reloads for doves?

i'd like to work up a 12 ga. load for mourning doves with #9 shot. i'm assuming the more shot you throw, the better your chances of hitting, right? any experience or advice on size of shot charge? 7/8? 1 oz? 1-1/8?

thanks,

After years of shooting different shot sizes from 7.5 to 9 at doves I really think that 8's are the optimal size. I don't get as many kills with 8.5's as I do with 8's. A fairly zippy (1375/1400 fps) red dot load of 1 oz of hard #8's is the best combination of a lethal load that one can shoot a lot of w/o getting too big a bruise on your shoulder. I know the guys who deal in ballistic theory will tell you that the extra couple 100 fps get shed so fast that there is no practical advantage to loading light and fast. In practice that load kills better than the 1200 fps trap load. Probably best to pattern your gun as well as shoot game because the pattern board eliminates such variables as lead and range estimation. Larry

The best way that i have found to practice shooting at moving game/targets is to take a old used tire.cut a piece of plywood to fit inside of the tire and put a few screws though the tire to hold the plywood in place. put you a paper target or you can just paint a big dot on it.but i like paper targets better,cos you can take them off and replace them. then all you haft to do is find a nice safe place to shoot.take a friend along wit you and have him/her slowly roll the tire in front of you,varying the speed on each roll. this works good for four legged game . now on to game with wings.

Take your kids kite or buy you one.while your at the 'mart' buy you a few packs of balloons. blow them up and tie them to your kite. fly the kite until its flying high and then tie it off.try and shoot the balloons,hopefully you gave them a long cord.or you could pick a real windy day and just let the balloons lose and shoot them. clay targets are fun,but to me thay dont really help. Who ever saw a dove fly in a straight line? i sure haven't.very cheap and much more funnier to shoot than clay targets.

Safety note,,If you try this,Please,Please pick a safe pace to shoot.

doves with #9 shot. i'm i personaly think your pushing the envelope going with the 9's I would shoot and have loaded 7.5's with 1oz and 1 1/8oz loads