A Lowcountry Dove Shoot

The only problem with dove season is that it doesn’t last very long—at least not the hot days and hot shooting of those first Labor Day hunts. The early dove season is really just an appetizer for the rest of the fall, and that’s probably why it’s as much about gathering with friends as it is about pursuing birds. And if you miss a few, well, that’s just part of the tradition.

At Garden & Gun, some of us kicked off the season at a classic shoot at the Pine Grove Club near McClellanville, South Carolina. The birds weren’t flying too well, but that was more than made up for by the spread that greeted us as we came out of the field. In a beautiful old pre-Civil War clubhouse (it’s actually on the National Register of Historic Places), we had boiled shrimp, venison sausage, blue crab dip, and a few cans of Budweiser. There was some ribbing about missed shots, some misbehavior by the young dogs, and some talk of better shoots in the days ahead. There were also a few pictures taken, which naturally prompted a little clowning around. Click here to see a photo gallery of a typical Lowcountry dove shoot.

Now it’s time to start thinking about duck season...