Dove hunting is simple. Sit, watch the sky, and shoot—usually a lot. You don’t need fancy gear to hunt doves. A gun, some shells, and a bucket are enough. But the right gear can keep you cooler, more comfortable, and deadlier in the field. It can help you look good, too, which matters because dove hunts are often social events. You don’t need everything on this list to have a great dove shoot, but you can treat yourself to a new piece of gear or two to celebrate the kick-off of another hunting season. Here are some suggestions.
1. Rig ‘Em Right Hyde Stool
I have sat on five-gallon buckets with cheap lid seats and shot plenty of doves, and will in the future. For those days when I want to sit in comfort, I pack the Hyde Stool. There’s no bar under your legs with this stool, as there is with so many tubular-framed folding dove chairs. Instead, you sit in padded luxury on a cushion set on a sturdy steel frame. At 14.5 pounds, it does weigh more than a bucket or my other, aluminum-framed chair, but when the walk is short or the sit might be long, this is the chair I bring.
2. Mojo Elite Dove Decoy
Mojo spinning wing decoys changed dove hunting from pass-shooting to decoying, making it better than ever. Now Mojo has improved its dove decoy. Like the larger Elite series duck spinners, the Elite dove houses the batteries and motor together in a solid frame for smoother, more reliable operation, and the battery compartment includes a peg for the improved stake. The realistic body is soft polyvinyl and painted realistically, which doesn’t matter to doves, but matters to us. The wings attach magnetically, and there’s also a loop if you want to hang it from a branch.
3. Avian PowerFlight Dove
The Avian Dove spinner has high-contrast wings that turn at a very fast RPM. You can set it on the stake, or, better, hang it from the stake’s motion arm so it turns in the breeze and flashes in all directions. I’m not a dove, and I wouldn’t last long if I were one, but to me, this decoy has more flash than other spinners, and thus, more pulling power.
4. Yeti Hopper Flip Cooler 12
Cold drinks make hot days in the dove field more bearable. Now in appropriate dove-field camo, the Yeti Flip Cooler 12 holds drinks, ice packs, and snacks. Constructed, but still soft, it has a rigid, flat bottom so you can set it next to your chair to keep cold hydrating liquids close at hand, and a top handle and a convenient shoulder strap for carrying it in and out of the field.
5. Duck Camp Canvas Shell and Game Bag Set
The necessities of dove hunting—a place to hold shells, empties, water, and doves—should be with you at all times, because sometimes events take you away from your chair. Duck Camp’s new Canvas Shell and Game Bag Set has two snap-closed pockets for shells, a game bag with an adjustable opening, a zipped pocket for a license or a wallet, and a snap-closed pocket on the back. It looks good, too, in lightweight waxed canvas.
6. Browning Silver
A 20-gauge semiauto makes the ideal dove gun, and Browning’s underrated Silver is a great choice for the dove field. It’s soft-shooting, easy-cleaning, and very reliable. When these guns first came out, I put 1,000 rounds through one without ever cleaning it, and it functioned perfectly all summer, even with my light, crummy reloads. It comes in satin-walnut with 26- or 28-inch barrels, and there’s also a scaled-down Micro Midas version with a shortened stock.
7. FirstLite Trace Pants
Long pants provide a layer of protection against the sun, ticks, and scratchy, sticky things you might encounter on a dove hunt. The Trace pants put a breathable layer between you and the elements, while also zipping open on both sides of the thigh to permit some cross-ventilation through mesh panels. They have six pockets, which include oversized cargo pockets on the front to hold shells. They come in four earthy solid colors plus FirstLite’s own camo patterns for $160.
8. Aves Dot.Air Hoodie
Made of nylon that’s breathable and stretchy without clinging, the AirDot hoodie is a hybrid. It has button cuffs, front pockets, and a loop for sunglasses. Plus, the hood blocks the sun and bugs from attacking the back of your neck. It’s a quarter-zip, and cut long to tuck in, and it looks good while keeping you cool. The Dot Air fabric appears solid but is filled with tiny holes to vent air, and it comes in slate and olive solids.
9. CZ All-Terrain Redhead
With its Cerakote finish, the All-Terrain Redhead won’t rust if you put it away warm and wet from your sweaty hands. This O/U has enough heft to swing smoothly and extended chokes if you want to switch them up quickly in the field. Tiny magnets in the ejectors hold unfired shells if you tilt them upward when they’re open, yet still permit empty hulls to kick out. It comes in 12- and 20-gauge. I’d pick the 20 for doves.
10. OTB M-Flex 8 Tactical Boots
If your dove field isn’t hot and dusty, what are you even doing there? Boots made for desert combat might seem like overkill in the dove field where people around you are hunting in gym shorts and tennis shoes, but these will turn away sandburs and other nuisances if you have to fetch a dove you sail into the long grass. At 1.8 pounds per pair, the OTB M-Flex 8s are light and very breathable, with both Cordura mesh and perforations. Designed for soldiers bearing up under heavy rucks, the soles are well-cushioned.
11. Federal HI-BIRD, 12 Gauge
Doves are easy, unless they are white-winged doves, in which case they are bigger, fly higher, and require a little extra something from your shotshells to make them fall from the sky. Loaded with white-wings in mind, Federal’s 12-gauge Hi-bird shells have 1 1/8 ounces of hard shot, a little extra velocity at 1275 fps, and a two-piece Soft Cell wad for improved patterns. Use these on the days the white-wings or mourning doves only give you the longer chances.
12. Winchester Game and Target
I've shot doves for the last dozen or so years with Xpert Steel Game and Target loads in 12-, 20-, and 28-gauge. They perform well, and the steel pellets penetrate far enough that I rarely bite down on one, either. They come in 6 and 7 shot. On paper, 6 shot is the right choice. In the field, I’ve had great success with the 7s. The 12-gauge is 1 ounce at 1325; the 20-gauge is ¾-ounce also at 1325, and the 5/8-ounce, 1300 fps 28-gauge is surprisingly effective. They sell for somewhere in the neighborhood of $12-$15 per box.
13. Duck Camp Lightweight Hunting Shirt
Duck Camp’s Lightweight Hunting Shirt keeps you looking fresh and feeling cool in breathable Supplex nylon. It has a mesh panel on the back under a yoke, and eyelet vents under the arms. There are button pockets on the front ( which is important because flapless pockets snag gun butts) with a very handy zippered pocket behind the left-hand pocket. The collar buttons down to look classy. It comes in a short sleeve for $89 and a long sleeve for $99. There are offerings in both solid colors and Duck Camp’s own camo patterns. I wear long-sleeve shirts all season with the appropriate layers.
14. Yeti CarryAll Camino Tote
The CarryAll Camino Tote can hold all your dove paraphernalia, and now it comes in old-school camo. It has pop-open pockets on the inside of the ends for water bottles, and the bag itself accommodates decoys, ammo, dead doves, empty hulls, and anything else you want to throw in there. It stands up on its own and is easy to clean out when you get home. Honestly, the “small” 20-liter bag is big enough for everything you need. The 35-liter is huge, but also great. The 20L camo costs $150 and the 35L retails for $170.
15. Mojo Pick Stick
When the smoke clears and you have empties scattered everywhere, the Pocket Pick Stick makes cleanup easier and faster. The 38-inch stick collapses into four bungee-corded sections and snaps together in an instant. Hulls practically jump onto the magnetized end of the stick, saving you the trouble of bending over to pick them up. Leaving empties on the ground is a ticketable offense on public land where I hunt, and bad manners anywhere.
16. Aves Hybrid Hardshell Floating Gun Case
Because opening day of dove season is special, sometimes you want to bring a special gun, even an heirloom. Protect it with the Hybrid Hardshell Floating Gun Case. Shaped like a regular soft case, but armored with 5mm EVA hard panels over 10mm foam, the Hybrid Hardshell shields your gun as it bounces in the back of a side-by-side, then, because it’s hinged in the middle, it folds up to stash out of the way while you hunt. The soft center “hinge” still has plenty of padding. At 56 inches long, it easily accommodates grandpa’s 30-inch Model 12, or any other gun you want to bring along.
