The Minneapolis journal., 1902-08-09
TEST OF MARKSMANSHlP
Party of Four Will often XIII $50 to
800 Birds in an After
noon.

The sportsmen who, live in the south
west do not have to wait until Sept to
use their shotguns. Just now the first
crop of doves is in full flight and they are
slain in thousands.
This bird, a member of the pigeon fam
ily is found in every state of the union,
but is most common in the dry lands Of
Kansas, Indian Territory and Texas. Any
part of the country which produces sun
flowers in abundance is sure to have
quantities Of them. -.:
The dove is Of exceedingly swift flight
and has a weaving motion which makes
it a difficult target. Its speed is greater
than that of the quail and its course is
more erratic.
AS it is shot always at from twenty to
fifty feet above, the ground and generally
while its is passing some stand taken by
the sportsman, 1t is the best imaginable
practice in preparation for the fall duck
shooting. ,s
In Kansas and some other parts Of the
west the dove is walked up from the wheat
fields and. sunfiower patches and shot as
it rises. AS it f1ushes generally from
twenty five to thirty yards and goes away
fast, it requires good craftsmanship:
A dove rising from an open field at
thirty yards and taking previously {un-
known angle is harder; thing to hit than
In fact, pigeon shooters who are up in the
eighties, killing from eighty to ninety out
| of each hundred birds shot at, are lucky
| to get so per cent when dove shooting. In
! this sport, as in several others, it is
shown that because man is good trap
| shot it does not follow that he is a. good
| field shot
In the Rio Grande region of Texas,
wherein the dove abounds, it is shot who'll
| ly over water or when coming to water
That country Is dry, and cattlemen find
it necessarysto to build tanks for their stock
by damming some creek bed and collecting
the, winter rain, or. by digging tank and
depending on drainage to store up the
/ water. - :-' ~, =.
| These tanks commonly cover an acre or
two, and one Of them is probably the only
water in a. territory ten miles square. The
dove drinks twice day, at early morning
| and late in the afternoon, and all of the
birds on the ten miles square will come
| to that tank. B.. -" .~
Shooters drive out in four-seated wagons
from the neighboring towns, unhitch ano
fasten the horses beyond reach of small
| shot, and taking their retrievers, occupy
stands on the banks of the tanks. They
endeavor to reach the tank when the sun
is an hour before setting, and at this time
of year in southwestern Texas the after
| noon temperature is terrific. - !. -
Within five minutes after they have set
tied sitting with their backs against mes.
quite trees for the little protection af
forded, the first dove appears, coming like
a bullet, forty feet high and swinging
widely from side to side. The first mar
who sees it cries MARX and the others
crouch 'r'
He over whom it passes takes cracl
at it, and if he misses the others try
When the small body strikes the watel
one of the retrievers plunges in, grabs il
and brings it to shore. 49,
By the time the sun is half hour higl
the shooting has become rapid, so rapid
in fact, that the gun barrels are heatet
, beyond bearing. The men have heav,
, gloves upon their left hands and fre
quently plunge the barrels into the waite
to depth Of six inches to cool them an,
take out the cake near the muzzles. 1t i
hot work and exhausting, the firing bein
, almost incessant until dark comes.
, The doves quit as suddenly as they be
gan. Then the slain are gathered an
! counted
=: 1t is often possible for man to get ri
. of 200 shells in a couple of hours of thi
sort of shooting. Some of the scores mad
are very large a party Of four not In
frequently taking from $50 to 300 doves T.
an afternoon.