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Dove Field Plans
Posted on 6/13/19 at 9:08 am
Posted on 6/13/19 at 9:08 am
School me on how to successfully manage a dove field. What is everyone planting/everyone’s time frame?
Got 10 acres, needing some advice. Do you do multiple plantings of millet?
Do you bushog/burn a portion prior to opening day?
We are hoping to get seeds in the ground this Saturday for at least some portion of the field.
Got 10 acres, needing some advice. Do you do multiple plantings of millet?
Do you bushog/burn a portion prior to opening day?
We are hoping to get seeds in the ground this Saturday for at least some portion of the field.
3
Posted on 6/13/19 at 9:24 am to greenhead11
Just pour seed on the ground. Do it once/twice a week beginning in August. If you don't kill birds opening day, your location sucks.
Posted on 6/13/19 at 9:33 am to greenhead11
Doves like to land on dirt. If a week before the season you can strip cut an area large enough to hunt. That is very good. If you can spray, brush hog or burn that cut area a couple of days before you hunt, that is even better. I would think millet is still good to plant, too late for sunflowers for the opener, but you could get some in for the second opener.
Posted on 6/13/19 at 9:48 am to Goldensammy
quote:
Just pour seed on the ground. Do it once/twice a week beginning in August. If you don't kill birds opening day, your location sucks.
ding ding..
-burn field off
-disc
-spread seed... pew pew
Posted on 6/13/19 at 9:52 am to wickowick
If you have a Highline or utility wire running use that field. Nearby water source would be great.
1. Spray the ground and let grasses and vegetation die.
2. Disc up and plant Sunflowers and cover and pack good. Throw some fertilizer down too.
3. Use spray something that will kill weeds and grasses but not sunflowers.
4. I usually plant a row of sunflowers about 12 wide then leave about 8 feet to run tractor and disc through. I like bare ground between the large rows of sunflowers and so do the doves for landing.
5. keep all grass and vegetation out doves will sit on highline and trees and want to see bare ground.
6. Once plants get about waist to chest high you should be ok with beating back weeds and vegetation.
7. Sunflowers will all die at the same time and the heads will face to the east. usually around end of august.
8. Some rows I leave standing some I bush hog.
9. Key is to keep clean dirt. Doves don't like a bunch of weeds chest high because of predators!
10. I think July 4th is the last day that you can spread crack corn on the ground legally. Find out the last possible date you can put out cracked corn on the ground and put out as much as your wallet can handle! check the regs though.
I don't bush hog them all at once either. I bush hog them as I see fit and as they die. I try to save some standing for the various splits. Also, don't be afraid to bush hog the same row over and over again to really bust up the seeds. Like I will bush hog 1/4 of my field before opening day. then before the next split I will bush hog what I already cut and then another 1/4 of the field. sort of stage it to keep them hanging around.
Pressure, Kill em quick and get out. Watch them pour into the field from a distance in the evenings once your done morning hunts are a blast too
My field is 15 acres and lasts me through the December splits
1. Spray the ground and let grasses and vegetation die.
2. Disc up and plant Sunflowers and cover and pack good. Throw some fertilizer down too.
3. Use spray something that will kill weeds and grasses but not sunflowers.
4. I usually plant a row of sunflowers about 12 wide then leave about 8 feet to run tractor and disc through. I like bare ground between the large rows of sunflowers and so do the doves for landing.
5. keep all grass and vegetation out doves will sit on highline and trees and want to see bare ground.
6. Once plants get about waist to chest high you should be ok with beating back weeds and vegetation.
7. Sunflowers will all die at the same time and the heads will face to the east. usually around end of august.
8. Some rows I leave standing some I bush hog.
9. Key is to keep clean dirt. Doves don't like a bunch of weeds chest high because of predators!
10. I think July 4th is the last day that you can spread crack corn on the ground legally. Find out the last possible date you can put out cracked corn on the ground and put out as much as your wallet can handle! check the regs though.
I don't bush hog them all at once either. I bush hog them as I see fit and as they die. I try to save some standing for the various splits. Also, don't be afraid to bush hog the same row over and over again to really bust up the seeds. Like I will bush hog 1/4 of my field before opening day. then before the next split I will bush hog what I already cut and then another 1/4 of the field. sort of stage it to keep them hanging around.
Pressure, Kill em quick and get out. Watch them pour into the field from a distance in the evenings once your done morning hunts are a blast too
My field is 15 acres and lasts me through the December splits
This post was edited on 6/13/19 at 11:42 am
Posted on 6/13/19 at 12:12 pm to greenhead11
Water nearby will make a "fair" field into a "great" field. Nearby grit and a loafing spot (like a powerline) can make a "great" field into a "holy chit that's alotta birds" field.
I personally like millet; it's cheap, grows nearly anywhere, and doves, turkeys and quail love it.
Triticale is quickly becoming a new favorite for me, though. We planted alot of different WMS game mixes the last 2 years (which I HIGHLY recommend) and for a cheaper filler we used the WMS Triticoats mix.
The # of doves that flock to those big, beefy triticale and oat seeds once we mow them is alarmingly high.
I like to get my stuff planted as early as possible and do successive strip planting thereafter. I'm actually planting some late fall millet seed while also providing some bare ground and millet seed for early season- to an extent. Once the birds have imprinted a month or more before the season, I've already got the last of my millet seed broadcast while my other is matured and is ready for (and hopefully already has undergone) manipulation.
I like to cut my millet just at the top of the stalk to shatter the head, thereby leaving the main stem intact for the next step, but the next step comes only after the shattered stalks have thoroughly dried out for it to be effective.
Once dried out, I disk strips around the area to be burned. These strips serve 2 purposes: to give even more attraction via bare soil, and to stop any smoldering flames from spreading- which is rarely a problem. I use a harbor freight propane torch and ride along the mowed strips and burn as much of the stalks as possible. Sometimes it takes well and does its own thing if conditions are right, other times it takes more work.
Doves LOVE to be able to land within those burned stalks. They get security, bare ground and delicious oven fire seeds- fresh from the market. A few feet away they have bare soil, which around here with our soil types has plenty of grit.
That's how I do it and it has worked well, and it's legal. There's something to be said, for me at least, regarding peace of mind.
I personally like millet; it's cheap, grows nearly anywhere, and doves, turkeys and quail love it.
Triticale is quickly becoming a new favorite for me, though. We planted alot of different WMS game mixes the last 2 years (which I HIGHLY recommend) and for a cheaper filler we used the WMS Triticoats mix.
The # of doves that flock to those big, beefy triticale and oat seeds once we mow them is alarmingly high.
I like to get my stuff planted as early as possible and do successive strip planting thereafter. I'm actually planting some late fall millet seed while also providing some bare ground and millet seed for early season- to an extent. Once the birds have imprinted a month or more before the season, I've already got the last of my millet seed broadcast while my other is matured and is ready for (and hopefully already has undergone) manipulation.
I like to cut my millet just at the top of the stalk to shatter the head, thereby leaving the main stem intact for the next step, but the next step comes only after the shattered stalks have thoroughly dried out for it to be effective.
Once dried out, I disk strips around the area to be burned. These strips serve 2 purposes: to give even more attraction via bare soil, and to stop any smoldering flames from spreading- which is rarely a problem. I use a harbor freight propane torch and ride along the mowed strips and burn as much of the stalks as possible. Sometimes it takes well and does its own thing if conditions are right, other times it takes more work.
Doves LOVE to be able to land within those burned stalks. They get security, bare ground and delicious oven fire seeds- fresh from the market. A few feet away they have bare soil, which around here with our soil types has plenty of grit.
That's how I do it and it has worked well, and it's legal. There's something to be said, for me at least, regarding peace of mind.
Posted on 6/13/19 at 12:45 pm to Goldensammy
quote:
Do it once/twice a week beginning in August.
And stop before the season starts to avoid charges from the game warden.
OP, your state regs will tell you how long seed has to be gone. I think in most states it is 10 days before any hunting occurs.
If you are hunting over seed you just threw out that is not a normal agricultural practice then you can be charged with a baited field from state or Federal game wardens.
This post was edited on 6/13/19 at 12:47 pm
Posted on 6/15/19 at 3:08 pm to Bigbee Hills
Thank you to everyone for helpful replies, When are you starting to cut some strips?
Do you bushnhog first fairly low and then burn?
We have a gravel road and pond nearby. No highlines unfortunately
Do you bushnhog first fairly low and then burn?
We have a gravel road and pond nearby. No highlines unfortunately
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