Doves at Drake Landing

[SmithShady]

I had the pleasure of spending the first day of Dove season out at Drake Landing today, which turned out to be one of the best Dove hunts I've ever had the fortune to participate in. My brother in law and I showed up about 2:00, and were in the field by 3:00. The heat here was oppressive today, hitting about 95 degrees in the late afternoon. It didn't matter though, as the birds flew anyway. My brother in law wanted to shoot my 16ga Fox Sterlingworth, so I decided to load up some 3/4 oz 12ga loads, and took "PB" out for spin in the field. We didn't have to wait for the birds to start flying, people in our field were dropping them left and right when we got there at 3:00. You couldn't go five minutes without seeing a Dove, and we had them coming in groups of 10 and 12 at times. After talking with Dan Andrews later in the day, he said that leading up to Opening Day, he was scouting the fields and seeing them come in groups of 40 to 60 birds. Needless to say, I shot my limit and we had a great time doing it. Everything at Drake Landing is first class, and this hunt and the meal that followed were no exception. If you've never had Caribbean Jerk Dove before, you're missing out!





The only downside to the day was another broken ejector guide pin (my fourth in three different guns ). I dropped 12 birds with "PB" before noticing the break, and hiked back to the truck and finished out the day with my 20ga Sterlingworth pictured above. I was fortunate that I was able to get the pin out of the barrel when I got home this evening, although using a magnet like I've done the last few times to extract the pin didn't work. What did end up working was a blast of air from my air compressor. The force of the air shot the pin right out and I was able to remove it completely with some pliers, which was a huge relief. Now I just need to get it fixed before the Fall Southern at Backwoods in October.

Mike

[Silvers]

Nice pics! Sounds like a great time Mike, but of course the broken guide pin was a bummer. Good job on getting the broken pin out. 4 broken pins in 3 guns is downright troubling. I might be chasing the wrong rabbit but here are some thoughts.

In my experience, reloads that are tight chambering will put lateral stresses on the ejector guide pins when the ejectors are "tripped" and the gun is closed. The pins can break off due to repeated bending up and down.

As a field expedient it's good practice when shooting tight reloads, to open and close the gun to cock the ejector hammers, before inserting/pushing in unfired shells. Thus the shells are farther down in the chambers when the barrels are closed and the pins don't have to bend as much.

Of course the proper action is to insure the shell bases are sized to specs as part of the reloading process. A cheap dial caliper can be a very useful to check sizing. And it's good to use a press with an adjustable sizer function like a MEC Sizemaster or 9000. Reloads should basically fall into the chambers without any pushing. Another factor can be the final crimp station - if it's too tight it will put a bulge in the front end of the shell. That can also make reloads a tight fit in the chambers.

[fox-admin]

Mike: Great photo and great shooting----a limit of doves does not come often I am told. Drakes is the best and they do everything right.
I only wish New York allowed dove shooting they are thick this year.

[Mills]

My wife and I went on the morning hunt and had a great time as well. I shot my 16 Sterlingworth and Julia shot her Parker VH 16.

[Jim Cloninger]

Nice shooting, Smith! Where is Drake Landing located?
Jim

[Mills]

It is in Fuquay Varina, NC. Not too far from Sanford, NC, where the Spring Southern SXS is held

[gwsmith]

Sounds like a great shoot. I actually thought about going to Drakes Landing myself today but couldn't get out of work. Glad to hear they had the birds.