Early afternoon is usually a slow time for dove shooting, but on opening day it doesn't matter. Hunting season has begun for both man and dog.

And then there are matters connected with the hunt. There is the renewal of old friendships and making of new ones. Extra attention is paid to boys and girls participating in their first dove shoot, and of course there's the important consideration of placing one's stool at the appropriate place and getting set up at your stand before lunch. Before each hunt, the hunt master rises to give a speech on safety and obeying the regulations.

Still, the essence of the hunt is the shooting. When doves abound, there will be plenty of it. Statistics indicate that nationwide hunters take a dove for every five shots or so, and it's no wonder the ammunition manufacturers love the sport.

Although hunting from dawn onward is allowed most places after opening week, many states limit shooting to the afternoons for the first week of the season. When the heat of dog days lays its heavy, humid hand on the land, doves have the good sense to do most of their feeding in the cool of late afternoon. Still, eager hunters, months removed from their last opportunity, filter into the field to take their allotted stands almost as soon as lunch is over, and they sweat and swelter in withering heat while an overly heavy lunch settles--only the occasional single or pair floating by within range.

Then somewhere around 4 p.m., the skies fill with birds as if the avian floodgates have been opened. Doves are everywhere, and excited cries of "mark left," "coming behind you" or "over the trees" ring out. So does the nearly nonstop shooting, shouts of triumph, plenty of good-natured ribbing when someone misses an easy floater, and occasional yells of pain when a careless soul blunders into a fire ant mound. A general aura of excitement and goodwill prevails. There are words of praise for retrievers (of both the youthful human and canine variety).

The glad madness continues for another hour or so, then slowly the better marksmen among the hunters filter from the field as they fill their limits. Others continue banging away, and there are always a few miserable wingshots who fire three or four boxes of shells but have only five or six birds and a sore shoulder to show for it. As light eases toward night, hunters young and old call their dogs to heel, fold up their stools and blinds, case guns, gather shotshell hulls and leave the field.

The hearty pre-hunt feast notwithstanding, a few hours of fast shooting in the late summer sun work builds up appetites and a thirst to match. Hunters find welcome answers to both while resting comfortably beneath the shade trees where lunch was served a few hours earlier. There are leftovers aplenty, but after a quick meal there are birds to attend to.

Hunters clean the birds in an assembly line-like process, and some of the breasts will immediately be wrapped in bacon, perhaps stuffed with a jalapeno or water chestnuts, and popped atop a grill. They disappear as quickly as they reach a perfect medium-rare turn, as do the dove heart hors d'oeuvres pierced with a toothpick and grilled for a minute or so.

YOUNGSTERS AND DOVE HUNTING: AN UNBEATABLE COMBO

Dove shoots offer an ideal way to introduce youngsters to sport at a quite early age. Long before they begin to carry a gun afield, hunters-in-waiting can acquire safe, ethical hunting habits and enjoy a full measure of pleasure. Kids enjoy serving as retrievers, proudly marking down and retrieving birds shot by a parent or grandparent. Doing so sharpens their observational skills, as does encouraging their assistance in spotting distant doves that might fly within shooting range The relaxed, easygoing nature of the sport, with good-natured banter between participants and a sense of community not found in most types of hunting, also appeals to youngsters. Some wiggling and squirming of the sort that is out of the question in a deer stand or when hunting turkeys is quite acceptable, and your sidekick can talk at will. Throw in a few sound lessons in ethics and gun safety, some praise for a small accomplishment such as finding a downed bird or seeing an incoming one before you do, and you suddenly discover that mentoring has a special magic. Be sure to include the kid in the post-hunt ritual of cleaning doves and make a point of sharing the bounty in a special meal. Approaches of this sort can mold and shape a hunter at a tender age.--JC

As appetites find sumptuous satisfaction, the time for the telling of tales--part of the proper wrap-up to any big shoot--arrives. Old-timers will compare just completed hunt to those of years or even decades ago and invariably find it a bit lacking in some way. There will be fond recollections of moving or hilarious moments from yesteryear--such as when a soldier on weekend leave made a 1,600-mile round trip just to participate in the shoot or mention of the poor "no shooting" soul who fired 78 times with but a single dove to show for his efforts.

Adolescents who have taken their first limit and younger hunters who have cleanly killed their first bird come in for special praise, friendly pats on the back, and maybe a bit of gentle teasing. Those who pay special heed will notice gleams of pride in fathers' eyes even as they readily excuse the bragging rights exercised by proud grandfathers. Soon the participants will disperse, but before doing so adults in the group raise a cheery glass of home-made scuppernong wine to salute renewal of one of America's most enduring sporting traditions.