This weekend was the opening of the dove season in Georgia. As a boy, I remember this time of year in particular because this was the only time we had strangers in our stomping grounds. My grandfather, Howard Chaffin, had dove shoots on the weekends during dove season. Any other time of the year, we could pretty much explore anywhere our feet would take us. During a dove shoot, the field across the street was off-limits, and we weren’t even completely safe in our front yard.
I can’t recall exactly how much it cost for people to come to the dove shoot, but I want to say it was $25. That could be since the going rate today is $100 – $125+. The hunters would take up positions around the perimeter of the field. The shooting would start when the doves tried to come into the open field or fly over it. In theory, there would be no path for escape. But doves fly somewhat erratically, and they were moving, so it would not be unusual to see doves go all the way across the field and not get shot. The heavy consumption of beer may have also been a factor. But it was not due to a lack of shooting. It sounded like a war zone at times, and with the chorus of dozens of shotguns, I have no idea how they could tell who killed a given bird.
My favorite part of the dove shoot was after it was all over. After school on Monday, we would scour the perimeter of the fields, looking for anything left behind that we thought had value. Mostly that was shotguns shells. I don’t know if we did anything with them, but I know we thought they were like treasure, and there were plenty of them to find. There was also the occasional unfired shotgun round, a knife, or just about anything a hunter might have with him. There were also lots of beer cans, which might explain why other things got left behind.
If you’ve ever seen a dove after it has been cleaned, you know it will fit in the palm of a child’s hand. Why anyone would pay $25 to get their bag limit of those didn’t make any sense to me. At the time, you could get a bucket of chicken with gravy and rolls for $5. You’d have more food, and it would already be cooked for you. But of course, it wasn’t about the food. Like fishing, hunting is more about the experience of being out in nature with friends and family. Even when most of what you’re doing is being quiet and watching, you breathe in the fresh air and learn. As Albert Einstein once said, “Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”