It's Almost Dove Hunting Season! Wahooo!

[Juls]

Who else here likes to Dove hunt?

I am getting anxious, and in another week or so, we will hit the skeet range for a little warm up. ;)

The dogs love it, and we love eating them....yummmm!

Here's a little recipe to share with you:

Marinate them in a mixture of equal parts (1/4cup each):
1. Wistershire Sauce
2. Soy Sauce
3. Terriyaki Sauce
Add:
chopped Garlic (I like lots-o-garlic)
course pepper (I like lots-o-pepper)
and a touch of olive oil (no more than 2 Tablespoons)

Put marinade in a zip-lock bag and add the Dove breasts. Let them refrigerate for at least 2-4 hours...overnight is best.

Slice up jarred or canned whole jalopeno peppers into long slivers, like 1/8 inch wide and an inch long.

Slice shallots, so that you have a 1/16 inch thick slice, the width of the entire shallot.

Take 1 half of a Dove breast (one tit) and place 1 jalopeno slice and 1 shallot slice in the center of it. Place another Dove breast on top of it...(the breast are sorta shaped like hearts, so I place the wide end of one breast over the skinny end of the opposite one).

Cut a slice of uncooked bacon in half...wrap the Dove "package" with 1 half slice of bacon one direction, and then the other 1/2 slice of bacon the other direction, and stick a 1/2 of a toothpick in the center to hold it all together. This entirely covers the Dove, or pretty darn close to it. The more Dove that is covered with fat, the juicier the meat will be after cooking.

The tastiest way to cook these is over a low heat coal/wood fire. This temp keeps the bacon fat from flaming up and turning your meat black from the smoke.
Place the Dove "packages" on the grill, and cover with aluminum foil. Place rocks around the edges of the aluminum foil to form a "lid".

Cook one side for 20 minutes and then flip and cover for another 15 minutes, or until bacon is cooked. The Dove always comes out tender and juicy if cooked slow like this.

Or, if you don't want to mess with the grill (which has been my case the past 7 or 8 times I've cooked Dove this year), simply use the broiler in the oven on low flame. This allows you to watch them closely and turn whenever you see one needs to be turned to evenly cook the bacon.

Also, when the are under the broiler, I put them on a cookie sheet that has been lined with aluminum foil for the following reasons:

1. Clean up is a snap. Just throw away the aluminum foil. The cookie sheet is spotless.
2. The bacon will not stick to the foil as it cooks.

I also keep a second cookie sheet, also lined with foil, on the second rack in the oven, while the Dove is cooking...why? Because, the bacon fat has no where to go when it's under the broiler and could very well flame up if not removed. That would be bad, so better safe than sorry!

About half way through the cooking process, I will transfer all the Dove to the second cookie sheet, which is already heated like the first tray, and finish cooking them.

It takes about 20-25 minutes in the oven as compared to 35-40 minutes it takes on the grill. But, you need to keep a closer eye on them while in the oven as compared to doing it over the coals.

When they are done...eat them with your favorite side dishes and enjoy!

They are delicious!

Juls

Sept 1. here in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Beginning of the season and an outing that I truly look forward to.


My favorite receipe is similiar to your marinade - slight modifications:

Fresh basil and fresh ginger root to the marinade, plus a sliced jal. peppper - marinade no more than 4 hours or it over powers the meat (IMHO). I wrap a single breast with half a slice of bacon and cook on a VERY hot grill. The trick for me is when the bacon is just crisp the doves are just on the medium rare side.

Great table fare. Plus the shooting.... really fun.

rj

[chamookman]

No Dove season here in Michigan, but Grouse season opens in 29 days (but,Who's counting :rotflmao: ). My Setter Izzy is as excited as Me ! Bob

[Juls]

Thanks for sharing your recipe...sounds good! I'll certainly give that a try too.

We took a drive over to the "field" yesterday with the dogs, just to check out the surroundings. A section that was weeds last year is corn this year, so that might limit the direction we can shoot a bit, but the rest was the same as last year. We saw a good number of Dove's there already, and with a cold front coming down from the North soon, we should see even more birds there by opener. (This field is on a migration route).

Jill, the young dog, was so excited to see that field again, that she barked at the birds sitting on the wires as we drove down the dirt road.
The old boy, Jack, just sat there with his tongue hanging out and drooled. lol

15 more days!! :raisin:

Juls

Juls

I'm not sure you have tried any decoys - but if you have not.... buy the rotating wing decoys!!!

The doves wise up after a few hunts. But they move away from pressure anyway. Typically new birds keep coming dn.

Those decoys really work. Actually they come to movement, I have put out a rotating duck and it worked great. All they seem to carry about is the flash.

This year, I have taken an old vortex rotating duck setup (see Cabelas waterfowl) and installed some resistors to slow the speed dn and put on the rotating wing decoys (dove type). I can't wait to set up on opening day as the ACTION IS UNBELIEVABLE. (at least in the front yard!!)

rj

[Juls]

You're right, they work great! We have 3 MoJo Doves that we use along with some stationary decoys. The MoJo's are all on different length stakes that range from 3' tall to 6' tall. The stationary ones I set on the ground.

If you put the MoJo Doves near a puddle that's in the middle of a field, that will draw in even more birds.

Last year we only used two MoJo's, but as soon as I had enough BPS points saved up, I got another one for free, so we'll be using 3 this year. ;)

Juls

Juls, back to the converted vortex. (models from years back ran too fast, I corrected that)

Imagine a powered motor with two arms out at a 45 deg. angle, then with a wind driven dove decoy on a 18" string on each arm. It is really something... can't wait to see the doves reaction to this.

With a little wind the birds on the arm dip and dive a little.

rj

[Juls]

I'm not quite sure if I understand your set up. I think I do, but I'm not positive. :confused:
If you can, put a picture of it in your photo album here on WC, so I can take a look-see at what your talking about. Then, let us know how it works for you this season too, ok? If I AM thinking correctly, that sounds pretty cool. :)

Have you seen the Mojo's? Their wings are constantly moving all the time too, but not super fast...just fast enough. Here's a link to their site.

http://www.mojodecoys.net/mojo_dove_decoy.htm

Juls

Rather than posting pics., Go to Cabelas and do a search for vortex. You will find it as a duck decoy. Imagine it with rotating wind powered doves on the end of the arms instead of ducks.

Or,by looking in Cabelas waterfowl catalog. You will get the picture. (bad pun!!)

Yes, have used the mojo doves since they first came out. They work great - after awhile I do think they become decoy shy. But that takes a while and typically there are new birds coming dn.

Also, IF the wind is blowing, the wind powered doves look very good.

I have a video clip of something VERY similiar to the vortex that was given to me by another manufacturer. Can I email that to you through WC once I register in? Like a 3-5 meg I suppose.

[Juls]

Ahhhhh....ok, now I know what your talking about! I saw that in the catalog just the other day and thought that would be good to use too! I just didn't recall it being called a "vortex". That rigged up with a couple of Mojo Doves on the ends would be awesome. lol ;)

Edit: Got your email Rick...I've replied back...

Juls