Hunting is a fairly new and still very mysterious world to me.  I obtained my hunting and PAL about four years ago with the sole intention of trying something new and perhaps bagging some interesting meats for my table.  As most new hunters are, I was gung-ho and trigger happy with the thought that I would soon be dining on all sorts of delicious meats! I was going to be the friggen Davy Crocket of the north!  The Hank Shaw of Ontario (shameless plug for my favourite chef http://honest-food.net/)!

Well things didn’t really work out that way.  I soon learned that these were the lofty expectations of a niave and ambitious young man.  Both the difficult nature of hunting and time restrictions of my work and family lives hit me with a pretty hard dose of reality.  In the first year of hunting I ended up not shooting a damn thing.  I was green, loud in the bush, and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.  Forget hitting a flushing grouse or a running buck.

Since those days I’ve progressed, learned to stay calm, and most of all respect hunting and the animals involved.  Things came together after that and I have slowly ticked off animals from my list of firsts.  Not just in the bush but on the table as well.

This year I plan to take full advantage of some great water fowling and deer opportunities which I have stumbled across here in southern Ontario.  This has me feeling very excited about the upcoming 2013 – 2014 season.  So when I read that the regulations regarding geese were changing to remove all possession limits, both me and my stomach were ecstatic.  And then as if I wasn’t excited enough, I noticed that the MNR has added a morning dove season for my area.

I know some people are hesitant about hunting these birds, but I like to think I keep an open mind about trying new experiences so I am sure I will try it out.

Who knows, maybe this year will be the year I bag my first morning dove!

Cheers from the Wild

Albert

Migratory Regulations for Ontario (2013-2014):

http://www.ec.gc.ca/rcom-mbhr/default.asp?lang=en&n=99FDEC59-1#_005