Ground shooting Doves? Unsportsmanship?

Status
Not open for further replies.
If you were trained and brought up right, it goes like this: "If it makes you feel guilty, it's probably wrong...". Road hunting for grouse in Wisconsin is a plague and pestilence, however it does mean that for those of us willing to beat the brush, there is usually great hunting just a bit of a ways off the "road".
 
I never hunted doves until I was older.

Father always thought that doves should be killed because of they were the sign of peace and from being taught that from a child. That's the only animal I knew that he would not shoot.

I've only shot dove on the wing- and we've eaten every one killed.

If you are killing them to eat them and not for sport, I really doesn't think it matters how they are obtained.

As for their aquatic, honking cousins, the canadian goose- the "resident kind" specifically (not to be confused with their "migratory" brothers), I don't care how they meet their end, so long as every single one finds their way to a pillowcase, cookstove or bag of dog food. I don't care if you shoot them from the window of your home in your recliner, so long as you do! The same goes for crows.
 
Andy Griffith said:
I never hunted doves until I was older.

Father always thought that doves should be killed because of they were the sign of peace and from being taught that from a child. That's the only animal I knew that he would not shoot.

I've only shot dove on the wing- and we've eaten every one killed.

If you are killing them to eat them and not for sport, I really doesn't think it matters how they are obtained.

As for their aquatic, honking cousins, the canadian goose- the "resident kind" specifically (not to be confused with their "migratory" brothers), I don't care how they meet their end, so long as every single one finds their way to a pillowcase, cookstove or bag of dog food. I don't care if you shoot them from the window of your home in your recliner, so long as you do! The same goes for crows.
Click to expand...


I am glad you mentioned that. Why do people shoot crows? Ya, they make a lound noise, but why shoot them just to kill them? That I wouldn't do.I find that worse than ground shooting a Dove to eat. I would shoot Pigeons as they are dirty disease spreading statute poopers.

And it's Canada not Canadian;):)
 
Last I heard, the Fish and Game division there in Louisiana pays 5 bucks a tail for nutria. Been a few months since I read that though, might be less now that the oil slick has thinned them out to under 5 billion...
 
CAJUNLAWYER said:
I think I've hunted with that guy :D
Click to expand...

I know I have!

How about looking at this logically. It is only "Fair" or "Sportsmanlike" to shoot birds while flying. Who decided this, the "Sportsmen" who shoot game for "Sport", or meat hunters who want to obtain something to eat in the most efficient manner? We both know the answer to that! How about Deer, Rabbits, Squirrels? Is it only "Fair" or "Sportsmanlike" to shoot these when they are running? How many of you who think there is a moral issue involved with ground-pounding a game bird would hesitate to shoot a Deer laying in it's bed or simply standing quietly or browsing? What is the difference? Isn't calling in close and shooting while on the ground while expecting to find some (bird) tail the way Turkey hunting is "Supposed" to be done? What is the difference?
 
Hunting anything is a field of self evolution.
you may start ground swatting birds since that may be the limit of your skills. You should evolve into wing shooting sooner or later, and ultimately drop ground swatting as unsportsman like since your skills have evolved.
Ultimately you get sick of the story always ending the same way ... with yet another dead thing to find a home for in the freezer ... or in some cases, freezers.
this may be cause to opt for shooting game with a camera instead of a caliber.
same principals and skills apply but you get to ignore many laws and moral objections such as shooting endangered or protected species, legal seasons, and even bag limits.
 
Gentlemen, please... This discussion is deficient without quoting Aldo Leopold, which, as no one else has, as yet, I will:

"Third, there is value in any experience that exercises those ethical restraints collectively called 'sportsmanship.' Our tools for the pursuit of wildlife improve faster than we do, and sportsmanship is a voluntary limitation in the use of these armaments. It is aimed to augment the role of skill and shrink the role of gadgets in the pursuit of wild things.


A peculiar virtue in wildlife ethics is that the hunter ordinarily has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his conduct. Whatever his acts, they are dictated by his own conscience, rather than by a mob of onlookers. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this fact."

From Leopold's essay, Wildlife in American Culture.

Ground swatting upland birds is boorish, unethical, lowbrow --- the technique of slob hunters, whether legal or not.
 
jkc said:
Gentlemen, please... This discussion is deficient without quoting Aldo Leopold, which, as no one else has, as yet, I will:

"Third, there is value in any experience that exercises those ethical restraints collectively called 'sportsmanship.' Our tools for the pursuit of wildlife improve faster than we do, and sportsmanship is a voluntary limitation in the use of these armaments. It is aimed to augment the role of skill and shrink the role of gadgets in the pursuit of wild things.


A peculiar virtue in wildlife ethics is that the hunter ordinarily has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his conduct. Whatever his acts, they are dictated by his own conscience, rather than by a mob of onlookers. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this fact."

From Leopold's essay, Wildlife in American Culture.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this jkc. I tried to say this in my post, but Aldo Leopold said it much better and with fewer words, too. ;)


Bullseye
 
Bullseye 2620 said:
Thanks for this jkc. I tried to say this in my post, but Aldo Leopold said it much better and with fewer words, too. ;)


Bullseye
Click to expand...

You're welcome, and, your post did indeed express this same sentiment. If it were up to me, Leopold's writings, along with those of others, would be required readings as part of "Hunter Education" courses, but I'm sure this is asking or hoping for too much... Hunters themselves are an endangered species, for demographic and regulatory reasons. Unless we're able to take the offensive on issues such as lead ammo, &tc., we'll be pushed into oblivion. Advancing ethical behavior is imperative to our cause, but apparently anathema to many of us...
 
Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought the question applied to a single projectile weapon, as opposed to a shotgun. If I'm correct, then I believe it is a worthwhile thing to attempt, provided it is first legal, and that the bird will be consumed by the shooter. We all shot birds with BB guns when we were kids, this is just a bit different. And as far as flavor goes, most doves taste similarly, though there are slight differences to some taste buds. They are all delicious to this writer, cooked, of course.
 
If you eat what you kill, it shouldn't matter, just my opinion, I do not know hunting laws.
 
Why do you have to shoot them? The Mourning Doves in this city are dumb as stumps and too well fed by the stupid humans. Consequently all you need to do is stand still with something that looks like snacks and they will probably come to you.;)

In the countryside in England it was OK to knock off the crows that got too used to eating with your chickens, or worse, eating the chickens.:eek: They would also get brave around lambs that looked a little sickly, and that got ugly.

Out here in Nevada we tend to leave the carrion eaters alone as they keep the roads clear. Besides, shooting Turkey Vultures is probably illegal.
 
We are talking in the back yard under the bird feeder.
So it's illegal to boot as I live in the city limits and cannot so much as shoot a sling shot. I just wanted a few for dinner.
Click to expand...

It might not be "sporting" but then you're not really hunting anyway. You're just kiling birds. There is a difference.

Around here Mourning Doves are game birds and have a season and a limit...even the stupid city ones. I never heard of "ring neck doves" but they sound like what we lump under the heading "barn pigeons." They're just pests. I doubt anybody would think bad of you for killing those flying rats any way you could.

As to "why?" The man said he wanted to eat them. I'll take his word for it.
 
Last edited:
If you are a subsistence hunting then I would say ethically its okay. Next level would be meat hunters, ie. people who hunt for meat because they like the meat. For them it may/may not be depending upon how they harvest (road hunting pheasants vs. walking the field) . I would hope they would show some constraint or sportsmanship.

The last would be trophy/game hunters. Since they do not hunt for the meat rather they hunt for the enjoyment of hunting, I would place the highest ethical rules on them (like no shooting birds on the ground except turkeys).

The OP's question I would say is at the trophy/game hunter level. Shooting doves on the ground with a pellet gun would be hard but think about how many cripples will still be able to fly away? I know people hunt crows with pellet guns but unless the game needs to be removed - predatory or invasive, then I wouldn't do it.

My passion is bird hunting mainly because of my dog. I love to watch my dog work; the game is just a bonus. The game (pen-raised pheasant) gets jerky for dog treats which she absolutely loves (too dry for me). Without my dog, I would give it up; too many cripples.
 
I've been shooting doves since my Dad gave me my beloved 12 ga. 870 at age 13. Of course I've always shot them on the wing as that is the way I was taught by my father and uncles. Would I shoot one on the ground w/ a pellet rifle? In my state, it is not legal so no, I would not shoot a dove on the ground with a pellet rifle. In my state it is not legal to hunt turkey's with a rifle. That is not uniformly the case in other states. If it were legal to hunt turkey's with a rifle... say a .22 LR., .222 Rem. or .223/5.56mm, etc., then I'd likely be willing to give it a go. And if it were legally permitted, I'd likely be willing to try using a pellet rifle to hunt doves. It is a matter of the law that advocates of hunting class cross-bows had to deal with in seeking the right to hunt deer with cross-bows during archery season.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top