Mourning Glory: Your 3-Part Plan to Bag More Doves

With evening shadows elongating over the cut grain field, a slow, sunny afternoon gave way to unrelenting action. Overhead, the shrill flutter of the wings of doves taking roost came by surprise, the birds’ sudden approach shielded by a backdrop of standing corn.

More were spotted cornering a distant hay field, angling across the atmosphere like winged darts. Upon spotting the decoys, they banked left, swept low toward a soy bean field and swung up with landing gear down. The 12-gauge barked and feathers danced across the sky.

Abundant in opportunity, challenging to hit and tasty on the grill, mourning doves provide wing-shooters an exciting start to fall hunting seasons. Perhaps the best time to hunt them is early in the season when food sources are widespread, access to prime locations is relatively easy to come by and migratory patterns keep birds on the move.

While most capable hunters can luck into a handful of doves on any given day, consistently taking quality numbers of birds requires a game plan. Consider this three-part strategy to shoot more doves when seasons open next month.

1. HUNT THE HARVEST

Location is everything when it comes to dove hunting, and whenever an area possesses all the key ingredients of a dove’s diet—food, water and grit—it’s typically a recipe for success.

Doves prefer freshly cut grain fields above all else. Standing corn, soybeans, buckwheat, oats, sorghum, sunflowers and even millet, ragweed and foxtail will attract doves, but not nearly as much as when it’s lying on the ground. Timing a hunt with mid-harvest can be a gold mine, as alternately cut rows provide feed for the birds, while standing crops offer cover and concealment for hunters.

In several Mid-Atlantic states, hunters are legally permitted to hunt over strategically manipulated cropland, meaning vegetation can be purposely cut to create strips of bare ground and feed areas where doves are more likely to congregate. It’s easier to recover downed birds in such areas, too.

In Pennsylvania, for example, crop manipulation is officially defined as “the alteration of agricultural crops or natural vegetation by activities such as mowing, shredding, disking, rolling, chopping, trampling, flattening, burning or herbicide treatments.”

Manipulation does not include “scattering seeds, grains or other feed after removal from or storage on the field where grown,” nor does it include “the placement of grain in piles or other artificial concentrations.” However, manipulation can be a real asset to hunters, especially when it occurs near a water source and gravel bed for grit picking, which is essential for digestion.

Gravel farm lanes are an excellent source of grit doves use to break down the hard seeds that comprise a large portion of their diet. Likewise, small streams and retention ponds are prime water sources. Farms with a combination of grit and water, in addition to desirable grains, represent the ideal properties to scout and seek permission ahead of the season.

2. DEKE ’EM IN

Doves are a social species, and they respond particularly well to decoys that add a sense of realism and security to a setup. Several companies offer clip-on decoys made of molded plastic that can be placed either on the ground or in roosting situations to give the impression of feeding or congregated birds.

Where legal, hunters can even utilize electronic decoys to entice birds into shooting range. Often, a flicker of movement is all it takes to grab a passing bird’s attention. Mojo Outdoors makes a great option called the Voodoo Dove, which runs on batteries and has detachable corrugated wings that flicker black and white as they spin.

There are non-motorized versions that rely on wind power to the same effect, but they generally require a steady breeze to operate efficiently. Regardless, the flash from these rotating wings is a real eye-grabber for passing birds, especially when paired with a handful of stationary decoys clipped to a highly visible branch and even more fakes on the ground.

3. LOCATE LOAF SPOTS

Like all birds, doves will not be consistently on the wing throughout the day, so it’s important to seek out likely roost locations to stay in the action when movement is slow. Doves seem to prefer open limbs where they can rest and survey their surroundings. Find them hanging around black walnuts, which defoliate earlier in the fall than most other trees, or dead ash snags lining a field edge. You can also spot birds loafing on power lines.

Wear breathable camouflage clothing and tuck into vegetative cover near the bases of these likely roost locations for can’t-miss ambush sites.

You can also find success by partnering with a few buddies to bump birds to one another. Have one hunter walk a few rows inside a standing cornfield parallel to a flanker or two who can quickly mount on birds flushing out the sides in shorter edge cover.

As evening nears and doves are more likely to bounce between food and roost, post up in separate blocks at a safe distance and shooting angle that allows missed birds to fly past more shooters. This dispersed pressure will keep birds moving around, creating more shot opportunities.

Staking out a promising stand of cropland under fair skies is the perfect way to ease back into fall hunting mode. It’s an experience that can be shared with family, friends or a favorite hunting dog. Landowners rarely hesitate to grant permission.

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• This article was featured in the East edition of the August 2024 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe

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