golf gods lurking - got a birdie out of season

Got my first real live birdie.

Was hitting four-iron shots in the twilight Friday evening on the local muni practice range, a slight west/east crosswind. Found the good swing and caught one dead solid perfect, the ball flight was beautiful, aerodynamics at it's best. Straight and climbing high, going out about 190 yards then dropping like an aerial bomb with a slight Hogan fade.

Poor bird, didn't see it coming until the ball landed on something grey in color sitting on my imagainary green and then heard a sound like a golf ball hitting a watermelon at high speed.

Oh nooo, just hit a big fat grey stupid bird that was hidden in the shadows. After a few seconds the bird flew off in a low erratic pattern to the nearby tall grass mit chiggers and snakes and never saw it leave.

Thought about going over to check it out but what was one supposed to do, use the cell phone to call the vet or the game warden?

In retrospect, it was probably a dove, they are not in season in Texas until September 1st.

One of those freek things, the golf gods are messing with me.