Teriyaki Dove Tacos with Caramelized Onions

Well, today wrapped up the first week of dove season in Iowa. It has been a great week, so far the tally for me is at 43 doves, I believe Mitchell is sitting around the same number, and quite a few more shotgun shells were spent. One the things I am often asked is "How could you kill an animal?" Let me be clear, not only do I enjoy the hunt itself -- the planning, the strategy and the skill involved -- but I also really enjoy eating wild game. I do not harvest anything with out a plan for using it, either for my own consumption, for friends or for donation to the Iowa DNR H.U.S.H. program.

One of the things I would really like to use this blog for, is to share some of my favorite recipes with you, and maybe even get a couple back in return.

The first recipe I plan to share is something I cobbled together last year when looking for alternatives ways for cooking duck, as it turns out, dove suit this recipe just as well.

Please follow the link below to check out the full recipe and let me know what you think!

Teriyaki Dove Tacos with Caramelized Onions.

Trail Cameras: A useful tool

An integral part of my scouting, especially a new property, is to employ trail cameras. I know some hunters use these so they can get pictures of the various bucks on their property, then assign them a moniker such "Ol' Wonky Tine" and add the deer to their "hitlist" (a despicable practice that I will address another time). I use them to help pattern the deer on my property, I like to know when they are moving, what directions they are moving, and what areas of a property they are using the most.

My family recently acquired 40 acres (we found it on www.whitetailproperties.com) just south of Des Moines, IA and so I deployed three cameras and have been checking them every couple of weeks. This has helped learn a lot more about the deer on our property than I ever would have learned by glassing, some of the areas that I thought would have a high volume of traffic have been relatively quite, other areas have been booming.

I am not going to spend too much time trying to convince you that one brand is better than the other, I personally have not used the more expensive brands so I cannot speak to the quality of the images. I currently use a couple of Wildgame Innovations as well as a Covert. The models that I own run any where from about $100 to $125, which I think is fairly reasonable.

A semi-washed out picture of a unique buck

I have noticed that the Wildgame Innovations cameras that I use the Micro Red 6, and Flash 6  tend to get a number of images that are washed out, it seems that the angle of the sun can play a role in the quality of the pictures. The cords that come with these cameras are two smaller bungee style cords that really handcuff you in regards to what you can attach it to. I would guess that the cords are about one foot long and sometimes this means if there are no smaller trees or a fence post around, I have to find a different location. The menu is fairly simple to use and allows for changing the picture frequency,  quality, delay and camera sensitivity among other things. I have not had much need to change the settings, the defaults are fine for most of my needs. All in all I am happy with the performance of the cameras, they are a good starter camera.

The smaller one on the left seems
to have already lost his velvet

The Covert is new to my collection, I picked up the MP6, I selected this model mostly again for the price point. It comes with a single adjustable strap that is much more accommodating although sometimes difficult to get to the right size it does not help that I put the strap on backwards and have yet to correct that mistake. The menu is a little clunky, but offers many of the same features as the others. I did find that the camera was overly sensitive, picking up the movement of a lot of grass and branches being blown around by the wind. I have changed from the default of High to Low in hopes of reducing the number of garbage pictures that I get. I think the quality of the pictures is pretty good, and I have not had any washed out pictures as of yet. In the future I will probably look into buying more of their cameras.

When it comes to these cameras, without doubt, regardless of brand, I have increased my success in the deer woods because I know when and where the deer are likely to be. I will keep my cameras out through out the season and I will continue to monitor the patterns of the deer on my property. As the weather cools and the food sources change the movements of the deer will change and these cameras will help me stay one step ahead.

I hope to provide some more post detailing my experience with various products, the ones that I think are garbage as well as the ones that I feel have significantly increased my success in the field. If you have any thoughts you would like to share feel free, I would love to hear about other hunters experiences using trail cameras.

Iowa August Roadside Small Game Survey

The IOWA DNR has released its annual roadside survey results for small game (pheasants being the main point of interest).

The survey is conducted during the month of August by wildlife biologists and conservation officers. The participants drive 210 different 30 mile, gravel only stretches of road in the early morning when small game is more active and count what they can see. It is far from scientific but it often correlates fairly well to the number of harvested birds during the upcoming season.

I had high hopes that this year would show a significant increase (Iowa has been suffering from record lows the past couple of years). The winter was mild and the spring was dry, these are usually indicators that lead to lower mortality rates. The report is not as promising as I had hoped. While there were increases, I think we will not see the benefit of this past season until next year. The number of hens with broods and the number of chicks seems to be the population that saw the largest increase, this naturally led to a decrease in the number of hens without broods as well.

The part that shocked me the most, was the section detailing the loses in habitat. Iowa has dropped from 4.9 million acres of habitat in 1990 to 3.6 million in 2010, a total of 2,615 square miles! - it is clear that this loss of habitat is a contributing factor to the lower pheasant populations, along with weather and an increase in predator numbers.

As I have mentioned before, Kenna, my lab is not exactly a champion upland bird dog, I think that if the populations were to return to their normal levels, I would happily start chasing ringnecks again, it is one of my fondest memories growing up, and watching a good bird dog work is a thing of beauty. Until that day, I will continue to seek alternate forms of bird hunting.

The full report can be found at the Iowa DNR website

Success!

Opening day of dove season in Iowa was a success! Mitch and I filled our limits within an hour of legal shooting time and about 30 minutes after we saw our first birds. The birds were relentless and it seem they did not mind us standing right next to our mojo dove decoys.

If you have never dove hunted I highly suggest you look in to it. In Iowa, the Department of Natural Resources has planted sunflowers and other inviting feeds in order to attract doves in 58 of the 99 counties. From the sounds of shots ringing out from some of the plots planted near where we hunted, it sounds like hunters were having quite a bit of success on these public food plots. Information regarding the location of these DNR planted food plots can be found here.

Dove hunting is an inexpensive way to get warmed up for other bird seasons in Iowa and is quite the thrill to boot. Doves swoop and dive and it seems they know exactly when you are going to shoot. Countless times I swore I was leading the bird the right distance, following with the right speed, only to have the dove swoop down below wad as my shot rang out.

This little lady to the left is my soon to be 4 year old lab Kenna. She is a rescue, I adopted her in the summer of 2009. While I did not get the opportunity to raise her from a pup, she still took to training like a champ. She will never be a field trial winning upland bird hunter, but she is great in a duck blind and doves are a great warmup for her.

If you are looking for a new dog, be it a family pet, or a hunting companion, I encourage every to look into what is available at shelters in your area. There are many great dogs (and I am sure some OK cats) that are just looking for another chance.

As this blog picks up readers I encourage you to share your stories of success with us. With dove season being the main focus until duck and deer season open I hope you are able to get out there and learn and enjoy this fantastic wingshooting experience.

A little more about me

Good morning! I thought I would continue to introduce myself so that you guys know a little more about me.

This blog is actually a combination of ideas, a soon to be contributor to this blog, Mitchell (introduction forthcoming) had the idea to film our year in the field this past season. Unfortunately we were not as diligent as we had hoped and as we got deeper in to the season all of that fell by the wayside. It is unfortunate because Mitchell and I had a season for the ages, details of which I am sure we will share as we compare our experiences this season to experiences of our past. In combination with our hopes to film our hunts this past year, I also lost my grandfather, a man that had a significant impact on my views as an outdoors man (another blog post altogether), and I felt it would be beneficial to share the things that I learned from him with others. It took me over a year to get actually creating the blog, but better late than never right?

So, a little back ground information about me. I was raised as a bird hunter, upland birds and ducks to be specific. I was raised to enjoy bird hunting not for my own benefit (although I do thoroughly enjoy it) but rather for the enjoyment of the outdoors, the enjoyment of time with family and friends, and lastly, for the enjoyment of my dog (you will see over the season that I am a Labrador lover).

After graduating from high school in Solon, IA, I attended the University of Iowa and I would be fair to say, I spent more time partying then I did in the woods. I think I maybe went hunting a half dozen times while enjoying the college life... I truly regret this, but I think it has allowed me to appreciate it that much more now.

After college I moved to Ft. Myers, Florida where I fished...constantly, I did not hunt once in the three years that I lived there..... this I do not regret, I love to fish, if I were to do it again though I would take advantage of the many great outdoors opportunities that Florida offers.

Fast forward to March of 2008, I accepted a position at Rockwell Collins in Cedar Rapids, IA and made a promise to myself to take advantage of all the great outdoors opportunities that Iowa had to offer that I had been missing out on for the previous 8 years. Specifically I was interested in archery hunting for deer. I inherited an old Browning bow (with a draw length about 5 inches too long!) and started talking to old acquaintances looking for hunting land.

Now here I am, what I believe to be an accomplished archery hunter, (at least as far as deer go, those turkey have given me a run for my money) entering my 5th season and looking to take things another step. After upgrading that Browning to a Bowtech (after missing a couple of deer and realizing I had no idea what I was doing), and then trading the Bowtech in for Mathews, I now find myself looking to expand the challenge. This will be my first season looking to harvest a deer with traditional equipment.

Ok... all of that said, I am sure I left out plenty, and I look forward to going in to more detail in the future, but for now... Iowa's second annual dove season is less than 24 hours away and I hope to share some fun times in the field tomorrow with Mitch, my father, my black Lab Kenna, my fathers yellow Lab Zoey, and of course a few dozen gray rockets. Hopefully my next post is pictures of success as well as me sharing my favorite recipe for dove!

Happy Hunting, be safe

First Post

Ok, this is going to take some time for me to get used to... and I cannot promise much. I am getting ready to embark on something a little new for. I am not one that likes to share my thoughts on a lot of things, I have plenty of them but I tend to keep them to myself. This is going to be a way for me to share my experiences, insights and observations during the 2012 hunting season in Iowa.

I am not sure what this blog will really accomplish, I hope that you the readers enjoy what I have to say. It will not always be useful information, some of it will just be random musing, I think overall I just want to share my love of hunting with  others. I encourage you to comment on my posts, and share your experiences with me.

I promise to post a couple reflective posts as I look back on the past couple of months in preparation for the upcoming season. I will be busy over the next couple of days, and with the Dove season opening in Iowa in a couple of days, I hope my next post is to share some early season success with you all.

Here is to a successful, safe and fulfilling season to everyone, I hope we all get to know each other as we share the excitement of the season.