Today was opening day of dove season in Maryland.  Tom D'Asto and I were guests of Joe Brown at
his family 400-acre island on the Potomac River.  We arrived in the late-morning after crossing White's Ferry, on
the General Jubal Early into Leesburg, Virginia.  We drove an easement right-of-way through Ball's Bluff National
Battlefield and down to the river, where we were ferried across back into Maryland and to the island.
 

	Vast sweeps of Bidens at peak flower, warm-season switchgrass, corn, fennel, smartweed, sunflower, soy, clover food plots abound in the interior of the island.
	The island has commanding views of the Potomac, north, south, east and west.
	Wingstem, also at peak flower, mixed with stinging nettle was the dominant edge species along the boxelder/hackberry/paw paw tree lines.
	Next time you see Tom, he'll be able to explain this picture, and ask him what his camo tee-shirt said.  Everyone else was wearing Orvis, Cabela's, Pendleton, Woolrich, Drake, LL Bean or Under Armour camo, and Tom shows up with this.
	We bagged two dove, one each along a freshly plowed section of sunflower, at an abandon stretch of power line (for perching).  Several gentlemen hunters participated in opening day and between us many birds were taken, especially those set-up in the interior of the sunflower fields.  We took shots at dozens of birds just at or beyond the extent of our range.
	It was a beautiful, leisurely day, with a gentle breeze, sunny and low humidity.  Most of hunters would amble from site to site, visiting, talking and strategizing.  The 400-acre island is two-miles long.  We had six ATV's, six jon-boats and a Toyota pick-up, with lots of coolers of refreshments to go-around.
	This German wire-haired pointer and a yellow lab did a lot of 'fetch-em-up' today.
	Tom and I left prior to the cooking of the dove breasts.  Happy birthday Jennifer, sorry for keeping Tom out so long, but here is the recipe to beat all.  Each dove yields two breasts about the size of a chicken nugget.  They place a jalapeno or banana pepper into the interior of the meat, wrap a slice of bacon around the breast, pin it with a tooth pick and cook it over the grill.  It's a Hunt Club specialty!

Thank you Joe Brown for the privilege,
it was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

Submitted By: Mark Burchick