By CRAIG BANNECKE

Guest columnist

The first part of the 2009 dove season is in the bag and, judging from all comments, Aiken and Edgefield counties experienced an outstanding season. Hunters were blessed with good weather, and the fields provided a bounty of corn, wheat and millet for the birds. Opening day and Labor Day found numerous hunters in the field and many, if not most, got their limit of 15 birds. That success tended to continue throughout the six weeks of the first season.

If you are a dog lover and a hunter who enjoys the companionship of a well-trained dog, your dove season was particularly enhanced. A Lab or Boykin Spaniel with a good nose and who is steady on the retrieve can make an average shooter a marksman by retrieving many of the cripples that are often lost. Duck hunters in particular like to use dove season to get old "Biscuit" tuned up for the upcoming duck season.

At the Carolina Dove Club (CDC) the birds were plentiful, and the hunters experienced good hunting at each of the seven shoots conducted in the first season. Added to the abundant population of mourning doves was the arrival in early October of a number of Eurasian doves, which are larger and add to the excitement of obtaining a limit. As the season progresses the shooting becomes more challenging. Birds, which once leisurely entered the field in early September, now in October come in "full-bore" and high, only dropping down to the area they want to feed in at the last second. They bear a slight resemblance to Marine helicopter pilots ferrying troops and supplies in and out of a hot zone in southern Iraq. The least amount of movement by a hunter sends a dove into aerial acrobatics, and this is where Mr. Winchester and Mr. Federal start making money. A limit that used to come in a box and a half of 7-1âÑ2 shells now takes a full second and often sees part of a third box being used before bird No. 12 and the CDC limit is reached. The steady retrieves by old Biscuit that made fast work of fallen birds opening day has him now false-starting so often that the hunter is hoarse from calling him back. The pressure of not only missing birds, but failing the expectations of his dog and his complete look of disdain, now makes a difficult job more challenging. Old Biscuit can hold a grudge. If the hunter's dog is a Boykin Spaniel he won't even allow him to pet him on the walk back to the truck.

At the CDC you never let your fellow members see how many hulls you have on the ground. It's a sure sign of poor marksmanship and a complete lack of housekeeping skills. There is even one member who has trained his dog not only to retrieve his birds, but while he is missing and ejecting numerous spent shells, the dog is busy gathering up the hulls and dropping them in his bucket.

The ever present conversations around the club each weekend start with "did you get your limit?" "Well what size shot are you using, what load ...? This late in the season you ought to be using a 12-gage rather than a 20-gage, they are flying higher and faster, ya know." It's never the shooter, always the weapon, the load or the choke.

As long as blame can be placed elsewhere the shotgun shell manufacturer will do quite nicely during these economic times.

The dove is a wonderful game bird and affords hunters of all ages and skills an opportunity to enjoy their sport and share it with good friends and good dogs. Dove hunting has often been recognized as a "Southern Thing" and football in the South has often been described as, "a second religion." So, between football and dove hunting, if you live in Aiken or Edgefield counties, you are richly blessed.