Thunder and Lighting

We headed out to our dove field Saturday afternoon on a spur of the moment hunt. All day the sun had been beating down on the valley heating things up. Clouds on the northern horizon had started to form midafternoon into big white pillows. As we left the house I thought “are we going to get rained on before the evening ends”. As we approached the field so did the rain storm, and getting out of the car we took some heavy rain drops. As we stood watching the rain drops come to an end we wondered if any birds would fly. Shortly after the rain stopped we saw several birds pass over our favorite spot, so we loaded up and headed out.




Superstition Mts.

 

As I settled in to my favorite spot I thought of what a beautiful evening it would be, the cloud cover had hid the sun and the rain had dropped the temperatures into the 70’s. I had my camera back today after my wife used it all last week; I hoped to get some good pictures.



Storm Clouds Moving Out



Once the doves began moving, I had the feeling it would be a good evening. The first bird that flew from the left to the right went down with one shot.

Another one came from the same direction and I hit it on the second try.

After missing a bird behind me I had a third bird fly the same direction as the first two,

and it was brought down with a single shot.

After getting three birds in five shots I was feeling pretty good about the hunting action. My friend Josh was also getting some good opportunities at birds. On this evening he had three of his kids in tow to enjoy the evening. As we continued to shoot birds, we watched as the storm circled us off in the distance. Every now and then the thunder would slowly roll across the fields bringing the promise of more rain. As I continued to shoot a big gust of wind kicked up several birds in the distance, they started heading our way. As they approached us I hit one of them, followed that up with a miss, but doubled on the third shot. When the shooting is this good it doesn’t last long, with only 23 shots fired I had filled my daily limit.



An Evening of Fun



After cleaning up around me I headed off to see how Josh and his oldest son were fairing. They had shot several birds and were having a good time. It is always nice to see outdoor traditions passed down to the younger generation. As the sun set, the storm was getting closer. The lighting was lighting up the eastern sky as the thunder echoed across the fields. We drove home to the light show having enjoyed a special evening of dove hunting.



End of a Hunt, Start of a Lifetime