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Kentucky Afield Outdoors: Late season dove options
10/10/08
Frankfort, Kentucky - Outdoors enthusiasts love their old wives tales and take them as gospel truth: You can't catch bass in the wintertime. Spring is the only time to crappie fish. Dove hunting is a waste of time after opening weekend.
None of these is true. Dove hunters can find challenging hunting late into the year if they do their homework.
"A little scouting goes a long way right now," said Bill Mitchell, area manager for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources' Taylorsville Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA). "Doves this time of year are opportunistic. You'll have to get out and look for them."
Finding concentrations of birds is one of the keys to late season dove hunting. After the initial flurry of the early season, doves and other animals eat most of the seeds from prepared dove fields. The fields of sunflowers, millet and wheat don't hold the birds they did a month ago. Later in the season, other food sources come into play.
"Those other fields that held birds earlier are fed out by now and the birds have moved on," Mitchell said. "Old tobacco fields where they've drilled in some seed should provide some hunting. Fields grown up in pigweed and foxtail and other natural vegetation that holds seeds attract doves this time of year."
Hunters must only hunt over areas disturbed by legitimate agricultural practices. Fields where people have added grains or other attractants are not legal for dove hunting.
Farmers cut their silage earlier than usual this year because of the dry summer, but a hunter who can get on the remains could have the best hunting of the fall. "Silage stubble fields are good places if there are some birds," said Rocky Pritchert, migratory bird program coordinator for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. "Farmers are actually cutting their corn for grain right now. Those are excellent places if you can get permission to hunt them."
Large corn stubble fields can also provide good jump hunting, akin to pursuing quail. The hunter spurs the doves to "jump" up and fly by walking toward them. "Big fields provide some good hunting in October," Mitchell said. "You can't cover all of it by yourself. After I scare up some birds, I watch where they land and go after them. You can get into some good hunting that way."
Ponds are overlooked by many dove hunters. They provide reliable action from opening day until the last segment of the season. "As dry as it is, find a water hole and you'll find doves," Mitchell said. "I've done some fantastic hunting over just a quarter-acre little seep hole. It's not fast and furious, but you can shoot 20 times, get your 15 birds and head to the house. When birds are back-pedaling into water, they are an easy target."
The best ponds to hunt are those with banks beaten down by cattle. "You want exposed banks," Pritchert explained. "You don't want any vegetation around the banks because doves can't move through it. You want bare dirt."
One last option for late season dove hunters is hunting near roosting areas. Doves feed in the morning, go to water and roost about mid-day. A smart hunter will set up near a roosting area and intercept the birds as they come in. "Cedar thickets, pines and Osage orange stands are great roosting areas," Pritchert said. "Hunting near a roost is short-lived, but it provides about 30 minutes of really good action. You'll need to do a lot of searching to find roosting areas. A lot of times people stumble upon them."
Doves also come to roost in the late afternoon. Hunting hours end at sunset.
Dove hunting isn't over for the year. The weather is fantastic and doves abound for those willing to do a little extra work. The first segment of dove season runs through Oct. 24. The second segment opens Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 27) and closes Dec. 5. The third segment of dove season opens Dec. 27, 2008 and closes Jan. 2, 2009. The daily bag limit is 15 birds.
Author Lee McClellan is an award-winning associate editor for Kentucky Afield magazine, the official publication of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. He is a life-long hunter and angler, with a passion for smallmouth bass fishing.
-30-
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources manages, regulates, enforces and promotes responsible use of all fish and wildlife species, their habitats, public wildlife areas and waterways for the benefit of those resources and for public enjoyment. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, an agency of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, has an economic impact to the state of $4.5 billion annually. For more information on the department, visit our web site at fw.ky.gov.
Media Contact:
Lee McClellan (800) 858-1549 ext 4443
10/10/08
Frankfort, Kentucky - Outdoors enthusiasts love their old wives tales and take them as gospel truth: You can't catch bass in the wintertime. Spring is the only time to crappie fish. Dove hunting is a waste of time after opening weekend.
None of these is true. Dove hunters can find challenging hunting late into the year if they do their homework.
"A little scouting goes a long way right now," said Bill Mitchell, area manager for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources' Taylorsville Lake Wildlife Management Area (WMA). "Doves this time of year are opportunistic. You'll have to get out and look for them."
Finding concentrations of birds is one of the keys to late season dove hunting. After the initial flurry of the early season, doves and other animals eat most of the seeds from prepared dove fields. The fields of sunflowers, millet and wheat don't hold the birds they did a month ago. Later in the season, other food sources come into play.
"Those other fields that held birds earlier are fed out by now and the birds have moved on," Mitchell said. "Old tobacco fields where they've drilled in some seed should provide some hunting. Fields grown up in pigweed and foxtail and other natural vegetation that holds seeds attract doves this time of year."
Hunters must only hunt over areas disturbed by legitimate agricultural practices. Fields where people have added grains or other attractants are not legal for dove hunting.
Farmers cut their silage earlier than usual this year because of the dry summer, but a hunter who can get on the remains could have the best hunting of the fall. "Silage stubble fields are good places if there are some birds," said Rocky Pritchert, migratory bird program coordinator for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. "Farmers are actually cutting their corn for grain right now. Those are excellent places if you can get permission to hunt them."
Large corn stubble fields can also provide good jump hunting, akin to pursuing quail. The hunter spurs the doves to "jump" up and fly by walking toward them. "Big fields provide some good hunting in October," Mitchell said. "You can't cover all of it by yourself. After I scare up some birds, I watch where they land and go after them. You can get into some good hunting that way."
Ponds are overlooked by many dove hunters. They provide reliable action from opening day until the last segment of the season. "As dry as it is, find a water hole and you'll find doves," Mitchell said. "I've done some fantastic hunting over just a quarter-acre little seep hole. It's not fast and furious, but you can shoot 20 times, get your 15 birds and head to the house. When birds are back-pedaling into water, they are an easy target."
The best ponds to hunt are those with banks beaten down by cattle. "You want exposed banks," Pritchert explained. "You don't want any vegetation around the banks because doves can't move through it. You want bare dirt."
One last option for late season dove hunters is hunting near roosting areas. Doves feed in the morning, go to water and roost about mid-day. A smart hunter will set up near a roosting area and intercept the birds as they come in. "Cedar thickets, pines and Osage orange stands are great roosting areas," Pritchert said. "Hunting near a roost is short-lived, but it provides about 30 minutes of really good action. You'll need to do a lot of searching to find roosting areas. A lot of times people stumble upon them."
Doves also come to roost in the late afternoon. Hunting hours end at sunset.
Dove hunting isn't over for the year. The weather is fantastic and doves abound for those willing to do a little extra work. The first segment of dove season runs through Oct. 24. The second segment opens Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 27) and closes Dec. 5. The third segment of dove season opens Dec. 27, 2008 and closes Jan. 2, 2009. The daily bag limit is 15 birds.
Author Lee McClellan is an award-winning associate editor for Kentucky Afield magazine, the official publication of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. He is a life-long hunter and angler, with a passion for smallmouth bass fishing.
-30-
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources manages, regulates, enforces and promotes responsible use of all fish and wildlife species, their habitats, public wildlife areas and waterways for the benefit of those resources and for public enjoyment. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, an agency of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, has an economic impact to the state of $4.5 billion annually. For more information on the department, visit our web site at fw.ky.gov.
Media Contact:
Lee McClellan (800) 858-1549 ext 4443
