Doves, the fast food of the hunting world, become an afternoon meal in a matter of minutes.

Pluck, marinate, grill, done – instant, tasty gratification.

The hunt for those doves, however, lends itself to the exact opposite of the fast-food concept: a large social gathering that unites family and friends for the kickoff of fall bird hunting.

That's a recipe for the first feast of fall.

Andy Donald of Woodland usually goes out on "dove opener" with friends from his duck club.

"It's pretty social," he said. "You don't have to do a lot of camouflaging and hiding – it's pretty much stand around and talk. And shoot."

Having so many hunters around also means that cleaning is a breeze.

"If your group shoots 30 birds or more, you can sit around on the tailgate of your truck and clean the birds in another 30 minutes," he said.

Donald's favorite way to cook dove is a twist on the Oregon blue cheese salad served by a restaurant he used to run, Bistro 33. He cooks the dove Buffalo-wing style, then adds it to a salad of hearts of romaine, walnuts and blue cheese dressing.

"Doves are the perfect size to put on a fire like a buffalo wing," he said.

For Brad Ostman of Mountain View, the tradition of family and feast for the dove opener goes back to his childhood when he, his brother and his dad would go out with their cousins and uncles.

"It was the more, the merrier," he said. "We would have eight, 10, 12, 15 guys out there shooting."

For a while, their same-day dove feast was simple: They marinated the dove in Italian dressing and put it on the grill. But the feast eventually took on a little more of a competitive air, to see who could cook doves the best.

"Baked, barbecued, fried. We even tried making a pie out of them," he said. "That didn't come out too well."

His favorite recipe, from his cousin Tracey, calls for topping dove breasts with roasted chilis, wrapping them in bacon and grilling them.

Ostman's father and uncle no longer join the opening-day hunt, but he hopes his two sons, ages 10 and 12, will help carry on the tradition.

For Ruth Dwight Adams of Sacramento, everyone in her family seems to have a recipe for dove, but she likes to keep it simple: "We pluck them, stuff them with a chili pepper, wrap with bacon, put them on the grill and have a glass of wine," she said.

"I think the flavor of a dove is so unique. I just call it a flying backstrap."

For Adams, everything about the dove hunt is special.

"I enjoy the flavor, the hunt, the challenge, being outdoors. Having your shoot, then enjoying it. It's so fresh."

Grilled dove a la Mancha

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves 4

From Hank Shaw, Orangevale (www.honest-food. net).

INGREDIENTS

12 doves

3 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt

12 bay leaves

12 sage leaves

1/4 cup (approximately) melted bacon fat

Spanish smoked paprika

Freshly ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Rub the doves with olive oil and salt them well. Stuff each cavity with a bay leaf and a sage leaf. Grill over medium-high to high heat with the breast side up for 6-8 minutes. Do not let them char. Turn them over and grill for 4-6 minutes. Brush them with the bacon fat.

Turn the doves on their sides and grill for 1-2 minutes for each side. Brush with more bacon fat. Remove to a platter and brush with the remaining bacon fat. Dust with the smoked paprika and the black pepper. Let them rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Per serving, approximately: 645 cal.; 68 g pro.; 2 g carb.; 28 g fat (7 sat., 13 monounsat., 3 polyunsat., 5 other); 292 mg chol.; 1,603 mg sod.; 0 g fiber; 0 g sugar; 48 percent calories from fat.

April's Blue Wing salad

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Serves 4

From Andy Donald, Woodland.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup Frank's red hot sauce

1/2 stick butter

4 romaine hearts

Blue cheese dressing

12 whole doves

Vegetable oil, for frying

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

INSTRUCTIONS

Place hot sauce in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add butter and whisk until fully combined. Remove from heat.

Chop the romaine and place in a large bowl. Add blue cheese dressing; toss well. Refrigerate.

In a large frying pan, fry the doves in oil until the skin is crispy. (Do in batches, if necessary.) Remove from pan and toss in the hot sauce-butter mixture.

Place dressed romaine lettuce on 4 plates and top each salad with doves. Sprinkle each salad with chopped walnuts. Serve with pride, knowing you have brought the epitome of "free range" poultry to the dinner table.

Per serving, approximately: 827 cal.; 68 g pro.; 10 g carb.; 49 g fat (12 sat., 13 monounsat., 20 polyunsat., 4 other); 276 mg chol.; 524 mg sod.; 3 g fiber; 4 g sugar; 59 percent calories from fat.

Tracey's 'especial' dove recipe

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Serves 4 to 6

From Tracey Fremd, Cameron Park.

Note: The prep time does not include the time to roast the peppers or the marinate time for doves.

INGREDIENTS

20 doves (for 40 breasts)

1 bottle quality Italian salad dressing

20 slices apple-smoked, thick-cut bacon

10 fresh-roasted Anaheim or jalapeño peppers, cut into 40 strips (4 strips from each pepper)

One ice cold beer

One hot grill

INSTRUCTIONS

Marinate dove breasts in Italian dressing for as long as it takes to get a good nap after the morning shoot (1-2 hours). Open cold beer. Parcook bacon in microwave or on grill until 50 percent done. Place one strip of pepper on top of each dove breast, lengthwise. Wrap 1/2 piece of parcooked bacon around breast, going across the pepper strip. Secure with toothpicks. Sip beer. Repeat.

On a hot grill, cook breasts, pepper side down, for 2 to 3 minutes, turn and continue cooking until juices run pink and clear from the breast. Sip beer. Enjoy with friends.

Per serving based on 6 servings, approximately: 433 cal.; 50 g pro.; 2 g carb.; 17 g fat (5 sat., 6 monounsat., 4 polyunsat., 2 other); 195 mg chol.; 509 mg sod.; 0 g fiber; 0 g sugar; 42 percent calories from fat.