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I attended this show. I went in with one rifle, came out with another and a book. Guns and books just seem to naturally go together. I almost limited on doves in the am, but wasn't absolutely sure of the limit, so I passed up a few at the end. Turned out I could have legally shot another bird.

The rifle I took in was not working (I made that clear to the purchaser) and the one I left with appeared broke, but worked fine. It was a Marlin that shot a .529 inch group at 33 yards. It cost less than what I got for the rifle I took in, and, as an added bonus, was pre 1968 without a serial number. It was a good day.

Bag limit: 10 birds per day
Early season: mourning and white-winged dove
Late season: mourning dove

Sept. 1-15, 2012
Dove Early Season

Sept. 1-2, 2012
Juniors-only

Nov. 23, 2012 - Jan. 6, 2013
Dove Late Season

Speaking from personal experience, at times, Arizona is up to its eyebrows in dove and quail, nature’s popcorn. With the day starting at BMNT, 1/2 hour before sunrise, by the time you need sunglasses, it is not uncommon to have bagged your limit.

Yes, you will need a lot of something else to do for the rest of the day. Especially if you can cashier some slave to clean your birds for you.

Dove Kabobs recipe, courtesy of AZ Game and Fish:

Using filleted dove meat marinated in Italian dressing, onions, green peppers, red peppers, bacon, and corn. Then build your kabob to your tastes. Grill on the top rack (or indirectly) for 15 minutes to bring all the ingredients to temperature, then cook on the bottom rack over hot fire, quickly, for about 5 minutes. Dove meat should be rare to medium-rare for best taste. Serve with cheese-garlic toast and wild rice. Will feed 6-10 people.

Ingredients:

10 dove breasts – filleted off breast bone
2 bell peppers
2 red peppers
1 large red onion
4 ears of corn
1 pound bacon
2 cups Italian dressing

Instructions:

Remove dove breast from bone and quarter. Marinate in Italian dressing for 1-2 hours. Chunk cut peppers and onions. Slice corn into one-inch wide wheels. Slice bacon into 3-4 inch strips. On a skewer, alternate vegetables and dove, using bacon on both sides of meat and an onion slice by the bacon.

Slow cook over indirect heat for 15 minutes, then cook on hot grill, basting with Italian dressing often. Dove should be cooked rare to medium-rare.

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Again, by personal experience, you will probably want more chow than this, so bring other stuff to grill. And a couple of French loaves. And beer. Lots of crackling cold beer on ice.

The doves who nested on my chimney flu in Maricopa are still raising a little ones. The twins of the second clutch of the year are in the late pinfeather stage and won’t fledge for another week or two - though mom has started leaving the nest just this weekend and dad has stopped coming around altogether. Not sure if this clutch make early season.

I’m hoping this is the last clutch of the year so I can be done with sweeping my patio and fertilizing the back lawn at the same time.