September 1, 2012 marked the opening day of the 2nd ever dove hunt in Iowa. Iowa joined 40 other states in the U.S. that already had a dove hunting season. My good friend Tim Ellerbroek and I hunted the Iowa dove opener in the afternoon. After hunti

ng the early MN goose opener with limited success we were looking forward to getting in some shooting. Having never been dove hunting before and not having any proper dove decoys I suggested we borrow our good friend Duane’s mojo electric spinning teal duck decoy along with his extension pole. I was pleasantly surprised when the doves didn’t seem to mind the larger motion decoy. We set the mojo up in between some chopped silage fields and had a “blast” from about 4-5:30pm when the doves were feeding. We were able to hide in some standing corn and really enjoyed the fast shooting. There is still time, but don’t wait, these small birds will be moving south soon. Make sure to take plenty of ammo, water,

and remember safety first! I can see a great future for dove hunters and hunts in Iowa. What a great way to introduce young hunters to the great outdoors! Good hunting.