re: Will ducks hit flooded hay fields?

You are mistaken. You can plant and flood for duck hunting as long as you do not manipulate it. This includes mowing, intentionally knocking down seed, etc. The above applies to waterfowl, not doves. You can plant, burn, Bush hog, etc for doves. If you do it to hunt doves, you can not later flood for waterfowl. As far as waterfowl hunting goes, you can plant a field, harvest an area to create a pond, and leave the rest standing. Grain that falls off naturally is not considered baiting. The La hunting regs give an overview of Federal regulations. You need to look at the complete Federal statute on baiting to understand. It goes into much better detail.