Hundreds of people gathered at the Nation family farm for the opening day of dove season Saturday, participating in a family tradition that dates back generations.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Beverly Nation said. “A lot of fellowship. It’s good to see everybody.”
Since the 1970s, the Nation family has hosted a dove hunt and barbecue cookout for family, friends and strangers of all ages in the Devil’s Pond community.
“It’s just something we’ve been doing all our life,” Jerry Nation said. “We invite some people, and some people just show up. We have a lot of friends and relatives come, and half of them we don’t even know. But everybody just tries to have a good time and be safe.”
On opening day, Jerry woke up at 4 a.m. to begin prepping a giant cauldron of his family’s famous stew for the barbecue. It needed hours of constant stirring to prevent it from scorching.
All morning, several generations of the Nation family and their friends bustled about preparing the celebration, which included smoked pigs, coleslaw, homemade barbecue sauce, and tables full of cakes, cookies and desserts.
Months of field prep preceded the event, including planting, harvesting, bailing and burning their numerous dove fields for opening day.
Jeff Scott, a longtime friend of the Nation family, said he’s been coming to the opening day dove hunt for decades.
“(Jerry’s) worked hard at it,” Scott said. “It’s about a three-day job, and then another day to clean it all up afterward.”
The hunt itself is more socialization than shooting, but that's what keeps many folks coming back year after year. The day was filled with trash-talking, belly laughs, good food and (hopefully) a bag full of doves.
“We always say, ‘We can’t guarantee any birds,’ Adam Nation said, “but we can guarantee some good food and a good time.’ ”
Alex Perri is a master’s student in journalism at the University of Georgia. She previously worked at the Transylvania Times in Brevard, North Carolina.