Pigeons ??? (to shoot or not)

[Reaper]

outside of city yes, inside no, tastes like

[SneakyPhil]

A few years ago I shot one and grilled it with the rest of the doves I got. It tasted just like it smelled. Nasty!

[Old Goat1]

Use to raise them when I was a kid, Giant runts, White kings, French Modanes, Racing homers, Ringneck doves, and Tumblers. My boys even raised racing homers. If a bird is being exercised and not back in the catch pen before you shut the door he isn't worth racing.

If the bird is young they are not stringy (meaning not been exercised for months). Birds that are older are a little tougher but not as much as a dove (less gamey tasting, more white meat).

French Mondains are a meat pigion and raise mostly for food.

Had them fried and in gravy but never wrapped up in a bacon strip on a grill.
Come to think about it I bet they would be great that way. Besides feral rock doves are causing some farmer a problem with the mess in the barn.

[Lonestar88]

I have shot and cooked a "GRAND PA DOVE" not to bad but just is'nt the real thing..

[texag93]

I shoot them out here. They are just a giant dove. When we cleaned them, they were full of milo, corn and peanuts. Can't tell the difference on the pit.

[Mike]

On the rock dove issue, I know the guide where we hunt also tells us not to shoot them but he is talking about a little tiny dove that is off limits in Uvalde. It is not a pigeon at all but a little dove that tends to fly very low in the trees.

[Smart]

On the rock dove issue, I know the guide where we hunt also tells us not to shoot them but he is talking about a little tiny dove that is off limits in Uvalde. It is not a pigeon at all but a little dove that tends to fly very low in the trees.

That would be an inca, spanish or mexican dove..

[J-J Matt]

they make great target practice and a good dog trainer.

[CastAndBlast]

No laws protecting Pigeons that I know of we use for bird dog training. There are nasty birds I would never eat one. Then again in New Mexico you cannot kill them in the city limits but no laws against catching them. Were we train is way beyond the city limits

x2

[dennisomfs]

...obviously , they are the bird of choice for live pigeon shoots. Young birds are quite tasty (but then so are Robins :-)..but that's another story). In europe, common table fare.

[Shake & Bake]

I would try anything once! Shoot one and let us know how it taste!

[Cajun Blake]

tastes like chicken

[crittergitter]

There are nasty birds I would never eat one.

yes they are nasty but no more nasty than chicken, crabs, catfish, crawfish and many other animals we eat.

rig necks are also bonus birds....

[coon007]

yes what about ringneck doves there are ton's of them here in zapata county for evey whitewing i see i see 10 ringnecks

[Dugie]

I call them "rats of the sky" but I'd probably eat one if we shot it along with the doves we were cleaning and cooking already. As mentioned earlier, why not, I love raw oysters and there ain't nothing dirtier than that, but they are so good....