Why Newhand Wingshooter?

I grew up hunting, well hunting occasionally.  We shot birds, mainly doves and quail, but sometimes ducks.  As I got into college and beyond, I enjoyed dove hunting with my brother and his friends.  I never killed many, my shot has never been great, or even good, it was the social aspect of wing shooting that drew me back.  I can't think of many things as fun as sitting in a field with friends and family with a chance to shoot.

Those Dove hunts were on public hunting fields, and sometimes part of the thrill was seeing the 300 plus other hunters all shooting at the same birds.  This was also part of the problem, because I worried about being shot like Harry Wittington.  Often it was just overcrowded.  The other dilemma was that public fields are not managed for optimum shooting.  Sometimes they are great opening day, but not after.  Sometimes,they are not planted or managed to even attract doves, so the shooting is sparse.

Last Dove season, a company I use invited me on a Dove shoot at a field one of their employees grew.  This field was managed right.  As we drove up, it had doves flying in and over.  The number of hunters was limited so no overcrowding.  Best of all it had hundreds of doves coming in.

Of course, I blew it.  The first two doves I hit with no problem.  After that I returned to my subpar shooting skills.  Worst of all, I only knew two others in the field.  My seven year old son, who was too hot, and the guy who invited me.  I didn't really connect with the others.

So, for Doves, I can either go to the public fields with few birds and too many hunters; or wait to be invited by a friend or vendor and take some class to improve my social skills.

Then, by the wonders of business losses and tax software, I found that I would get back much more from Uncle Sam than I thought.  This opened up a third option.

I could go to my friend who lets me do some deer and duck hunting on his land.  He has a few food plots, maybe he would let me plant a dove field.  I could mange it the way I thought would produce the best hunt. He may let me invite friends and family, those who know I have no social accumen.  He had the equipment.  It seemed like the answer.  When I asked, he said "Yes."

"focussed on wing shooting"
My son on his
first quail hunt

Now, this friend of mine has gotten away from deer and hogs, the primary game to date on his land.  He burned some of the pine plantations to promote quail and beavers have dammed up the creek, promoting ducks.  So now he is focussed on wing shooting.  And to my delight, he was as excited as me to have a dove field on his property.  So the planning began.

With all this planning and excitement, I thought I should document it and share my experience with others.  Why New Hand?  I've been hunting for over 30 years, but am definately no expert.  I just don't hunt enough or spend the time to develop it.  But I do love it.  Also, I am not a farmer, not a game manager, and this is the first blog or aything like it I've tried.  I could have used the word "novice," or "neophyte," or "tenderfoot."  I could not use the term "Old Hand," so "New Hand" seemed to fit.

If you want to follow this endeavor, or if you want to offer advise, keep coming back.  I can't promise the dove will produce to my dreams, but I will let you know about any success as well as all the troubles in this adventure.


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