basics for dove hunting (help needed)

[BIGINNER]

Ok. Couple more questions.  I went out twice this week, and got 2 birds.  Dunno what I'm doing wrong,  do you guys prefer walking in the field, or just sitting and waiting?  Do decoys improve my odds?  How should I set up decoys?  Should i not wear my orange vest? How far is too far to shoot the doves? (12ga.) What shot size should i use? Thanks. 

[BIGINNER]

So far I went in the evenings. And there's tons of birds. But they keep their distance.   

[Buckmark]

Ok. Couple more questions.  I went out twice this week, and got 2 birds.  Dunno what I'm doing wrong,  do you guys prefer walking in the field, or just sitting and waiting?  Do decoys improve my odds?  How should I set up decoys?  Should i not wear my orange vest? How far is too far to shoot the doves? (12ga.) What shot size should i use? Thanks. 

Ok so to answer as i can, dove hunting is easy and a ton of fun with a few basics.
In no particular order
1) shot size: #9 prefered but can be hard to find over the counter, #8 work great and 7.5 will do, carry 50 on you...
2) Wear camo or green or tan clothes, NO orange, white or brite colors etc, just kinda blend in, a hat is a must.
3) improved cylinder for a newby...
4) Decoys NO, you do not need them, ever in this state.
5) Find a travel/transition route and sit still, sit as still as you can while scanning the horizon for birds coming in, use your eyes and only move when your ready to swing and shoot them.
6) Doves for the most part will seek out 4 things, find them all together and you will have a blast.
Roosting trees (russian olives, old or even new fruit orchards), water, grit and feed (seeds, corn, milo etc) find a small field of say beans, corn milo etc, with a gravel road running along it, an irrigation ditch and tress and our set, watch to see where the birds are flying along an edge of it and Bam your in it, they will usually follow a contour/line, like the edge of an orchard..
Or you can just get up at the crack of dawn and drive the ditch roads and blast them off the power lines 
I prefer the mornings until i limit or it gets too hot, bring water in a cooler and some fruit...Have fun..

[DOUBLELUNG]

Ok. Couple more questions.  I went out twice this week, and got 2 birds.  Dunno what I'm doing wrong,  do you guys prefer walking in the field, or just sitting and waiting?  Do decoys improve my odds?  How should I set up decoys?  Should i not wear my orange vest? How far is too far to shoot the doves? (12ga.) What shot size should i use? Thanks. 

Ok so to answer as i can, dove hunting is easy and a ton of fun with a few basics.
In no particular order
1) shot size: #9 prefered but can be hard to find over the counter, #8 work great and 7.5 will do, carry 50 on you...
2) Wear camo or green or tan clothes, NO orange, white or brite colors etc, just kinda blend in, a hat is a must.
3) improved cylinder for a newby...
4) Decoys NO, you do not need them, ever in this state.
5) Find a travel/transition route and sit still, sit as still as you can while scanning the horizon for birds coming in, use your eyes and only move when your ready to swing and shoot them.
6) Doves for the most part will seek out 4 things, find them all together and you will have a blast.
Roosting trees (russian olives, old or even new fruit orchards), water, grit and feed (seeds, corn, milo etc) find a small field of say beans, corn milo etc, with a gravel road running along it, an irrigation ditch and tress and our set, watch to see where the birds are flying along an edge of it and Bam your in it, they will usually follow a contour/line, like the edge of an orchard..
Or you can just get up at the crack of dawn and drive the ditch roads and blast them off the power lines 
I prefer the mornings until i limit or it gets too hot, bring water in a cooler and some fruit...Have fun..

That is all very good advice.  IF you can find where someone is farming either millet or sorghum, these are like crack cocaine and heroin to doves.  If the water source is a pond, I like to sit between the food source and the pond.  If it is a stream or river, take a spot between the roost trees and the food source. 

[Camp David]

Sit in the shade if possible. Remember these birds have most likely been shot at....if they see you they will avoid you. I like to sit in in a stool in the middle of a field with some natural vegetation helping me to hide when i can't find a good shady spot. I like a light modified choke 8s of 7 1/2s.

I'm going out this weekend. I have a little advantage....a lot more birds and no limits 

[ribka]

Ok. Couple more questions.  I went out twice this week, and got 2 birds.  Dunno what I'm doing wrong,  do you guys prefer walking in the field, or just sitting and waiting?  Do decoys improve my odds?  How should I set up decoys?  Should i not wear my orange vest? How far is too far to shoot the doves? (12ga.) What shot size should i use? Thanks. 

Ok so to answer as i can, dove hunting is easy and a ton of fun with a few basics.
In no particular order
1) shot size: #9 prefered but can be hard to find over the counter, #8 work great and 7.5 will do, carry 50 on you...
2) Wear camo or green or tan clothes, NO orange, white or brite colors etc, just kinda blend in, a hat is a must.
3) improved cylinder for a newby...
4) Decoys NO, you do not need them, ever in this state.
5) Find a travel/transition route and sit still, sit as still as you can while scanning the horizon for birds coming in, use your eyes and only move when your ready to swing and shoot them.
6) Doves for the most part will seek out 4 things, find them all together and you will have a blast.
Roosting trees (russian olives, old or even new fruit orchards), water, grit and feed (seeds, corn, milo etc) find a small field of say beans, corn milo etc, with a gravel road running along it, an irrigation ditch and tress and our set, watch to see where the birds are flying along an edge of it and Bam your in it, they will usually follow a contour/line, like the edge of an orchard..
Or you can just get up at the crack of dawn and drive the ditch roads and blast them off the power lines 
I prefer the mornings until i limit or it gets too hot, bring water in a cooler and some fruit...Have fun..

Good advice.
Have had good luck with decoys especially after the first few days when the doves become better educated