Road Trip

[Researcher]

There was a registered skeet shoot at the Spokane Gun Club this weekend, so three of us regular Sunday morning Joy Boys took a road trip to the Columbia Basin to do our part to keep down the population of those Eurasians. I started using a 1938 vintage Fox-Sterlingworth Ejector Brush. Dropped the first bird I shot at and then entered a string of misses to keep up the national average of seven shells to every Dove brought to bag, so switched to my tried and true 1912 vintage pin-gun pictured here.

Taking pictures of grey birds on a concrete floor wasn't my best idea. The three of us got Forty-one Eurasians and four Mourning Doves that wandered into our hot zone. Probably half by Bob with me and Mikey a distant second and third. Any good road trip needs a stop for fuel. Pizza by Chico in Moses Lake hit the spot --

We each got our own for plenty of take-home.

[JasonPeck]

Well done!

[Jeff S]

Nice shooting!!!

[Stan Hillis]

Dang, that's a lot of ring-necked doves. We kill one every now and then on a mourning dove shoot, but never see that number anywhere. Why are they so attracted to that area, Dave?

SRH

[DarylC]

It must be the pizza Stan. Nice shooting Dave. Was that old "meat in the pot" that saved the day for you?

[Researcher]

Meat-in-the-Pot is a straight gripped 1914 vintage A-grade with 28-inch Krupp 3-weight barrels. Never used it for Doves. It is a Pheasant, Quail, Hun gun. The pin-gun is 30-inch and I used it several times for Doves back near Mount Jackson, Virginia, where I shot Doves for 25 years. For Doves I do a lot of playing around with different guns.

The four Mourning Doves had their crops packed full of thistle seeds. The Eurasians all had wheat in their crops.

[Sporrns]

The Eurasian doves probably migrated from the steppes of Central Asia, hence the wheat in their crops. The Mourning doves probably migrated from Scotland, land of the thistle. Just thinking about it makes me want to put on some Mazursky and pour a couple of (fat) fingers of 17 year-old Aberlour. Kevin

[Foxnut]

Dave, looks like a productive and fun shoot! I do miss dove hunts. In the infinite wisdom of the MI legislature the Dove season was eliminated several years ago. When I lived in TX and MS I always looked forward to the gray bombers! Very jealous!

[TOOL MAN]

We missed you this past weekend Dave, but it looks like you had some big fun as well and by the impressive tally hit more than most of us....LOL!! I'll have to fill you in on the heart-stopping walk-in we all got to enjoy at the booth.-----ROLL