Sunflowers for doves

Absolutely leave them standing. And the thicker the better.

People like to brag about the size of the "dinner plate" seed heads they produce. So they plant them thin. Bigger stalks, bigger heads, etc.

But I do the opposite. I plant mine thick. Like over 30,000 plants per acre. Sometimes 35,000 in good soil. I want them to form a thick canopy where the heads are all tangled together. You need extra fertilizer to pull this off. 50% more than what the soil test indicates.

This does several things. It shades out the ground which keeps the ground cleaner longer. Doves have tiny delicate feet. They like to walk around on clean ground where it's easy to find the seeds. They don't like to have to scratch around.

And the thick overstory gives them protection. They can feed longer hours if they're down in the shade protected from the sun. Plus it hides them from hawks.

In a thick stand they will land on the heads, and pick out the seeds and let them drop to the ground. Then they will drop down to the ground where they can feed at their leisure. They can even nap, loaf, socialize, etc. They can't do that if they're out in an open field.

The way we do our sunflowers is we keep them all standing and thick. Then we plant brown top all around the block of sunflowers. And we burn the brown top so that the ground is clean before the season. And that's where we hunt. Over the brown top but shooting doves flying in and out of the sunflowers.

Doing it this way also extends your season.

A lot depends on the size of your field.

We have better luck w Maximillian and black oil varieties. Smaller heads by nature.

We don’t disc or roundup. Plants are mostly dead by August around here anyway.


Small field, shred the center and leave the edges.
Big field, cut lanes and patches, 1/4 acre or so to hunt in.
Cut it close to the ground.

Doves like large open areas. They don’t like heavy overgrown plots, my guess is because they can’t see potential predation threats and can see each other. They are flocking animals by nature and that is their safety mechanism.

Also, if you don’t mow, you will have problems finding downed birds. Not to mention wading through stalks, bugs and other crap is just not good.



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Planted two fields for the first time this year. Do you usually leave your sunflower standing when it’s time to hunt or till?

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I would watch your fields to be honest. If you have doves in your fields don't do a thing to them. If you are not happy with the numbers, cut strips in the sunflowers.

I would plan on millet nearby as well, incase the sunflowers flop.

They will but that’s going to be a tough field to hunt if you can’t find your birds

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Sunflowers for doves

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They are eating the crap out of mine from my feeders in my back yard. Scaring all the song birds away.

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Are you broadcasting?

Never seen doves go into a thicket of sunflowers... I am curious though.

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Depending on if the drill is available I either drill on 15" rows or I broadcast. If drilling I do about 35,000 seed per acre and if I broadcast its more like 40,000 to 45,000.

The first time I saw it I was a guest at a guy's place. And what initially struck me was that it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon and 90 degrees and sunny. And birds were already pouring into the field.

And it was the thickest sunflowers I had ever seen. Like you would have trouble walking through them. But when I got down on the ground it was cool and shaded and clean. And I could see a long way down the rows.

And as Iwalked along the rows I was jumping doves up maybe 10 or 15 feet in front of me. And instead of flying away they would go maybe 30 feet and drop back into the sunflowers. And it was the craziest fastest shooting I've ever seen.

That was when I was a kid and I've been tinkering with thick sunflowers ever since.

Also when I went to Argentina 20 years ago the lesson struck home. Because we were shooting roosts. It was like a tangle of thorn trees/bushes. And it reminded me of their need to stay out of the sun and be protected from hawks etc.

Also another tip: a very important aspect of sunflowers for doves is the oil. They use it to preen and help their feathers stay waterproof. And the element that makes hard shiny seed casings with lots of oil is potash. So when you're fertilizing don't skimp on anything. But especially don't skimp on the potash. They will focus on using the fields that have the highest oil content in the seeds.

This is what seems best for us lately.
1. Sunflowers 8 rows wide and normal seeding rates and as clean as you can keep them. ( I have never hunted in a field that was think like No Colors is talking about. I’m not saying it won’t work but it definitely goes against normal/the old philosophy)
2. Clean ground between strips of sunflowers. Someone mentioned brown top, but we use soybeans that are harvested with a combine.
3. Preferably within a short distance of a City/town.
4. Sand/grit/gravel road within a 100 yards of field.
5. Trees, power lines and a water source. We have even pumped water up for them. You have to remember that is a hot and dry time of the year and they have to have water.

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What are yall spraying post emergence to keep weeds back?

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Unless you use Clearfield you can't really spray anything for weeds post emergence.

My recipe is:

Burndown with 1qt glyphsate and 1qt 2,4-d
Pre-emerge with 1 qt Dual and 1 pint Spartan Charge
Post emerge 12 oz Select
Post emerge 3.66 oz Beyond (Clearfield)
500# of triple 13 or more depending on soil test

Rent one from DeVinney in Gluckstadt

Damn you baws spend just to shoot a few gray birds.