Dove Hunting Beyond the Big, Yellow Blooms

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Doves and sunflowers go together like ... [insert your favorite cliché here]. Putting your shot pattern in the precise spot at the exact time that it’s occupied by a bird that can fly at 55 mph is quite the challenge, but a field of ripe sunflowers practically guarantees easy opportunities. Just wait for doves to show up, line up your shots and pull the trigger.

But what if there are no sunflowers? What if there’s a staffing shortage or maybe high water or no water at all on your favorite wildlife management area, and the coveted sunflowers never materialized? Without even a hint of that yellow that attracts doves like a tractor beam, is your dove season over before it even begins? Not by a long shot once you realize there are many places without sunflowers that have the potential to provide a memorable dove hunt.

Over the span of several seasons, some research and a bit of windshield time have allowed me to connect the dots and uncover various factors and situations that offer a high probability of success with doves. Some call for preparation or a bit of improvisation, but most only require you to keep your eyes and mind open.

SILAGE CROPS

My wife and I were living in eastern Iowa in 2011 when the Hawkeye State became the nation’s 42nd state to have a dove season. But few WMAs had sunflowers that first year, and those that did seemed to have multiple hunters behind every bush.

Fortunately, we had access to a small private farm that didn’t have sunflowers but did have acres of field corn routinely chopped for silage by the property owner to feed his dairy cows. The farm also happened to be located less than half a mile from a 250-acre cattail marsh that served as both a watering hole and a nighttime roost for doves.

Of course, field corn isn’t the only annual cut for silage. In fact, millet, sorghum, hybrid sorghum-sudangrass and others also fall in that category, and they are all productive. Regardless of the crop, the trick to ensuring a dandy dove hunt is finding and gaining access to fields where the cutting, which happens 4 to 6 weeks after planting (when intended for silage), coincides with the timing of your hunt. A freshly cut field, after all, will attract more birds.

BRUSH-HOGGED WEEDS

In the absence of sunflowers or the aforementioned cover crops, weed fields make excellent dove hunting locations. I’ve enjoyed tremendous shoots over brush-hogged fields of ragweed in various areas. In Texas, my younger brother has had good luck gunning over mowed fields of woolly croton, also known as goat weed and sometimes called dove weed due to the gray speedsters’ predilection for the plant’s little black seeds.

My enterprising little brother has been known to locate unkempt plots of weeds and then trailer his John Deere riding mower to cut a 30-foot-wide swath along one side (after obtaining the property owner’s permission, of course). Occasionally, he gets fancy and leaves a small point jutting into the mowed area to set his one-man hide and stool.

“It doesn’t have to be neat and tidy,” he tells me. “Doves like bare dirt, so the more exposed ground you can create, the better. And the more weed seeds there are, the better, too.”

WATER SOURCES

During dry times, any water will attract doves, providing the potential for a good hunt. If the edges leading down to the water aren’t overly steep, and especially if the banks are devoid of brush and other vegetation, the higher the chances the waterway will attract doves. Naturally skittish, doves avoid tight quarters and are often hesitant to land in proximity to high grass or brushy edges. Undoubtedly, the birds prefer to set down in open spots where they can easily detect predators.

Doves also need small gravel or sand to help their muscular gizzards grind their food. In areas where sunflowers are not available, they will gravitate to sandbars surrounded by shallow, moving water. If you identify such a location, focus on any spot with dead or partially bare trees on the bank, as they provide attractive perches where the birds can land momentarily before dropping to the water’s edge.

WEATHER WATCH

Doves can be capricious critters. One day they’re around in big numbers, but if the temperature cools down a bit, the skies can be empty the next. Like blue-winged teal, mourning doves cotton to warmer weather. When a cold front comes through, they’re gone.

With this in mind, dove hunters should keep an eye on the weather forecast and be ready to head afield should the north winds pick up and the meteorologists predict the mercury to drop. A day or even several hours ahead of a cold-weather push can be a fantastic time to intercept birds heading for warmer climes. More birds will be moving, meaning hunters should get more shooting.

The same applies to the period immediately following a front, as northern doves new to the area settle in and find their way around. It takes time for these new birds to locate suitable food sources, so it might be a day or two before you see the birds after the passage of a weather system.

Wet weather, too, can force doves to move out of an area. Or, in some cases, it’ll cause them to hunker down until the sun shines again. While hunters might still scare up a limit during the course of a light rain, it’s often best to take a tactical break, reorganize your blind bag or bucket and hold fire until the clouds part.

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

When is the best time to hunt doves? The answer is whenever one can, of course. Nevertheless, some times are definitely better than others. Water-focused hunts, where the hunter sets up to monitor an open sandbar on a smallish interior river, are often most productive 30 to 60 minutes before the end of legal shooting time. That’s when grain-filled doves rush to get a drink before going to roost. Be ready for some fast-paced shooting then—some of the hottest a dove hunter can experience over the course of a season.

When hunting around food sources, such as a freshly-cut field of ragweed, the peak period is typically from the start of legal shooting time until an hour or so later. Take into account, however, that a secondary flight often occurs around mid-morning, and then another during early afternoon, just after what we humans consider lunch time. An advantage to choosing these later timeframes is lower hunting pressure, especially in public-land scenarios where the shooting typically peaks during the first couple of hours of legal shooting time. By waiting until the crowds thin, hunters may find they have both the acreage and the birds to themselves.

DECOY DO’S AND DON’TS

Gregarious by nature, doves enjoy the company of other doves. Therefore, setting decoys is an effective strategy. Many hunters do it, but quite a few err in their placement by not setting their spreads where the birds can see them. While the situation and the height of the available cover should be factored in, 3 to 6 feet off the ground is a good rule of thumb when it comes to decoy placement.

A spinning-wing decoy (SWD) can be a valuable addition to any dove hunter’s arsenal. Doves are incredibly susceptible to the strobe-like flash of an SWD, which they can easily spot from quite a distance. SWDs are particularly effective when used around water, often in conjunction with four to six of the more traditional, static, full-body dove decoys, such as the clip-on style.

EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS

Although sunflowers can be a definite advantage to dove hunters looking to take home a limit of September gray rockets, it’s smart not to depend on them solely. Instead, think outside the box and take the time to look beyond the coveted fields of yellow flowers.

With a little research and some scouting, both online and in person, you’ll pinpoint a number of locations bound to afford productive dove hunts. Taking a few extra steps will often give you the upper hand on fellow hunters who take the easy route and settle for the same old spots and tactics.

DOVE GEAR ESSENTIALS.

Concealment and attraction are often crucial to a solid hunt.

I tend to pack light for most of my dove hunts, usually limiting my gear to a stool or bucket, sufficient hydration, my shotgun and Winchester’s Super X high-velocity steel. The 2 3/4-inch hull containing an ounce of steel No. 7 shot has long been my favorite ammunition for doves. That said, there are a couple of accessories that will often improve results that I carry whenever possible.

RIG’EM RIGHT HYDEOUT GO

Pressured doves can get quite skittish. For hunters, that means trading the old lawn chair and colorful cooler for more stealthy options, and adding proper concealment along the lines of what turkey chasers or public-land waterfowlers would use. The HydeOut GO from Rig’Em Right, a compact, two-hub blind that weighs only 5 pounds, sets up quickly and offers a superb, 76-inch-wide by 40-inch-high camouflage panel that remains stable in windy conditions and fits neatly into a small, durable carrying case. ($139.99; rigemright.com)

MOJO OUTDOORS VOODOO DOVE

Like wood ducks, doves can’t resist the allure of a spinning-wing decoy (SWD), so I don’t go afield without at least one Mojo Outdoors’ Voodoo Dove. Perched and running atop their 36-inch stakes, these SWDs are true dove magnets that excel at drawing birds from considerable distances. ($39.99; mojooutdoors.com)

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

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