I know a whole lot of guys and girls who around this time of year shoot doves, but I know very few true dove hunters.

Technically speaking, when you are out after doves, you have to hunt to shoot and shoot to hunt. However, there is a select group of outdoorsmen who take their wingshooting more serious than the average opening weekend participant, who may only head to the nearest field once or twice a year during the month of September.

Dove hunters treat dove season like many folks treat turkey or deer seasons; they strategize, scout, manage and spend any of their free time during the open season sitting on a green bucket with some sort of gray-muzzled canine companion at arm’s reach.

I consider myself somewhere between a shooter and a hunter: semi-serious, but not quite dedicated or skilled enough to be tagged a die-hard dove hunter.

Despite doves not being near the top of the list as my favorite quarry to hunt, they certainly are one of my favorite to cook and consume. Consequently, I have surrounded myself with some sportsmen whom I do consider expert dove hunters in order to keep my freezer well-stocked with the delectable meat, as I rather quickly run out of my own.

Under the tutelage of these guys, I have gleaned quite a bit of knowledge about pursuing the dove - and feel compelled to pass a few tidbits along.

First and foremost, if you want to shoot more doves, begin using decoys.

For a long time I was a skeptic, until I watched how a dozen clip-on decoys placed on the top strand of a barbed wire fence or slung over a dead tree branch using a baitcasting rod and reel can change incoming doves’ flight.

Add in one or two of the new dove hunting secret weapons - the $40 Mojo Dove decoy - and prepare to be amazed.

Unlike waterfowl decoys, dove decoys are cheap and very easy to transport. Much like a good angler who can spot the best holes in a stream from the bank, veteran dove hunters know how to “read” a piece of property as soon as their boots hit the dirt.

Most of us realize the benefits of stationing near ponds and dead trees, but what if neither of those high-percentage spots graces this year’s field?

Fence rows and tree lines are the key to understanding how doves are going to pass, enter and exit a location. If there is a gap in a long row of trees, a lot of doves are going to fly through or over that gap, just as if it was an open gate.

Similar to whitetails, doves often come into a place via the corners - they fly down the fence line as if it were a superhighway and then abruptly turn and drop over the trees like F-16s in order to land and get a bite to eat on the ground.

Speaking of food, this is one of those years where the majority of the corn crop has yet to be shelled; some has been chopped for silage, but overall there is not a bunch of cut cornfields out there to attract doves.

Now is when long-term planning, such as planting a food plot, or investing time scouting out alternative gathering grounds like a mowed pasture full of ragweed or a freshly graded gravel road, will yield some big dividends.

We have more opportunities than ever to harvest doves in the Bluegrass, with three different seasons running from Monday to October 24, then November 27 to December 5, and finally from December 27 to January 2. To hunt doves, you need a state hunting license, migratory bird permit and a lot of shells.

The annual Quail Unlimited Dove Hunt, organized by Lloyd Cassidy, will be Monday, about a mile north of Warren East High School. Call Cassidy at 781-8345 for more information and driving directions.

— Geordon T. Howell is the outdoors columnist for the Daily News. Contact him at highbrasshowell@yahoo.com.