My good friend and G&G contributor T. Edward Nickens starts singing “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” in late August. It’s not because he has more holiday spirit than jolly ol’ Saint Nick. It’s because dove season is just around the corner. And opening day marks a rolling progression of the hunting that follows. “Every new season is a beautiful package to unwrap,” says Nickens, who looks forward to getting afield for duck, deer, quail, and more.
“Doves are the first step of the dance, and it’s easy,” he says. “You only need a bucket and a gun, a dog if you’re lucky, and a buddy if you’re really lucky.”
For the past few years, I’ve been fortunate to be Nickens’s wingman during a shoot in Smithfield, North Carolina, on our friend Don Lee’s wildflower seed farm. Lee, or Seed Man, as we call him, plants a corner of one of his fields with a mix of corn, croton, and sunflowers. He starts sending text message updates in April, mostly about the vagaries of the weather, but there’s one thing you can count on come September—his field will be loaded with birds. And even if it weren’t, the lunch spread prepared by his wife, Laura, and sister, Ann Ennis, would be worth my four-hour drive. I’d go just for the country fried steak and peach cobbler.
While I may not be humming a Christmas song in August, I’m right there with Nickens when it comes to the joy the season heralds, especially since these days my kids are joining me at a local dove club I belong to. Last year, my son, Sam, graduated from a BB gun to a single-shot .410 that has been passed down from his older cousins (and that kindles flashes of nostalgia for many of the hunters we see). My daughter, Rose, will be toting that gun when the time comes, but for now she finds the most delight in watching our yellow Lab, Story, work. And we all love the jalapeño dove poppers that follow a successful day.
Just about the time I’ve straightened the kinks out of my shooting form, the nights start to bring a chill. My thoughts shift to the wood duck swamp where I’ll be on opening morning in late November, those first rays of light cutting through the red oaks and tupelos as the beat of wings comes into range and Story lifts her nose to the sky. A new present to unwrap.
Join Me for a Drink
A bourbon gathering in the Sunshine State
We’re hosting an exclusive bourbon lovers’ weekend featuring rare tastings, chef-driven suppers, and some of the biggest names in brown water, including Buffalo Trace master distiller Harlen Wheatley and acclaimed author and critic Fred Minnick. The gathering takes place September 18–20 in Naples, Florida. And in true G&G style, we’ve also lined up some epic inshore fishing for tarpon, snook, and redfish. See you there!
David DiBenedetto is the senior vice president and editor in chief of Garden & Gun. He is the author of On the Run: An Angler’s Journey Down the Striper Coast and the cohost of The Wild South podcast. A native of Savannah, DiBenedetto now resides in Charleston, South Carolina, with his wife, Jenny, their two children, and their Labrador retriever, Story. Follow him on Instagram and X.