Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, September 4, 1994                   TAG: 9409070087
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

THIS DOVE OPENER WAS FOR THE BIRDS

But it quickly became apparent a major ingredient was missing: doves.

Buddy Hill, a landowner, was having a tough time explaining their absence.

``Day before yesterday the place was thick with doves,'' Hill said.

You could see their silhouettes on power lines, and you could watch them dart across fields where Hill had flattened the aging sweet corn and cantaloupe crop with a Bushhog. The Roanoke County setting provided a perfect banquet table for birds that wobble about on small, pink legs that really weren't made for serious walking.

So, where did they go?

``There was a bunch of them in the trees around my house this morning, and when they saw us bring the guns out they all went south,'' Hill said.

A few stragglers remained to provide a brief flurry of action as they swerved and dipped across the field, their scimitar-shaped wings promoting sizzling flight.

``The first three or four minutes probably a dozen birds flew through,'' said Jason Beach of Roanoke. ``Actually, there were more crows than doves.''

After about an hour of watching an empty sky, Beach headed for Bedford County. You can tell it's a tough hunt when there are more shooters trading about than there are doves.

The report from Bedford County wasn't much better.

``I don't know that the doves have really migrated through here,'' said Bill Turner, whose family operates a dairy farm where brisk Labor Day weekend hunts are a tradition. ``We actually haven't seen as many doves as normal.''

``The ones I've seen are big doves,'' said Bill's brother, Jim. ``There are no bunches. The most I've seen are four or five in a group.''

The lack of a vigorous supply of smaller birds could mean poor reproduction, but Department of Game and Inland Fisheries officials say the population is in good shape along the Atlantic Flyway.

``This may not be our best start, but dove numbers are pretty stable,'' said Bob Duncan, chief of the department's game division.

Jim Oyler of Roanoke arrived at the Turner farm around 6 a.m. to secure a place to hunt doves, then headed for Franklin County to hunt squirrels. Saturday also was the opening day of the squirrel season in Southwest Virginia.

At noon, Oyler was back looking for doves.

``I figured they would fly a little early today,'' he said. ``I've seen it in years past that you would have to stop shooting or you'd burn up the barrel of your shotgun.''

There was little threat of that Saturday, a fact that left Oyler and his buddies hoping flights would develop late in the day. If not then, maybe later in the month, when more corn is cut and the millet ripens.

The scarcity of harvested corn fields, a popular place to launch a dove hunt, was troublesome for many sportsmen Saturday. The abundance of rain in July and August has kept corn John Deere green, delaying the harvest.

That left Oyler wondering why the doves weren't covering the few fields that were cut.

As for squirrels, Oyler and his buddies got several. Top gun was Gary Amos, who downed four with his .22 rifle.

``Everybody saw five or six squirrels, which was a lot more than last year,'' Oyler said.

Some hunters would have been happy to have seen that many doves.