Saturday, October 27, 2012

Dove Mojo



Dove season's over, at least until December, and most weeks I've been able to get out in the field against the  avian acrobats. The result? An awful lot of sound and shotgun fury along with a small but steady stream of birds for the frying pan or grill.

Tasty

In previous years I'd beat the treelines and fields hoping to surprise the feathered adversaries and shoot them as they broke cover. There's an excitement in that; you hear the birds feeding and move in their direction, senses sharp, then bang, they explode from cover and bang, off goes the gun. Sometimes you get a hit and there's a bird or two for the bag. But more often than not they have your measure and fly before you're in range.

Mojo

This year involved a bit of that but the focus was on the set up. Conceal yourself in a likely place and wait for the dove to fly in. GWB introduced a Mojo decoy, which is a plastic dove on a spike with battery powered wings. I was skeptical. Surely the keen eyed birds would scorn the fakey lure. Not a bit of it. They'd fly straight in, dive bombing the Mojo, leaving you to break cover and snap off a shot.

But remember, if the birds see you skulking about the Mojo they won't take the bait.

Just sayin'.

LSP

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