Sep 3, 2016 4 min read

I had a phone call last week and was greeted with a voice from the past. It was my old friend, Ben Williams.

It is kind of funny how certain paths cross during our time here on Earth. So it is with Ben and me.

I played a lot of baseball as a youth and lived in Hills Station. At this same time, Ben played for our arch rivals, the Crossroads. This was a time when Donaldsons Crossroads still had farms. We played right where McMurray Road crossed Route 19.

I didn’t see Ben for a long time because he was infatuated with a girl from my graduating class named Helen.

As both of us became more active in the outdoors, I started to see Ben again.

He was a longtime president of Dormont-Mt Lebanon Sportsman’s Club and a good one. Then, he became president of the Washington County Sportsman’s and Conservation League.

He had a lot to do with the acquiring of the game lands near Taylorstown.

As happens sometimes, bad legs took their toll and Ben slowed down, though he helped me with the Eddy Eagle program. He also was and still is a regular visitor at the veterans’ hospital. Ben is presently confined to a wheelchair but still does his bit to help outdoorsmen and those who are handicapped, veterans in particular.

Ben’s call was to inform me of a trap shoot and bird hunt for those who gave so much to defend our way of life. The outing is sponsored by the Western Pennsylvania Wounded Warriors, Disabled Vets and the McDonald Sportsmen’s Club. It will take place at the club grounds on Sept. 10. There will be plenty of food and the vets will be taken on golf carts to shoot trap.

After the trap shoot, there will be a bird hunt. Gratitude should be in order for the members of the McDonald Sportman’s Club and the other two groups for remembering these warriors and a sincere thank you to Ben.

• I guess it’s habit or perhaps the cool nights that make me feel September is the start of the hunting season.

I know there is always something to hunt but in September, it feels special.

I have often said the dove is September’s bird. It would be safe to say that more shotgun shells are used on doves than on rabbits and grouse combined.

For one thing, they are around in good numbers and secondly they are a tough target. They are fast and many a shot column has passed harmlessly behind them.

Find what I call a stubble field, and you will find feeding doves. A picked grain field is also a great place to hunt.

You can walk the fields and shoot at flushed birds or you can lie in wait. More than once I have stood quietly among the round bales and shot passing doves.

Which presents the toughest shot? There is something to be said for each method.

Birds that are taking off aren’t up to speed yet, meaning they offer a slower-moving target. But the shooter is less prepared for the shot.

Passing birds are really moving, making this pass shooting demanding. When pass shooting, I find I better identify the bird by its wingbeats. When I can identify it by sight, it is there and in a split second it is gone.

The best preparation that can be done for dove hunting is studying the dove wingbeats. After all you don’t want to shoot a robin by mistake.

Shooting robins makes mom angry!

• Don’t forget the outdoor celebration at Ryerson on Sept. 10. This will keep me from the activity at the McDonald Sportsmen’s Club because I promised to be at Ryerson Park that same day.

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.