. Holly scored her first-ever limit of doves, and we’ve each had some excellent shooting at this spot, made even better by its proximity.
Which leads me to another thing about dove hunting: It is not something done in a wilderness, or even really much of a wild area. Doves eat seeds exclusively, and grain seeds — safflower, sunflower, wheat, milo, even corn — are their preferred food. Dove hunting is deeply agricultural, possibly even moreso than pheasant hunting. The grumble of tractor engines in the distance, pickups loaded with Stetson-wearing ranch hands and disked fields bracketed by unharvested grain are your most likely surroundings.
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
Aren’t these doves cute? Like bite-sized chickens. But tastier.
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
I can hear some of you: “How can you eat those cute little doves?” From time to time I do hear from people who wonder why we hunt doves at all. The comment I hear most often is that they are too small to eat. Since when did size determine whether humans can pursue a creature? See Exhibit A: Shrimp.
Besides, it’s true that good things come in small packages. There’s a lot of flavor in a dove, which, once plucked and gutted, averages a shade under three ounces. Doves have red meat like a duck, but no fat. They are best served medium or medium-rare, andbecause they rarely live very long, are almost never tough the way pigeons often are. Doves rarely run around, so their legs are tender, and because they are such strong fliers, they have unusually meaty wings for a bird their size.
That’s why, unlike most hunters, I keep my doves whole. Doves are the easiest of game birds to pluck, and, once you get the hang of it, it takes just a couple minutes to clean one.
By far the most popular way to cook doves is to debone the breast, lay it next to a slice of jalapeno pepper and wrap the whole shebang in bacon. Grill until the bacon is done, and you’re good to go. It is, in truth, delicious. Andwhile I agree that grilling is the best way to cook a whole dove, I took a different route with our first doves of the season.
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
Teriyaki doves, anyone? I know, I know. Teriyaki is another hunter classic. But I make my own teriyaki sauce, the traditional Japanese way. Marinate the doves 24 hours in the sauce, boil it down and then use it to baste the birds as they cook.
And who doesn’t like teriyaki? Sweet, salty, mildly exotic. I like how the sugars caramelize on the bird when they’re grilled.
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
I also cooked another dish that’s becoming a classic with me: Grilled Doves a La Mancha, a Spanish-inspired recipe I first made at Dovapalooza, and have made many times since then. You get a hit of aroma from the rosemary and sage, and a little richness from bacon fat, which also adds smokiness along with the Spanish smoked paprika. I could easily eat a half-dozen doves at one sitting this way.
I had one more variation on grilled dove to try, and this one I suspected would be the best. Ever have bistecca alla Fiorentina? That’s that huge Italian porterhouse steak, grilled over charcoal and dressed only with really good salt, a lemon wedge, and maybe a drizzle of top-quality olive oil. It is my favorite way to eat red meat, and the method works well with venison and duck. But why not Doves Florentine? After all, doves are red meat, too.
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
Oooh yeah… As I’d guessed, this was the winner. Simple, and it really lets the flavor of the bird shine. I like the other dishes, but when you have such perfect, pretty doves, why mess with them too much?
Dove season ends a week from Wednesday, and Holly and I will hunt as often as we can until the curtain falls. And in that time, you can bet we’ll be eating a lot of doves.
Photo by Holly A. Heyser
Good stuff! That looks wonderful!
I am really jealous. I am also one of those folks who takes the time to pluck and use the whole bird, whether it is duck or grouse or – whatever. The skin adds a lot to the flavor, plus, to be honest, I just don’t get that much of it and so I pick over every little morsel.
Gorgeous photos – thanks for the show!
It took me 75 shells (estimate) to knock down 13 doves on Saturday. Worth the $18 I spent on the ammo but a little hard on my ego. All-told we still had a FANTASTIC shoot over 4 acres of recently mowed sunflowers and an adjacent 50 acres of corn stubble. Over 160 doves taken over three days by our group.
I’ve never cooked doves whole. Will have to try this with the next round we take.
Good Story Hank. i tried that Teriyaki Grilled Dove Recipe last night for the labor day barbeque and it was a hit! 20 doves were gobbled up in about 10 minutes. Wish we had some more of the cute little buggers. You are right, there is meat on a dove in areas other than the breast. I will pluck these things more often.
Good post, though I hate my role in this particular story.
Phoebe is in my lap, asking when I’ll get doves, because from the pictures they look yummy and she wants to eat one right away.
Hank, sounds like you guys got it made with the local shooting spot. Always nice to have a place you can drive to after work, and still be home to cook the harvest for dinner. Yeah, color me jealous.
By the way, I have you to blame for my new habit of plucking doves, instead of breasting them out. Yeah, yeah, yeah… they do taste better with the skin, and the legs and thighs are certainly worth the extra effort. But now that I do it this way, I feel like I have to cook them differently. No more just rolling them in flour and dropping them in hot oil… I’ve (gasp) expanded my horizons!
But I’m still not plucking all my ducks.
I can taste the dove appetizer we enjoyed at Ruth’s as I read about your adventure. Hum… still working on it mentally!
All great recipes. Thanks for those.
For four days, I could hear the consistent pop-pop-pop of dove hunters shooting in nearby fields from my front porch as I headed off to work. There’s only so much of that a dove hunter can take. On Sunday afternoon, I finally loaded up the shotgun and headed to a nearby wildlife area. Not a good sign when you’re the only truck in the parking lot and the only hunter in the field. Still, managed to scratch down a few birds. They joined a cottontail on the grill for a memorable Sunday night dinner.
My first — and only — dove hunting experience came very close to the area you were at in Modesto. I remember it for a couple of reasons. First — my brother Andy shot his first and only dove on that day. Dad may have shot at one or two — but I only remember bringing one home — and saw the finished product after dad had cleaned the bird and put it in a bowl of water inside the refrigerator. I also remember the experience of running into — or encountering — a rattlesnake during that hunt. Dad went into the hospital not long after that hunt as I recall. He would never be released. He was probably a great hunter Hank, but it’s a love that did not get passed down to his sons. It’s the first — and only time Bill Bird went hunting. And the only firearm my father was going to let me handle was well loaded — with rubberbands.
Where did you get that bird strap?
Thanks for the wonderful post! That picture of a bowl full of cleaned carcasses makes me wonder if you go as far as to make dove stock…or, is that going too far?
Must be nice to have private grain fields to hunt over. lol I scratched 5 on Sat on public property, but I made the most of every opportunity I had. I try to find turkey mullen to set up near. It’s like dove candy.
I’ve got those in my yard! Love your blog, by the way!
Steve: I am in the same boat. I started plucking when I did not get much game, and now I do it because the skin adds so much to the flavor. Glad to hear there are lots of others who do that, too!
Mike: That’s quite the haul! How did you cook them?
Ryan: Glad you liked the recipe – and I hope I have converted you to plucking the tasty dove…
Josh: oooh, yer killin’ me on that one. Pulling the cute little daughter card. Ouch.
Phillip: Glad to hear about your conversion.
And you can still roll a whole dove in flour and deep fry it — check out the Middle Eastern deep-fried dove recipe on the home page. It is essentially that, only I use chickpea flour.
Lynn: Lemme know when you are ready. We’ll be here.
Sportingdays: Mmmm…. grilled cottontail. Me likey.
Bill: Good story. Sad, but good. I bet you were lethal with that slingshot, though…
Desmond: It’s Holly’s. She got it as a gift from an Italian friend of ours named Fabio. It is apparently a game strap for uccellini, which roughly translates as thrushes; a robin is one type of thrush.
David: You bet I make dove stock! That recipe is coming up…
Victor: Five doves on public ground is not too shabby. I’ve never come home with more than 4 on public land.
Wonderful. I wonder if I can find some hunters in my area to go find some of these.
Desmond: What I love about that strap is that it has TWENTY-FOUR rings on it! It makes a lovely little jingly sound. Until you put birds on it…
Simple is best, but I wonder how they would taste, marinated in balsamic vinegar and tomatoes, then grilled.
I’m torn between wishing we had doves in Massachusetts so I could prepare them a La Plancha and being glad we don’t have doves in Massachusetts so I don’t have to calculate my shots-per-bird average.
Hank-
I’ve been staring at the picture with the perfectly plucked doves in the plate for 15 minutes. I just love it. Is that wrong? I’m even considering buying a couple of squabs to cook up just because of this post. Not the same thing but it’s the closest I can get to doves right now.
Doves are amazing in the field and on the table. I liked your recipes – they look good.
I usually just pick them, marinade in a little Marsala, garlic and white pepper overnight, then run with salt and olive oil and roll them around on a HOT grill. Serve rare over braised spinach with some jasmine rice on the side.
Wow, these do look really delicious, I am totally shocked! Excited to have found your blog through FNJ best of blogs today, looking forward to reading more.
I want bite-sized chickens! Guess I’ll have to settle for store-bought quail, like a sucker.
I have read a lot of classic literature in which rich (and many courses) of dishes are paraded across the dinner table and often there are doves and having no experience of anyone actually eating doves in my own life I have had to imagine what that might be like to serve such a small bird and I have often thought it must be more manageable and more elegant to eat a bird fit for one mouth- you make the literature have context. The pictures are exquisite.
If I had more doves from this opener, I’d definitely go with the terriyaki marinade/glaze, Hank!
…But, tradition holds out this year, with the whole doves boiled until falling off the bone in homemade marina sauce and placed on fried polenta squares.
My first experiences with dove were not kind: overcooked and livery…Love seeing your doves cooked properly, like a good duck, goose or prime steak–pink, almost red, on the bone…
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Hank,
I met you some years back at a CWA event pink hat ladies event @ Coyote Valley in Morgan Hill My wife and 2 daughters attended the event. I loved how you grilled the ducks at the event. So I hopped on to your site for dove recipes. My wife wanted me to cook my doves differently other than a Cajuan Gumbo. I’ve always plucked my doves and love the taste of a good gumbo with rice. Tough to break a life long habit of gumbo. Any recommendations?
Rick: Check out the Dove & Pigeon Recipes section on this site. I have lots of recommendations besides gumbo — although I like gumbo as much as the next guy…
Thanks Hank! I ‘ll be checking your recipes for deer chops as well.
Rick