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Dove and other wild game hunting…

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Tex

Tex

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Shot 25 dove this weekend. I think I'm the only one shooting dove in Texas, dove numbers are really down this year, they say because of the hard freeze we had. Look at the pic I posted Sep 3, bird closest to the camera, has no feet. Probably frost bite. Cooked these dove last night...

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chris_the_wrench

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ok i gotta ask. I havent eaten ‘commercialized meat’ for 25 years(a few expectations when traveling in Europe), but I do enjoy grouse and hunting grouse(no dog, just me walking with a .22 and banging brush)

Anyways back to my question… i could wrap bits of leather boot in bacon and stuff it with jalapeño and i could probably enjoy it??? Does the dove meat need all that to be palatable or can it stand on its own??

you checked out hank shaw’s recipes honest-food.net?
 

Andy Mink

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ok i gotta ask. I havent eaten ‘commercialized meat’ for 25 years(a few expectations when traveling in Europe), but I do enjoy grouse and hunting grouse(no dog, just me walking with a .22 and banging brush)

Anyways back to my question… i could wrap bits of leather boot in bacon and stuff it with jalapeño and i could probably enjoy it??? Does the dove meat need all that to be palatable or can it stand on its own??

you checked out hank shaw’s recipes honest-food.net?
Dove is very good as a stand alone with just butter and garlic.
 

chris_the_wrench

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Thats the way i like my trout! I’ll have to check the regulations and look into doves in my state.

20gauge?
 

crgildart

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Thats the way i like my trout! I’ll have to check the regulations and look into doves in my state.

20gauge?

That's the hard part... scarce supplies availabe for sale. But, bird shot is easier to procure than other hunting ammo.
 
Thread Starter
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Tex

Tex

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Does the dove meat need all that to be palatable or can it stand on its own??
It will not taste bad on its own, just kinda boring. With duck, salt and pepper, is great on its own, like a filet mignon. Dove, kinda like a hamburger. Not bad on its own, but put it on a toasted bun, with some cheese, grill jalapenos and onions, mayonnaise and yes bacon... Now I got your taste buds dancing!

This was my afternoon limit Friday, whiskey goes down good after an afternoon hunt. These aluminum cups are great!

2021-09-24 Dove hunt.jpeg


Gonna cook some fried dove tonight for the Cowboy game!! Whoooohooo go Cowboys!
 

crgildart

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My experience is that pheasant is the best tasting game bird. Used to get a fair amount of it from friends when I lived in Minnesota. Goes best with wild rice..
 
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Thread Starter
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My experience is that pheasant is the best tasting game bird. Used to get a fair amount of it from friends when I lived in Minnesota. Goes best with wild rice..
Its kinda like saying, what is better, chicken or beef? Upland birds (pheasant, quail, etc..) is like chicken, a white meat, you got to cook it well done. Migratory birds (duck, dove, geese..) is a red meat like beef, you cook it like a steak, you do not want to over cook it, serve it med to med rare how I like it, like my steak. If you over cook a dove or duck, it has livery taste.

I do not shoot much upland, I wish I did. Upland hunting is not very good in Texas right now. When I was in high school, I shot quite a few quail, and they are very tasty, on their own, salt and pepper on the grill they are great.

Quail population has really gone down over the years, and they are not sure why. Habitat not as good as it was I think.
 

chris_the_wrench

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It will not taste bad on its own, just kinda boring. With duck, salt and pepper, is great on its own, like a filet mignon. Dove, kinda like a hamburger. Not bad on its own, but put it on a toasted bun, with some cheese, grill jalapenos and onions, mayonnaise and yes bacon... Now I got your taste buds dancing!

This was my afternoon limit Friday, whiskey goes down good after an afternoon hunt. These aluminum cups are great!

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Gonna cook some fried dove tonight for the Cowboy game!! Whoooohooo go Cowboys!

bump for the great looking dog!!
 
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Andy Mink

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Chukar are awesome tasting. But...the saying is the first time you hunt them is for fun, the rest of the times are for revenge.
 
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Drahtguy Kevin

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I spent a few days in the sage flats with some friends and 10 Drahthaars. Good times for sure.
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Sage grouse meat is extremely dark and rich. Medium rare at most or a few hours in the smoker is the ticket. Bourbon salad with frozen water croutons is a great starter…
 

Andy Mink

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Antelope burger. Yum!
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Talisman

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Bonus points to your dog Tara for retrieving doves. My retrievers didn't like retrieving doves because of the mouthful of feathers they got compared to ducks or pheasants.
 
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Tex

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Bonus points to your dog Tara for retrieving doves. My retrievers didn't like retrieving doves because of the mouthful of feathers they got compared to ducks or pheasants.
Just curious, what do you mean your dog "didn't like" retrieving the dove? Would your dog refuse to retrieve it?

The trick to dealing with the mouth full of feathers is as I stated before, teaching them to not "chomp" on the dove and hold it easy. "Easy" is a good word to teach them with dove. They get excited, and want to chomp/mouth the dove, it is natural for them to want to do that. I mean the dove is so nice a soft, its kinda irresistible, they want to squeeze it, chomp on it, love it... The problem is that they get a mouth full of feathers, and you get a really slobbery dove. I do not like my dove covered in dog slobber. But when you get them to hold it nice and easy like this, there is no mouth full of feathers issue and no slobbery dove issue.

Tara dove 2021 season.jpeg


I got Tara retrieving and holding at a young age..She is my second gun dog to train. I looked long and hard for a firecracker, and that is what I got.

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She is a retrieving machine now.. Duck they get their mean face on and get aggressive, but dove they need to go "easy".

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Thread Starter
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Tex

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Cooking this huge quail I shot and cleaned the other day...

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Ok, I confess, I cheated and bought this bird at the grocery store. This is a Tom Brady dinner.
 

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