KEVIN TATE: DOVE SHOOTING SECRETS

More Dove Shooting Secrets

EDITOR'S NOTE: Kevin Tate of West Point, Mississippi, a screenwriter for Mossy Oak's and Remington's outdoor TV shows and videos, has more than 20 years of dove-shooting experience. This week Tate will tell us his top 10 secrets for shooting doves more effectively and consistently.

SECRET NUMBER 5 -- PRACTICE
As hunting season continues and the doves fly faster and higher, your opportunities for easier shots are reduced drastically. That's why you need to improve your shooting percentages now to take a supper's worth of doves later in the season. Nothing beats going to your local gun club to shoot a few rounds of skeet. Skeet shooting is not only fun, it's great practice and exercise. Skeet may not fly exactly like doves fly. For instance, a bird doesn't slow down as it flies, whereas skeet do. However, the fundamentals of skeet shooting are so similar to dove hunting that nothing else comes as close to it as the shooting experience you can get at your local gun club. Too, when you're a beginning shooter, it's beneficial to have an experienced hunter with you. While you're shooting skeet, the pros can watch you mount and swing your gun and help you correct those mistakes before you hunt doves.

SECRET NUMBER 6 -- DON'T GIVE UP
Some of the best dove hunts occur late in the season. Doves are migratory birds, and it's not uncommon for the first few shoots of the year to involve local birds that have not yet migrated. However, as the season progresses, you'll discover large groups of adult birds flying through your area on their way south. You can have some excellent dove shoots later in the year if you keep your field prepared and don't give up on the hunt.

TOMORROW: MORE DOVE SHOOTING SECRETS