The opening of dove season on Sept. 2 this year will be one of Arkansas’ great social events. In grainfields from Blytheville to Texarkana, hunters numbering in the tens of thousands will gather to celebrate the break of the long hunting drought.
Unfortunately, thousands of other hunters will sit on the sidelines during the kickoff, wishing they could play but not certain where to go.
“It’s tough finding a good place to hunt doves these days,” I often hear. “I’d like to be out there on opening day, but so much land is posted nowadays, and the public hunting areas aren’t really managed much for doves.”
Landowners worried about liability and tired of cleaning up after slob hunters often post “No Trespassing” or “No Hunting” signs on their property. There are more than 2 million acres of public land open for hunting, but only a small percentage of that acreage is planted in crops attractive to doves. Management practices are usually aimed at deer, ducks, turkeys and other “glamor” game animals instead of creatures like mourning doves that prefer open crop fields.
That’s the bad news. The good news is, mourning doves remain extremely plentiful in The Natural State, and despite the prevalence of posted ground and the lack of dove management on public lands, you can still find excellent shooting opportunities throughout the state if you make an extra effort. The following paragraphs will give you some options to consider.
Paid Shoots
I’ve heard some hunters say they’d never pay for the privilege to hunt. But if you enjoy fast-paced wingshooting, you’d do well to consider a paid mourning-dove hunt on private land. In recent years, I’ve seen hunts advertised for as little as $25 for a half-day shoot to as much as $150 for an all-day hunt from a fancy blind, complete with lunch. You’ll have little trouble locating hunting areas of this type if you scan the classified ads of major newspapers, state-oriented magazines and websites in the weeks just prior to the season opener.
If you don’t have time to scout out a good dove-hunting area or you want to treat friends or clients to a good hunt, this is definitely the way to go. You’re almost guaranteed a limit of birds (if you’re a good shot) because these areas are intensively managed specifically for mourning doves. Most pay-to-hunt lands now feature sunflower fields, which attract doves like kids to an ice cream truck. Save $5 here and $10 there, and you’ll have enough for a great opening-day hunt before you know it.
There are some downsides to this kind of hunting, however. You may be hunting a field with numerous hunters you don’t know, and on some paid hunts I’ve been on, I’ve been peppered with shot on more than one occasion. This makes me a bit nervous, though I’ve never truly felt endangered. It’s something to consider, though.
You should also check to be sure the landowner is a reputable proprietor. Baiting laws are strict, and if the landowner decides to put a little extra grain out to attract birds for clients, you could get in a bind with the law. Know the baiting laws, and check to be sure everything is on the up and up.
Hunting by Permission
The majority of prime dove-hunting lands are privately owned, and most sportsmen must turn toward private lands to meet their hunting needs. Knocking on the landowner’s door and asking permission to hunt each time you visit is common courtesy. But this isn’t a guaranteed way to gain access. Sometimes the landowner reserves hunting privileges for family and friends. Some simply won’t let anyone hunt, fearful of liabilities or wary of bad seeds who cause problems. It’s been my experience, though, that many landowners will grant hunting permission, even on posted land, if you take time to get acquainted before hunting season and show that you’re different from the scores of other folks who come to his door each year asking the same favor.
The true sportsman is a real friend to the landowner. In some cases, your contribution might be nothing more than a willingness to spend a little time visiting. In other instances, it may be something more concrete, like helping build a new fence or even offering to pay for the privilege to hunt.
Hunters should always pick up spent shells and litter — that left by other hunters, too. Hunt only where the landowner wants you to, keeping safely away from his house, barns and livestock, and respecting his crops. Don’t stretch or break fences you cross, and latch gates securely when you pass through. Leave everything as you found it, or better, and let the landowner know you appreciate his letting you hunt. That means sharing your game with him, sending him a thank-you note and always letting your good manners show.
If you want private landowners to be your friends, try being a friend to them.
Public-Lands Hunting
Despite what many hunters think, you can find good dove hunting on wildlife management areas and other public lands in Arkansas. In fact, on a few areas, managers plant food plots and fields that draw doves in numbers that rival Delta farmlands.
Personnel in the Wildlife Management Division of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission can provide information on public-lands hunting. The AGFC recommends talking to area managers and employees at regional offices for locations of fields, interest shown by other hunters and the status of the fields. The fields are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
On areas where dove fields aren’t planted, you can still find doves. But on these areas, it becomes a dove hunt rather than a dove shoot. Scouting is the key to success. You still look for open areas where doves are feeding, but you also look for other things that attract doves.
For instance, many WMAs provide good roosting cover for doves, although there may not be good dove food in the area. Doves may feed in adjacent fields on private land, then come into the brushy areas on the WMA to roost. So by scouting around in the late afternoon, you can often find a flight lane leading into a WMA or across a portion of the WMA where you can intercept birds.
The doves may not even be roosting in the WMA, but they may be flying over part of it — over open areas, along power lines or gas-line rights-of-way, etc. Small ponds and streams with open banks may provide shooting for doves coming to water, and weed fields or food plots may draw small numbers of feeding birds. Scouting prior to hunting season can lead you to many good hunting areas that others overlook.
Worried about a place to dove hunt this season? You shouldn’t be. As you can see, hunters willing to spend some time scouting can always find a place to hunt in The Natural State. Hitting the doves we shoot at … that’s the tough part.