Hunting for dove is a lot like hunting quail, grouse, or other upland game birds. They’re small, they move fast, and when they take to the air, you shoot them down with your boom-stick.
Common sense would seem to dictate that the size of your gun should correspond to the size of your prey. In general, you’d be correct. However, when you’re shooting birds on the wing, a bigger gun’s wider spread will be significantly more accurate.
As a result, most of our candidates for best shotgun for dove hunting are 12 gauge guns. That said, we appreciate that not everyone is comfortable with the recoil on a big bore shotgun, so we’ve included a few smaller dove hunting shotgun choices as well.
Beyond bore sizes, we also looked at a variety of muzzle lengths and action types, to give you a better idea of what’s out there.
Ready? Let’s begin!
