Conversely, try to avoid a west-facing set-up for shooting during the afternoon. Lord knows, doves are difficult enough to hit when your visibility is perfect. The sun glaring in your eyes severely hampers your shooting, not to mention the reflected glare bouncing off you to the eyes of your quarry.

If a facing-the-sun setup is impossible to avoid completely, relocate to a spot where the incoming sunlight at least strikes at an off angle. Often, indirect sun can be dealt with, whereas sunlight directly in your face is impossible. Avoiding direct sunshine is always desirable, even if other spots around a field's perimeter might afford poorer opportunities for concealment or convenience.

Dove hunting with a retrieving dog is one of the more pleasurable aspects of wingshooting. A well-trained retriever that is under proper control at all times is always a joy to watch and, if you are the owner and handler of such a canine, also quite gratifying to show off to your fellow hunters. However, let's face it: Those classic, well-behaved non-slip Labs, goldens and spaniels are the exception rather than the rule at most local dove hunting outings.

There always seems to be at least one hunter in the group who owns a dog that is bound and determined to make neighboring hunters miserable. The animal is allowed to range wherever he wishes, breaking on every shot, and, worst of all, picking up every downed bird within marking distance - his "master's" and everyone else's.

If you know this to be the case beforehand, you can make your own day's shooting much more enjoyable by setting up as far away from dog and handler as possible. Forget the fact that a stand location directly adjacent to such a pair may otherwise be one of the best spots on the field. The negatives always outweigh the positives.

If you have your own retriever along, relocating away from the unruly animal is also a good way to avoid an almost-inevitable canine confrontation over retrieving territory, as well as making an enemy of the two-legged portion of the offending partnership. If your dog is itself a bit out of control, isolate yourself out of common courtesy.

If at all possible, especially if you hunt without a dog, it is wise not to choose a shooting spot over thick vegetation into which birds are apt to fall when shot. Retrieving birds in such locales will likely make you strongly consider investing in a pickup pooch in the future. Briar thickets make bird-fetching an uncomfortable and downright painful proposition for humans.

Even if the offending flora is nothing more than tall grass or thick scrub, there is the likelihood you'll leave downed birds lost and uncollected at hunt's end. Face it: You'll never mark falls as well as a dog and you certainly don't possess the nose for the job. Even a good Labrador loses a dove in thick cover once in a while. Think how many you'll leave behind under the same conditions.