Can I Go Dove Hunting with an Over and Under Shotgun?

We recently had someone send in the following question via email:

“I’m new to dove hunting, but wanted to know if I can go dove hunting with an over and under shotgun? Any help would be appreciated.”

After I responded to his email, I thought that question might be relevant to other hunters, so I expounded on my answer and added it to the website.

What’s an Over and Under Shotgun?

Before answering the question, it makes sense to briefly explain what an over and under shotgun is for anyone that may not be aware.

An over and under shotgun is a form of double-barrel shotgun where the barrels are stacked vertically on top of the other. The over and under shotgun (which is commonly called an O/U shotgun) is different from a traditional double barrel shotgun, where the barrels are positioned side by side.

The O/U style of shotguns has been around since the early 1900s and has grown in popularity to the point where they are now more popular than the traditional side-by-side double barrel models.

Early model O/U shotguns featured two triggers, each trigger firing a separate barrel. Today’s over & under shotguns feature a single trigger; some will even allow the shooter to select or choose which barrel fires first.

Dove Hunting with an Over and Under Shotgun

The over/under shotgun isn’t the most popular style you typically see on a dove hunt, but it works perfectly well for dove hunting. One of my favorite dove hunting shotguns is an older Ruger Red Label O/U in 20 gauge with a barrel selector/safety that lets me choose which barrel I want to fire first.

Cons of Using an Over/Under for Doves

To be fair, there are a few areas where an over and under shotgun may not be the optimal choice for dove hunting:

Limited to Two Shots

Perhaps the single biggest negative of using an over/under shotgun for dove hunting is the limit of two shots. Doves are a migratory game bird, meaning that any shotgun must have a three-shot limit. Since most semi-automatic and pump action shotguns will hold five shots, these shotguns have to be “plugged” for legal use for dove hunting. A plug is just a device that takes up space in the shotgun magazine tube and limits the number of shotshells to a maximum of three.

So, using a double barrel over & under shotgun means that you lose the potential third shot opportunity that you would have with a semi-automatic or pump-action shotgun. For some hunters, that’s a deal breaker for using an O/U model for hunting doves.

Can be Slower to Reload

Most over/under shotgun models feature a spent shell ejector that ejects any spent shotgun shell when the action opens. However, some of the older O/U models and some more traditional models are not equipped with a spent shell ejector, so the shooter has to manually extract the two spent shells before reloading.

Obviously, having to manually extract each spent shotgun shell slows down the reloading process, which may be an issue for some hunters who prefer a different shotgun style that offers faster reloading.

Typically Higher Priced than a Comparable Semi-auto or Pump Shotgun

O/U shotguns are available in a wide range of pricing, with some costing more than a reliable used vehicle. While the prices on over and under shotguns have drastically come down over the last ten years, they still tend to cost more than a decent semi-automatic or pump shotgun by the same shotgun brand.

Pros to Using an O/U Shotgun for Hunting Doves

Despite the negative options that I mentioned above, there are also some positive reasons to consider hunting dove with an O/U:

Built for Wing Shooting

Some shotguns on the market are built to serve more than one purpose or are versatile enough to be used for hunting more than one species. However, the O/U shotgun is not one of those models. They are predominately built for a few specialized uses, including wing shooting, trap shooting, or skeet shooting. Being designed for shooting at moving objects, an O/U can work amazingly well in a dove field.

Over/under models typically feature a higher comb on the stock compared to an all-around shotgun or specialized shotgun. That higher comb helps with eye-to-barrel alignment as you shoulder the firearm to track an incoming Mourning dove.

May Weigh Less

As a secondary benefit of being geared towards wing shooting and upland shooting, an over/under shotgun will most likely weigh less than a comparable semi-automatic or pump shotgun.

While less weight may not seem like much of an advantage, it certainly can’t hurt on a fast-moving species like doves.

FAQS

Here are some related questions that I’ve seen concerning dove hunting and over/under shotguns:

What’s the best over under shotgun for dove hunting?

Officially speaking, that’s an in-depth question to answer, and the answer deserves its own write-up in a standalone post.

However, here are a few general guidelines that I would suggest when shopping for an over/under shotgun for dove hunting:

• Barrel length less than 28 inches long
• Single trigger (ideally with a barrel selector)
• Choke tubes so the shotgun choke can be matched to the game species
• Weigh less than 9 pounds
• Spent shell ejector
• Built to accept both 2 ¾” and 3” shotshells (in case you wanted to use it for other game species)
• Gauge – Whatever you prefer, but 12 and 20 are the most popular.

What are the best chokes for an over and under hunting doves?

I’m saving the topic of shotgun choke and how they work for another post. So, without going down that rabbit hole, I believe that a cylinder choke (also called a skeet choke) and an improved cylinder choke are the best bet for early-season doves. However, in late season, I’d switch to an improved cylinder and modified choke since the doves are more skittish, so the shots become longer.

With the right shotshell load, the cylinder and improved cylinder are great performers for doves out to the 35-40 yard range.

Hopefully, you found this information helpful, and it answered the question about dove hunting with an over and under shotgun.