Frankfort, Kentucky - Many hunters put away their dove loads and shotguns after opening weekend, thinking the good hunting has flown south for the year.
Dove banding studies conducted by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources since 2003 show approximately one-third of the banded doves are taken by hunters on opening day. Another third of these banded birds are taken by the end of opening weekend.
However, some of the best dove hunting of the year occurs when most hunters are in pursuit of resident Canada geese and wood ducks, or deer with a bow. Good hunting is still ahead of us this fall.
"The fields you hunted in early September probably won't be good again until next year because the available food changed," explained John Brunjes, migratory bird biologist for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. "The sunflowers are gone in no time. But, the hunting is good all the way until December if you hunt different areas than you did opening weekend. "
Hunters should look for cornfields cut for silage. "Silage fields will hold corn for a long time," Brunjes said. "Waste corn from legitimate agricultural practice persists much longer than other waste grains."
Cattle pastures and feed lots also offer overlooked dove hunting in late September, October and the late segment of the season in late November and early December. Cattle trampling promotes the growth of pigweed. This plant drops many small black seeds that doves love. Feedlots contain bare dirt and waste feed grain. They hold surprising numbers of doves later in the season. Those with a water hole nearby are the best to try.
Many folks think doves flee Kentucky after the first cold snap of fall, but doves from north of the Ohio River move in as resident doves fly south.
"Last year, we hunted doves in early December after goose hunting," Brunjes said. "We packed along some steel number 8 shells and the doves were all over the place in just a normal pasture. We had a great hunt."
Scouting and looking for concentrations of doves saves time and gets you on birds. Doves use specific flight paths to orient themselves in the air to their feeding areas, watering holes and roosting spots.
"Those late season hunts are more individual than the early season hunts," Brunjes explained. "You won't be hunting in big groups. Find where the dove's flight lines are, get under some good cover and go from there."
Wear camouflage from head to toe when hunting late season doves. The doves in Kentucky later in the season survived being hunted as they migrated here. They flare easily.
Upgrade the quality of your shotgun shells later as well. Those 100 packs of cheap shells available at your local store don't cut it in October. Pay a little more and use some quality heavy field loads for the long passing shots required in late season hunting. Most of your shots will be longer than those you attempted on opening weekend. You will need all of the shot you can get.
The cheaper loads usually come with just 1 ounce of shot in 12 gauge. A 12-gauge heavy field load holds up to 1¼ ounces of shot. One and one-eighth ounces of 7½ shot contains 44 more pellets than 1 ounce of the same shot. The difference is 87 pellets between 1 ounce and 1 ¼ ounces. Using better loads reduces the chances of crippling birds as well.
Native plants such as pokeberry attract doves later in fall. Pokeberry is a large plant with dark purple berries. "It's the plant that stains you really bad if you walk through it," Brunjes said. "Come November and December, doves are in that stuff."
Overgrown fields with pokeberry and foxtail with a pond nearby are great late season spots. Ponds are usually at their lowest level in late September and October. Doves pick seeds and small stones from the strip of dried mud along the bank that was under water in spring. This is an excellent place to construct a ground blind with brush.
Patience is required for later season dove hunting. It is harder hunting than early September, but bagging a limit or near-limit of doves at this time of the season is one of the more rewarding challenges in wing shooting.
"The greatest thing about it is nobody else is there, too," Brunjes said.
The first segment of dove season runs until Oct. 24. Dove season re-opens Nov. 26 and closes Dec. 4 and opens again on Dec. 26, 2009 and closes Jan. 1, 2010.
Author Lee McClellan is an award-winning associate editor for Kentucky Afield magazine, the official publication of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. He is a life-long hunter and angler, with a passion for smallmouth bass fishing.
(Editors: Please email Lee.McClellan@ky.gov for photos.)
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The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources manages, regulates, enforces and promotes responsible use of all fish and wildlife species, their habitats, public wildlife areas and waterways for the benefit of those resources and for public enjoyment. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife is an agency of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet. For more information on the department, visit our web site at fw.ky.gov.
