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HOW TO LEAD A DOVE AND HOW TO MOUNT YOUR SHOTGUN FOR DOVES WITH MARTY FISCHER Editor’s Note: Marty Fischer is a professional wingshooter, a National Sporting Clays Association Level III shooting instructor and a longtime Mossy Oak ProStaff member, is known as America’s leading gun-club designer, having designed more than 150 sporting-clay facilities. In preparation for dove season, Mossy Oak has asked Fischer to give us 10 tips for taking more doves. Tip 1: How to Lead a Dove I believe the most

1. USE THE RIGHT CHOKE Most people tend to over-choke themselves when hunting doves. They either use modified or full chokes, believing that with tighter chokes they can bag doves at greater distances -- perhaps out to 50-60 yards. However, for every bird they bag at those distances, they'll miss five or six birds out of 10 that will be at 25 yards or less. Many dove shooters believe the best all-around choke for dove hunting is the modified. I prefer 3 drams of powder with the equivalent of 1-1

Finding a place to dove hunt in September can be difficult. There are public dove fields in some areas, but on opening morning they are invariably over-crowded. If you have the funds you can join a private hunting club that caters to dove hunters, but all you really need to start shooting limits on your own land is a little time and effort, by planting a productive sunflower field you can bag your limits of birds day after day. WHAT MAKES FOR GOOD DOVE HUNTING? As settlers began clearing forest

Mourning doves are one of the most exciting and challenging of all game bird species to hunt. In many parts of the country, the dove season opener marks the beginning of the fall hunting season. Dove hunting is a family affair, a time for generations of hunters to gather in the grain fields and test themselves against the speed and aerial agility of passing birds. Unlike other native upland game birds like bobwhite quail and grouse, doves have enjoyed a marked increase in overall numbers, thanks

Over the last ten years, I have increased my fishing time annually. In the spring, I fish for striped, white, and quality largemouth and smallmouth bass with friends on the lakes. In the summer, I enjoy fishing a variety of small rivers or creeks for smallmouth bass. However, my biggest bass catches always occur while fishing small community lakes and local farm ponds. It is easy for fishermen to forget about fishing small lakes and ponds when they have a bass boat sitting in the garage, ready

I have never met an angler for any species of fish that didn’t want some sort of advantage to help them catch more fish. That advantage could come in the form of a faster boat, more rods, custom baits, power poles or now, bigger and better graphs. Bass boats with 3-5 graphs are the norm with multiple brands of electronics in use at the bow and console. These setups can range from $15,000-$30,000 depending on what the angler wants. It sounds crazy, but take a look at any of the professional level

TROTLINE FISHING TIPS AND TRICKS WHERE AND WHEN TO SET OUT TROTLINES Catching catfish with trotlines is very fun and a great way to provide family and friends with some of the best table fare there is. While many anglers have their go-to ways of catching catfish, there are several timeless tips and tricks out there that may lead to many more fish on your trotline than the next angler. The first tip to catching catfish on a trotline would be to identify raises in the waterways you’re fishing. The

One of the most common mistakes in food plot plantings and farming for wildlife is improper timing relative to the crop and the region. For example the growing period for warm season annuals can vary pretty widely across the nation. The northernmost part of the states and on into Canada could have as little as 4-5 months of temperatures conducive to growing spring/summer crops. This is all dependent on how quickly the winter snow melts and soil temperatures rise as well as when the first hard

One thing we all do as archers is aim. Some do this differently than others, but to shoot with any consistency we must incorporate some form of aiming into our shot. Several factors, including breathing, heart rate and focus, affect aiming. In one of my previous articles, I talked about aiming drills, but here I am talking about actual things that help or hurt how well you aim. Breathing techniques are used quite often in archery competition but are normally overlooked while bowhunting

If you’ve shot a bow long enough, you’ve probably heard about – or experienced for yourself – the demon we call “target panic.” The main form of target panic is best described as the inability to hold your pin on the target and squeeze the release slowly enough to cause surprise when it fires. Essentially, you punch the release prematurely. While there are many forms of target panic, and just as many ways to cure it, there are a few things you can do to prevent or beat this horrible condition