Doves in the snow

[alloutdoors]

Shot these during yesterday's storm.

 

 

 

 

My son took some photos too.

 

 

 

He was really excited about this one, "Daddy, I got a picture of both of them!".

 

[grampy]

Great pictures! Always so cool to see the young ones getting involved. Nice job, to both of you!

[mike rossi]

Those big bird watching cameras not only show the soft eyes of bambi real good, but if you look at your first photo and your last photo you see the dove lost part of its toe to frostbite. Missing toes due to frostbite is extremely common in doves because they have fleshy feet and legs compared to other birds. Modern weather swings and the increase in people who feed birds which encourage them to stay rather than migrate are to blame for the high rate of frostbite in doves. 

 

 

[wooly]

Sweet shots man!

If I had a rig like that, NOBODY would ever touch it- haha!

I was relieved to see that dove does indeed have ALL it's toes when I enlarged the pics.., so I wouldn't worry too much about keeping the feeder filled.

Great to see you're getting plenty of rewards out of your investment and sharing them here with us!

[Steuben Jerry]

I enjoy seeing the high quality photos a few of you post (Wooly - certainly yours among them!). Great shots!

 

If I may ask, approximately how much would that rig cost?

[mike rossi]

 

I was relieved to see that dove does indeed have ALL it's toes when I enlarged the pics.., so I wouldn't worry too much about keeping the feeder filled.

 

 

 

I can clearly see, with or without enlarging the pics, a missing toe.... 

[wooly]

I can clearly see, with or without enlarging the pics, a missing toe.... 

 

Well if that's what YOU see without even looking closer, then clearly it must be so.

How do we know this ever so obvious "missing toe"  was lost due to frostbite, and didn't get blown off by some good ol' southern boy unloading a few rounds of 7 shot at the poor little migrating song bird?

 

Seems all you like to do is argue with folks around here who don't openly side with your agenda.

Dang man.., you don't even have the courtesy to tell the guy "nice pics" before you go off playing the blame game taking a poke at birdwatchers and feeders being the reason for the dove missing the toe that he still has,lol

You need a hobby bro.

[Grouse]

Great photos.  I enjoy dove hunting and have done it in other states where they are rightfully listed as game birds.  Still, they are pretty to look at, be they in a tree, or in my hand.

 

BTW, I don't believe there is any way a hunter could blow off a dove's toe when it's flying without killing it as well, since the feet are tucked into the body when they fly.  I'm sure what Mike says about feeding birds does stifle migration in many doves.

 

 

Edited April 6, 2016 by Grouse

[alloutdoors]

Those big bird watching cameras not only show the soft eyes of bambi real good, but if you look at your first photo and your last photo you see the dove lost part of its toe to frostbite. Missing toes due to frostbite is extremely common in doves because they have fleshy feet and legs compared to other birds. Modern weather swings and the increase in people who feed birds which encourage them to stay rather than migrate are to blame for the high rate of frostbite in doves. 

 

Ok, allow me to settle toegate. I'll assume you are talking about the bird on the left in the above photos, because you can't see the feet at all of the bird on the right in the first image. Please note that in the following image the bird that was originally on the left has moved to the right side (the bird sitting over the U-shaped twig hasn't moved). You can clearly see that all toes are present and accounted for in their entirety. That said, it's true that doves are particularly susceptible to frostbite. I would however challenge you to prove "the increase in people who feed birds". Based on what data, and compared to when? More importantly, is there any data showing a corresponding increase in the incidence of missing toes in morning doves to suggest a cause/effect relationship?  I think you hit the nail on the head with the first part of your reasoning. Weather patterns related to climate change have demonstrably altered the migration behavior of a vast number of species. It's no surprise that doves would hang around during a winter like the one we just had, but even during our warmest winters it is still almost guaranteed that we will get at least a week or two where nighttime temperatures drop into the negative teens or lower which can easily catch them off guard.

 

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Great photos.  I enjoy dove hunting and have done it in other states where they are rightfully listed as game birds.  Still, they are pretty to look at, be they in a tree, or in my hand.

 

BTW, I don't believe there is any way a hunter could blow off a dove's toe when it's flying without killing it as well, since the feet are tucked into the body when they fly.  I'm sure what Mike says about feeding birds does stifle migration in many doves.

I'm sure the stifle of migration is not a real big deal because there are not enough of them in this state to matter.

[Lawdwaz]

I'm sure the stifle of migration is not a real big deal because there are not enough of them in this state to matter.

 

What's "enough" to matter?

 

 

How many would be enough?

[alloutdoors]

Also, thanks for the comments everyone! Glad you enjoy the photos, and thanks for looking.

 

 

I enjoy seeing the high quality photos a few of you post (Wooly - certainly yours among them!). Great shots!

 

If I may ask, approximately how much would that rig cost?

 

Sure, I've posted some of the details of my setup in other threads so it's already out there for someone to Google anyway. The short answer, that full setup runs into the low five figures. The exact number depends on if you are buying new or used, and on what camera body you choose to use.

 

Breaking it down by the components, the lens is the biggest chunk of it. At retail the Canon 600mm f4 IS II runs $11,500, on the used market it's $8,500 to $9,500 depending on condition. The nice thing about good glass is that it retains it's resale value very well. I've bought used lenses and then sold them for nearly the same price five years later. The only thing that really drives down the used market on a lens is when a replacement model is released, but the product cycle for high end lenses is usually at least ten years and can run easily run out to fifteen or twenty years in some cases. The initial buy in with photography is high, but then as you upgrade equipment that typically means you have equipment to sell as well which helps defray the cost.

The full tripod setup is close to $2,000 retail ($1,050 for the tripod, $300 leveling base, $600 for the gimbal head). I was able to piece it together used for closer to $1,300, partly because I was able to buy the gimbal as a package with another tripod which I then sold. 

Camera bodies are another story. My current main body is a 1DsIII, which was Canon's flagship pro body when it was released in 2007 for $8,000. The life cycle on pro bodies is 4-5 years and I stay a generation behind as a general rule, when I bought this body around 2012 it was for less than 30% of its launch price. Now you can pick one up for around $1,200. Canon just recently announced their newest flagship, the 1DX Mark II, which nowadays come at the "bargain" price of $6,000. I'm looking forward to picking up the original 1DX in the near future for a fraction of the price. Bodies depreciate so quickly that I just can't stomach that kind of loss, which is why I buy used.

 

The other thing I should mention is that although I do have quite a bit of money invested in my camera gear I'm certainly not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. My two biggest passions (after family of course) are photography and turkey hunting, and other than travel and tags for out of state hunts I don't spend that much on turkey hunting so most of my play money goes to photography. I don't own an ATV, or a UTV, or a snowmobile, or a motorcycle, etc., I own a big lens instead!    

[stoneam2006]

Also, thanks for the comments everyone! Glad you enjoy the photos, and thanks for looking.

Sure, I've posted some of the details of my setup in other threads so it's already out there for someone to Google anyway. The short answer, that full setup runs into the low five figures. The exact number depends on if you are buying new or used, and on what camera body you choose to use.

Breaking it down by the components, the lens is the biggest chunk of it. At retail the Canon 600mm f4 IS II runs $11,500, on the used market it's $8,500 to $9,500 depending on condition. The nice thing about good glass is that it retains it's resale value very well. I've bought used lenses and then sold them for nearly the same price five years later. The only thing that really drives down the used market on a lens is when a replacement model is released, but the product cycle for high end lenses is usually at least ten years and can run easily run out to fifteen or twenty years in some cases. The initial buy in with photography is high, but then as you upgrade equipment that typically means you have equipment to sell as well which helps defray the cost.

The full tripod setup is close to $2,000 retail ($1,050 for the tripod, $300 leveling base, $600 for the gimbal head). I was able to piece it together used for closer to $1,300, partly because I was able to buy the gimbal as a package with another tripod which I then sold.

Camera bodies are another story. My current main body is a 1DsIII, which was Canon's flagship pro body when it was released in 2007 for $8,000. The life cycle on pro bodies is 4-5 years and I stay a generation behind as a general rule, when I bought this body around 2012 it was for less than 30% of its launch price. Now you can pick one up for around $1,200. Canon just recently announced their newest flagship, the 1DX Mark II, which nowadays come at the "bargain" price of $6,000. I'm looking forward to picking up the original 1DX in the near future for a fraction of the price. Bodies depreciate so quickly that I just can't stomach that kind of loss, which is why I buy used.

The other thing I should mention is that although I do have quite a bit of money invested in my camera gear I'm certainly not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. My two biggest passions (after family of course) are photography and turkey hunting, and other than travel and tags for out of state hunts I don't spend that much on turkey hunting so most of my play money goes to photography. I don't own an ATV, or a UTV, or a snowmobile, or a motorcycle, etc., I own a big lens instead!

Wow

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

[Four Season Whitetail's]

What's "enough" to matter?

 

 

How many would be enough?

Some would be nice. Did get lucky enough to see 2 a couple weeks ago in a back pen. With the almost 1500 acres i roam the Dove and the Pheasant hold down pretty much the same numbers....And thats because i live a couple miles from a bird hunting outfit and a couple escape every few years and make their way over.

[grampy]

We all have our passions that we like to play with. If you're serious about your passions. You got to pay to play.

[Lawdwaz]

Some would be nice. Did get lucky enough to see 2 a couple weeks ago in a back pen. With the almost 1500 acres i roam the Dove and the Pheasant hold down pretty much the same numbers....And thats because i live a couple miles from a bird hunting outfit and a couple escape every few years and make their way over.

 

Too bad, we have quite a few around here.  Some year 'round but much more have been coming up as the weather warms up.  There really are a pile around in the fall.  I've seen huge flocks of them in September up in Niagara County, much more than I ever saw in my 15+ years of hunting them successfully in Pennsylvania. 

 

That said, a flock of 40-60 birds hanging around a harvested crop field can give 3-4 a few days of great shooting.  If I had 500 to 1000 hanging around I think it'd be overwhelming.

 

I have a feeling there are more dove in your locale than your admitting to but I understand your beef......life goes on. 

[Lawdwaz]

Toes or no toes, those pics are winners.

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Too bad, we have quite a few around here.  Some year 'round but much more have been coming up as the weather warms up.  There really are a pile around in the fall.  I've seen huge flocks of them in September up in Niagara County, much more than I ever saw in my 15+ years of hunting them successfully in Pennsylvania. 

 

That said, a flock of 40-60 birds hanging around a harvested crop field can give 3-4 a few days of great shooting.  If I had 500 to 1000 hanging around I think it'd be overwhelming.

 

I have a feeling there are more dove in your locale than your admitting to but I understand your beef......life goes on. 

Sorry..Just not here..A stray here and there on the 130 at one end of Letchworth..Never have seen any at camp on the other end of the park or on the park itself.  Cant say there is a hunting population there or would want to shoot the few that do show up here and there.

 

I guess a fella could travel to kill a few if there ever did happen to be a season in Ny but not sure many would?

[Lawdwaz]

Sorry..Just not here..A stray here and there on the 130 at one end of Letchworth..Never have seen any at camp on the other end of the park or on the park itself.  Cant say there is a hunting population there or would want to shoot the few that do show up here and there.

 

I guess a fella could travel to kill a few if there ever did happen to be a season in Ny but not sure many would?

 

Trust me, with all the dairy farms around the Park, that area is LOADED with dove. 

 

The thing is, if you don't care to look (and that's fine) you won't notice them.  Oh the birds that you could find around those fields  around Perry!  Some guys would travel for them but plenty would hunt them in their own town.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: you can not imagine what a wonderful bird they are to hunt.  Then there is the table-fare bonus.  

 

There is a reason they are the number one game bird in America........

 

[Four Season Whitetail's]

Trust me, with all the dairy farms around the Park, that area is LOADED with dove. 

 

The thing is, if you don't care to look (and that's fine) you won't notice them.  Oh the birds that you could find around those fields  around Perry!  Some guys would travel for them but plenty would hunt them in their own town.

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: you can not imagine what a wonderful bird they are to hunt.  Then there is the table-fare bonus.

 

There is a reason they are the number one game bird in America........

 

Well lets see..The Fitch Farms, The DeGolyer Farms The Mcbride Farms,The Everett Farms....Walk acres of every one of them every fall along with our own and the park itself....It would be hard not to notice them if they were there in numbers. 

[Lawdwaz]

You win...........there are no doves.

[Four Season Whitetail's]

You win...........there are no doves.

Some Dove's and a huntable population of Doves are miles apart.  Maybe thats why there is not a huge hunter push for a season.

 

Would be like having a Pheasant season without put and take birds.  Most hunters would have to travel big time to even find huntable birds.

[LET EM GROW]

Awesome pics!!

 

I need to get a camera setup for some outdoor photos. It probably wouldn't be a rig like this.. unless i became rich someday lol!

 

Maybe the fiance will let me take her Cannon out... Think i already know the answer.. 

Edited April 7, 2016 by LET EM GROW