I am a firm believer in a “match-the-hatch” approach when it comes to camo -- I want the pattern I wear in the dove field to match my surroundings as closely as possible. Darker patterns with shades of green and earth brown just don’t blend in when you find yourself sitting in a 4-foot-wide strip of cornstalks left standing in a harvested field to provide cover for dove shooters. Reed-style waterfowl camo works better in that setting. Put me in some brush at the edge of a cut grain field, however, and the woodlands pattern is going to work a lot better.

One of the planning elements that will pay dividends for you is to make a mental catalogue of the specific spots that you and others will be hunting; then, try to get out to your dove field a week before the season opens to see the rising sun lighting those spots. Let that help guide your camo selection for upcoming hunts.

Where should you set up? A lot depends on how many hunters will be in the field with you. The fewer the hunters, the more important it is to know how birds are flying a field: where they come in, where they go out. Dove shooting alone or with just a couple of buddies is much more of an ambush than is a large hunt with a dozen or more hunters spread around a field. In the latter case, birds will begin moving helter-skelter when the shooting starts, and almost everybody will stand a good chance of getting good shots -- shots at effective distances.

By the time you read this, it’ll be too late to do much about what the birds are flying in for. You may be on a cut grain field, as mentioned above. If you hunt the afternoon alone or with just a buddy or two, you might want to think about setting up at a waterhole. Doves use them, and the action can be fast and furious.

Another great late-day hunt involves advance scouting to identify the whereabouts of roost trees. Setting up near them to ambush birds coming in from feeding and watering also provides some wonderful action. Here, too, the better your shooting, the fewer birds you’ll be educating.

More than one biologist I’ve talked to about these little acrobatic flyers has referred to sunflowers as “dove candy.” If you can hunt fields of sunflowers, do so. If you have a chance to influence the landowner or farmer planting the field you hunt, ask for sunflowers around the edge of the field next year, or maybe among the rows to be left standing at harvest.

The latter takes some extra effort. Offer to help with it at planting time, and you’ll often score points with the people who graciously provide your hunting access.

Here are a few more tips that will help you make any dove shoot the best that it possibly can be.

Figure out how many shotgun shells you’ll need -- and then double that amount. Somebody won’t bring enough shells, and somebody (maybe you!) won’t shoot as well as he or she thought. The extra shells will come in handy; they always do.

If you’re shooting a pump gun or a semi-auto, check to make sure the magazine stop is in place to keep you from loading too many shells. Please note: It doesn’t matter than you don’t have too many shells in your gun if you get checked in the field. It will matter that you don’t have the plug in the magazine. One of my dearest friends got just that kind of citation one opening day several years ago (which made me happier than ever that I shoot an over/under).

You might even want to carry an extra plug or two with you, and have everyone you’re hunting with check the scatterguns before heading into the field. There’s simply no reason to violate the law when it comes to plugging guns for hunting doves -- and there’s no easier way to ruin an otherwise wonderful shoot than by getting a ticket from a wildlife officer.

Bring plenty of water to drink. Bring sunscreen and bug spray. One of the coolest -- literally -- camo outfits I’ve ever worn on the edge of a dove field is a mesh “bug suit” that lets air flow while keeping bugs out. You can wear shorts and a light T-shirt under it, and so be both comfortable and concealed.

Also, if you or others decide to move from one spot to another, let your hunting partners know. Safety must be your No. 1 concern on a dove shoot, or on any hunt. Knowing where the rest of your party is situated throughout the hunt will help you stay as safe as possible.