Several outdoor events are available as the Labor Day holiday weekend approaches. Most significant is the opening of the 2016/2017 dove season in Georgia. You can begin hunting doves on Sept. 3 statewide in Georgia.

The 2016/2017 dove seasons are Sept. 3-18, Oct. 8-28 and Nov. 24-Jan. 15. You cannot begin shooting on opening day until noon and you can shoot until sunset. For the rest of the season, you can shoot from one-half hour before sunrise until sunset.

Dove hunting was a favorite outdoors activity for me growing up in Alabama. Friends and family members would gather for the opening day event in a local farmer’s cornfield and attempt to bring home a few doves for supper.

In my youth, the opening day of the dove season always began on a Wednesday back when all stores closed at noon on that day. In addition, my daddy wrote me an excuse to get out of school early on opening day. I got my first hunting lessons in the dove field with my daddy. It began with me as daddy’s bird dog as my job was the retrieve the birds my daddy brought down but only after he gave me the all clear.

I learned a lot about hunting doves as daddy’s retriever. I came to understand the language of the dove field. Phrases like “doves at three o’clock”, “too high” and “dove down”. When I was about eleven I was given a chance to hunt with a gun and a few shells but even then I was under daddy’s watchful eye.

That began a lifetime of good times hunting doves from Alabama to Virginia. Most of those hunts were with daddy, my brothers and with friends. The fellowship and the memories of those dove hunts have lasted a lifetime.

I have not hunted doves for several years. Unfortunately, I do not live near family and very few of my outdoor friends hunt doves. My only attempt to hunt doves in Georgia cost me one-hundred dollars and I did not even get a shot. That dove field was supposed to have significant numbers of doves available but those doves must have flown to greener pastures before opening day.

I now spend the time I could be hunting doves fishing and/or watching football but those earlier memories still cross my mine on opening day of the dove season. It is almost as if I can still hear the dove field phrases as they were shouted and hear the shotgun blast as they rang out around the dove field. Those are some great memories and I hope you have an opportunity to find a dove field for opening day and create some memories of your own.

Many Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) are available for hunting doves but most WMAs are quota hunts so you need to check with the WMA before arriving to hunt. If hunting on private land, you need to make sure the dove field is legal otherwise everyone in the dove field can be ticketed.

The daily bag limit is 15 doves per hunter and if you harvest a collared dove it does not count against the 15 limit. Those collared doves have begun to show up at dove fields in recent years and while flying you cannot tell the difference between them and the ordinary mourning doves.

Now if hunting doves is not your thing, there are fishing opportunities available across the state. We are fortunate to have two great lakes Oconee and Sinclair right here in the area. Also the Public Fishing Areas (PFAs) scattered across Georgia will be open seven days a week beginning on Labor Day. In the past they were not open on Mondays and Tuesdays.

“We are thrilled that we reached a point where we can make PFAs accessible 7 days a week,” said John Biagi, Chief of Fisheries Management of the Wildlife Resources Division. PFAs also have other outdoor activities like hiking, bird watching, picnicking and camping. So why not gather up the family and head to one of the PFAs on Labor Day weekend.

Some of the PFAs are a short drive from this area. Marben Farms near Mansfield offers numerous ponds for fishing and many other activities and the same is true for the Hugh Gillis PFA near Dublin. Most of the PFAs have fishing ponds, picnic tables, nature and wildlife trails, fish cleaning stations and restroom facilities.

Many outdoor opportunities are available as Labor Day weekend approaches. As for me I think I will begin the Labor Day weekend on Saturday and do a little early morning fishing on Lake Sinclair before the pleasure boats and personal watercraft get going and then return home and get ready for the opening weekend of SEC football.

Maybe while fishing on the lake I can hear some shots coming from a local dove field and I might just have to put my fishing rod down, close my eyes and have a trip down memory lane. Good hunting and/or fishing and see you next week.