Dove Hunting with Steel Shot
 

In Indiana they have made it a requirement that you hunt Dove on State land with steel shot. But I am experiencing alot of issues with the steel shot. To start with there is very few options on the market so far all I can find is Winchester in a #6 Steel. Which if following the rule for ducks and geese is about the right size for doves considering I was using #7 1/2 in lead. But I seem to be crippling alot more birds with the steel than I am killing which upsets me greatly I don't like seeing birds fly off 150-200 yards then fall out of the sky. I can't retrieve them and to me that is just a waste of an animal. I'm sure I'll get some replies simply stating that I'm a bad shot but that is not what is happening here I'm seeing bird being pummelled by the shot then recover fly off and die. Its like you either hit them in the head and they die or they don't die rapidly with the steel. I thought about getting some Hevi Shot in a small size like their Pheasant loads but I can't afford that type of shooting 2.00-2.50 per shot when the average person kills 1 dove for every 3-5 shots fired. I can buy alot of chickens for that money. Thanks in advance for any advice!

im "not" suggesting that you hunt with lead anyway...its bs that the animals eat the lead and die

i am having a similar issue. i hit a dove yesterday with the winchester #6 steel and it didnt drop. saw alot of feathers though. i didnt know doves were so hard to kill!

They aren't hard to kill. They usually die if you sneeze wrong. But the steel just doesn't seem to be doing the job.

i started shootin steel this season and have only cripple 1 dove outa of the man we have killed...use a follow up shot

Same problems here. I havent been dove hunting much and I know i am a less than average shot. Per box with lead I'm recovering 5 to 7 birds, with steel its like 1 to 3 birds. I'm seeing them get hit with steel and still flying, heartbreaking.

Went out again today had a repeat of yesterday. A lot of birds getting hit and flying off seeing them drop out of the sky a couple hundred yards away. Talked with a few other hunters hunting the field I was on today and they are having the same problem. Best solution I can figure at this point is opening up the choke and using a larger shot 6 or 4 (been using 6) and reducing my shot distance to no more than 25 yards, that seems to be the magic line I'm running into beyond that they aren't dropping well.

I have had the same issue with steel. I closed the range to 20-25 yrds and was deadly. You can also try #6 high brass fro the longer shots

If your having trouble with steel why not go with a higher density shot like hevi shot or a tungsten blend. it's a little more expensive but it will compensate when making those longer shots. Lead is far more effective than steel will ever be, but the high densitity shot is right up there with lead and is non toxic.

I would love to go with something like Hevishot but who can afford to do that? You're average dove hunters are getting 3-5 birds for every 25 shots. Hevishot at its cheapest is 2.50/round and normally closer to 3.00/round so assuming on the side of being a better shot that is still 12.50/dove shot. I can buy 2 boxes of steel shot for doves at that price. What I've learned to do is just limit my shots greatly. If I keep my shots under 25 yards then I'm fine. So I try to set my decoys at about 15 yards. Seems to be working but I let alot of birds fly that I would have otherwise shot before.