Dove season...

[saffordpastor]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

Do you bring back the whole bird or just pop the breast out and leave the remains for the critters?

My place in Maricopa is right on the reservation boundary. We had cotton fields and watermelons on the other side of our 40 acres. There was a deep dry wash ran from the reservation to Murphy Road. During hunting season I would have to sweep up lead shot every day, coming from that wash as the doves went from their roosts on the Res to the cool of the cotton fields and melons.

We made Field and Stream twice as the best morning dove hunting in all of Arizona.

I just sat on the porch and got my limit dropped right in the yard.

Pop off the breast, feed the cats and dogs, and freeze for later, or right into a bake pan with mushroom soup and baked at 350 until they fall apart.

What I usually do is slice the meat off the breast, cut a jalapeno in half scrape the seeds and veins out, fill with cream cheese, (or chedder, whatever you like) place a piece of meat on both sides and wrap with bacon....season and throw on the grill....very good,...I do something similar with wild duck.

[chaparrito]

As a kid I dovehunted Maricopa. Great shooting. The Verde Valley is being taken over by African Ringneck Doves. They are moving in on the habitat for our native doves. Bigger and more aggressive, they're winning. G and F has declared a no limit open season on them. I can go down into my mesquite bosque along the creek and bag two dozen or more in an hour or so. They are real tasty, but I have a soft spot for the natives.
Chicken fried is good
Or flour the breasts, saute a couple of shallots in olive oil till soft, add the breasts to brown them, sprinkle with minced garlic. Add dry white wine and reduce for a bit, adding cream, salt and pepper. When the sauce thickens, garnish with chopped flat leaf parsley.
No matter how we cook them, I soak them overnight in salt water.

[saffordpastor]

Originally Posted by chaparrito

As a kid I dovehunted Maricopa. Great shooting. The Verde Valley is being taken over by African Ringneck Doves. They are moving in on the habitat for our native doves. Bigger and more aggressive, they're winning. G and F has declared a no limit open season on them. I can go down into my mesquite bosque along the creek and bag two dozen or more in an hour or so. They are real tasty, but I have a soft spot for the natives.
Chicken fried is good
Or flour the breasts, saute a couple of shallots in olive oil till soft, add the breasts to brown them, sprinkle with minced garlic. Add dry white wine and reduce for a bit, adding cream, salt and pepper. When the sauce thickens, garnish with chopped flat leaf parsley.
No matter how we cook them, I soak them overnight in salt water.

Around Safford the Ringnecks seem to be mostly in the town areas...too lazy to hunt up food in the desert and farms when there are a multitude of bird feeders in town I guess.
I remember when they 1st showed up...a few here and there....but now they are a HUGE population. Read an article that said maybe they would fill the ecological niche left by the Passenger Pigeon. I doubt it though...too many differences between the species.

[Steve Pickering]

The Passenger Pigeon is extinct, but America does have another native pigeon (most are not native). That would be the Band Tailed Pigeon. There are others recognized as native Doves or Pigeons.

Inca Dove
Passerine Ground Dove
Ruddy Ground Dove
Mourning Dove
White-wing Dove
White-fronted Dove
Key West Quail Dove
Bridled Quail Dove
Ruddy Quail Dove
Red-necked Pigeon
White-crowned Pigeon
Plain Pigeon
Band-tailed Pigeon
Red-Billed Pigeon


The fourteen species that are native to the US are protected by the Federal Migratory Act and require a Federal Special permit to keep them in captivity.