Arkansas River sandbars provide hot spot for doves

Although dove hunting was slow in the Arkansas River Valley near Little Rock last Saturday, Alan Thomas of Russellville killed eleven doves hunting alone on a river sandbar near Russellville.

This prompted a get-together Monday with Thomas and Curtis Leavell, also of Russellville. Thomas and Leavell are devoted to Arkansas River hunting, and Thomas had found a new hotspot while scouting after his opening day hunt.

"They're harvesting a lot of milo around here, and every dove I cleaned Saturday was stuffed with milo," Thomas said. "They're coming to the sandbars to get grit and water, so it could get ugly this afternoon."

As he spoke, a dove flew over us head-high, and two more landed in the sand about 75 yards away.

We were on public ground beside the navigation channel, and it looked like good dove habitat as far as we could see. Too good, in fact. Doves flew near and far, but they were most numerous along a line of trees that bordered private ground. We noted their primary flight paths and decided to set up in a loose triangle that covered several hundred yards.

Thomas placed a spinning wing dove decoy on a high, open spot on a sand dune. We waited awhile but noticed that most of the doves we saw landed in trees and high bushes. They flew off in ones, twos and threes. They flew wide, lazy circles around the sandbar, but they almost always turned and came close enough for a shot, even those that banked out over the river.

I had a chance to kill seven, but got only two. Leavell got three, and Thomas got three, including a Eurasian collared dove that was nearly as big as a pigeon. There is no daily limit or possession limit on Eurasian collared doves, an exotic species.

"Look at this thing," Thomas said. "It could feed a family of four!"

In addition to being a lot bigger than a mourning dove, a Eurasian collared dove has a lighter color and a rounded tail. A mourning dove has a tapered, almost pointed tail.

Near the end of the hunt, a mourning dove landed beside the water over a steep sand ridge. Leavell and I set off to stalk the bird. We had tried this unsuccessfully with other doves that flushed before we got in range, but this one wouldn't see us until we were upon it.

The dove flushed when we topped the crest. Leavell and I fired simultaneously at a range of about 20 yards, and the bird fell at the water's edge.

I used a new shotgun, a Remington VersaMax with an improved cylinder tube. It took two days to dial in the lead, but it seemed short for such an open constriction. After we retrieved the bird I fired a shot at the water -- with a wing dam as a backstop -- to see my pattern. It was extremely tight at 35-40 yards, closer to a full pattern.

That's a good thing to know on the eve of teal season.

Sports on 09/13/2015

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