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TurdusMerula
MemberPosts: 356 Member
Wood pigeon season started today in Finland
TurdusMerula
MemberPosts: 356 Member
As I wrote in my introduction last week it's been almost two decades as I haven't hunted practically at all. A few mallards here and there but otherwise hunting has been out of my life for a long time. Today pigeon season opened here and I took my shotgun from my gun safe and went to see if there's any wood pigeons flying. I had been waiting for about 15-20 minutes when one pigeon came flying over me. One shot one kill. It's been a while but this one bird made me happy. 
Later today I'm going for another round as they seem to be flying every now and then.
Later today I'm going for another round as they seem to be flying every now and then.
To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour
-William Blake-
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour
-William Blake-
Replies
I got another one on the evening round
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour
-William Blake-
Jerry
Life member of the American Legion, the VFW, the NRA and the Masonic Lodge, retired LEO
The Ring Neck or Collard Dove that Jerry refers to is not a native bird in the USA. These are a native of an isolated mountain valley in the Pakistan-Indian border region that is surrounded by high mountains which have kept this Dove isolated and restrained to this specific small area.
In the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin Hitler, in a so-called gesture of "Peace", had 10,000 of these birds captured in their native habitat and released during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. You can see this in films of the 1936 Olympics.
From this release these birds have spread far and wide, being released from the small geographic area of its original homeland. High storm winds are credited with spreading the species from the North African coastal areas to the lower eastern coast of the USA. I was fully grown when the species suddenly appeared here in the Deep South. It's more of a pigeon in nature, and is not often seen outside larger metropolitan areas.
Dad 5-31-13
We get a lot of that over here.
All year round.
Woodpigeon that is.
:tissue:
Jerry
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour
-William Blake-
As for their culinary value, I prefer doves to quail. My mother could fry them so fine they melted in your mouth. She would make a gravy that was out of this world and together with some fat cathead biscuits or some nice mashed (Real not instant) potatoes they make a fantastic meal. One time I brought home about 100 from a weekend hunt up at Charlotte Texas, below San Antonio, and she fried everyone of them and had everybody over. There was not one piece of dove left over. We polished the bones.
The pigeons around Texas are officially known as Rock Dove. I didn't realize it but Pigeons and dove are the same, however, what we call pigeons are usually larger doves.
Maybe your picture is playing tricks on me but those Wood Pigeons look about twice to three times bigger than our dove.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Woodpigeon is the UK’s major agricultural bird pest.
Not me and not my pigeon, I might add.
Our Collared Dove are much smaller than our Woodpigeon but still game.
Same for Stock, Rock and Turtle Dove, but all protected.
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand And Eternity in an hour
-William Blake-
I'm no pigeon expert and I'm not sure, but I really think what you have is Rock Doves or Rock Pigeons. Most all the literature I've read says that's the predominate pigeon in the US and it is usually a city dweller.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
They're trapped and used for live pigeon shoots. They also live in the country in silos. These I would eat, I guess. They're also raced; got a friend who races them. A pretty involved and technical sport.
For high and lowbred.
Those thing's look a bit bigger than our doves, do you just breast them or pluck the whole thing?
I asked the boss what company policy was on dove hunting on property. He told me "you know what our hours are, don't get caught."
Which would not be a problem if work was outside city limits.
Dad 5-31-13
Three experienced dove hunters can probably 'breast' that pile in an hour. One uses scissors to clip the wings and the other two peel, until the wing cutter gets done. Then he starts peeling, too. I can easily do one per minute until my thumbs start cramping, and I know guys who can probably do 2-3 per minute.
The trick is to not bother with all of the loose feathers that stick to your hands and transfer to the the breast, after you peel the skin off. When you wash them, put the whole bunch of them in a five gallon bucket, stick a water hose in to the bottom of the bucket (turned wide open) and stir gently. The feathers will float to the top and run out. Just keep at it till all the feathers float out the top (maybe 5-10 minutes, and then start bagging them.