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Dove Season!

27K views 43 replies 11 participants last post by  bobski 
#1 ·
It's nearly August and I'm starting to get twitchy. By August 15th I'll have checked all my decoys and my Mojo about 10 times.

You guys in northern MO, how are the birds up there this year? There are plenty of birds in this part of the state and we should have a very good openning day.

Good luck to all.
 
#2 ·
Lots of birds in my area, but getting them to congregate may prove difficult early season this year. Due to all the flooding in the spring we have mostly soybeans instead of corn and rice so few if any crops will be harvested by September.
 
#4 ·
huntinmo said:
If you shoot them over a bean field, how long does it take you to find a downed bird? :?
I will not shoot them over a bean field unless I have my dog with me. My best bet this years will be to find a piece of layout ground full of weeds and see if I can get the owner to lightly disk it a few days before season. Otherwise I will have to wait for some corn to get cut.
 
#5 ·
I drove up to the Fuson Mgt Area on Sunday evening. Cons. Dept. has planted 4 sunflower fields and one big corn field. The sunflowers are spectacular right now. I didn't see many birds, but I think that will change soon. I talked to one of the agents this morning and he told me they were going to bush-hog 1/3 of the sunflowers sometime in the next week, then bush-hog another 1/3 a week prior to the season open, leaving 1/3 standing.

There should be some really spectacular shooting there on opening day.

My alternate location is a dairy farm that belongs to a good friend. They have leased a farm that they have 140 ac. of corn and 40 ac. of milo planted. When they cut that, it should really be productive.

Good luck to all. Hopefully, it will be a better season than we had last year.

BTW, has anyone seen a MO Dove regulation pamphlet? They haven't shown up around here yet and it's just three weeks to opening day! I have not found one on the MDC web site either.
 
#6 ·
bprater said:
I drove up to the Fuson Mgt Area on Sunday evening. Cons. Dept. has planted 4 sunflower fields and one big corn field. The sunflowers are spectacular right now. I didn't see many birds, but I think that will change soon. I talked to one of the agents this morning and he told me they were going to bush-hog 1/3 of the sunflowers sometime in the next week, then bush-hog another 1/3 a week prior to the season open, leaving 1/3 standing.

There should be some really spectacular shooting there on opening day.

My alternate location is a dairy farm that belongs to a good friend. They have leased a farm that they have 140 ac. of corn and 40 ac. of milo planted. When they cut that, it should really be productive.

Good luck to all. Hopefully, it will be a better season than we had last year.

BTW, has anyone seen a MO Dove regulation pamphlet? They haven't shown up around here yet and it's just three weeks to opening day! I have not found one on the MDC web site either.
Here ya go!
http://mdc.mo.gov/sites/default/files/r ... 11_mbd.pdf
 
#7 ·
Anybody else who is getting tired of summer already and can't wait til dove season on sept. 1
 
#8 ·
I'm waaay past that now! I'm so ready for cooler weather and the start of dove season.

Claycomo - What part of MO are you in? Are you seeing many doves yet?
 
#11 ·
Claycomo -

No idea where to hunt in the St. Louis area.

Suggest you get on the DNR web site and look up the public management areas near you. They list whether or not they manage for dove - that means they plant sunflower or millet and cut some of it down prior to the season opener.

I usually hunt one down here in the Ozarks in Wright Co. with some success. Rest of the time I am fortunate enough to hunt a friends dairy farm.

Good luck.
 
#12 ·
Stlsooner1 said:
Okie transplant here in St. Louis Area. Any ideas on where to hunt? Sure miss knocking down some birds!

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Depends on how far you want to travel and how much you want to spend. The MDC website will give you some ideas about public areas. The closer to the city the more crowded they get, but one or more may have drawings, I do not know about this year, but the MDC website should have some info about that.
If you want free on private ground that will probably be about as easy to find as hens teeth, but you can always do some scouting and knocking on doors. As previously mentioned some dairy farms may have birds since they usually start cutting corn in August, and wheat stubble can sometimes be good.
If you want a pay to shoot place there are several that advertise locally. I have not used any of those so cannot make a recommendation and I do not know if they actually shoot birds, so if you go that route it might be a good idea to ask them for references.
Sorry I can not be more help, but it has been difficult to find birds the last couple of years. If you have any questions about the MDC areas around STL that you might be interested in I will be happy to give you any info that I may have.
 
#15 ·
Stlsooner1 said:
Thanks for the info, I live really close to Busch wildlife, and was going to go and pick the Rangers brain there.

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Busch Wildlife does have some fields, but gets very heavy pressure. Last year the Coonservation Agents had people lined up on the roads and would only let a limited number of hunters out at one time due to safety concerns. When some left a field then they would let others in. I think that was the first Saturday of the season and I was there for dog training, not hunting, but I did hear a shot or two now and then although few and far between. I am guessing that you will really be missing Oklahoma when dove season rolls around!
 
#16 ·
If the last two years are any indicator, huntinmo has given you good info. Three years ago we had a magnificent dove season, with plentiful birds throughout the season. In the last two years, it wasn't worth the time and effort to even go out after the first week or 10 days of the season.

Perhaps other parts of the state did better, but here in the Ozarks it's been pretty lean hunting for doves in recent years.
 
#17 ·
I wish that dove season started a couple of weeks earlier than usual. The birds seem to have taken a hike by Labor Day weekend. Before then, they are plentiful but opening day has been pitiful the past few years.
 
#18 ·
bprater said:
If the last two years are any indicator, huntinmo has given you good info. Three years ago we had a magnificent dove season, with plentiful birds throughout the season. In the last two years, it wasn't worth the time and effort to even go out after the first week or 10 days of the season.

Perhaps other parts of the state did better, but here in the Ozarks it's been pretty lean hunting for doves in recent years.
Agreed, three years ago we had some very good hunts in wheat stubble and cut corn, even bagged some collared doves. The last two years have been bleak. Sunflowers might be better, but I have not found any locally where I can get access. I have occasionally been accused of being pessimistic, but I think it is more a matter of being realistic tempered with experience. There is a retired CA that hunts the same fields that I hunt and if there were better places locally I think that he would be there instead. Some of the places that cultivate the fields for doves might be better, but the trespass fees have gotten high, and some areas of the state probably have better dove populations, but at the price of gas how far do I want to go for a few doves?
I will be hunting on September 1 with high hopes for some dove shooting, but I also have a backup plan. The farmer looks at pigeons as pests and appreciates it when we shoot a few and then there is the sporting clays range when other moving targets are scarse.
Now it's off to do some scouting! :wink:
 
#19 ·
Fortunately, I have a good friend that's a dairy farmer who plants corn and millet. He will normally cut off some of it a week or so prior to dove season to allow the birds to aclimate and start feeding there. We usually have some pretty good hunts there, especially at the beginning of the season.

Just 33 days 'til season opens! I hope it cools down a little before then and we also get some rain.
 
#21 ·
Hey, I'll bust a pigeon just as fast as a dove!

Have you figured out where you will hunt opening day?
 
#22 ·
I do eat dove, but usually cook up the pigeons for the dogs. Pigeons are usually kind of spooky and tend to stay around the barns where they are off limits, but will come to a dove decoy sometimes.

Probably a local dairy farm or a local cattle farm, depending on what I see by then. I keep hoping to see some concentrations! :shock:
 
#23 ·
Well, the 2012 Dove season turned out to be a complete bust. Probably the worst season in 4 years. I can only hope and pray that 2013 turns out a little better.

Do any of you MO hunters have any opinion regarding the season times and length? I think it would be a far better season, at least in the Ozarks, if the season were split, like they do in some other states. I'd like to see the season open for 15 days on Sep 1, then close for 2 weeks, then open again for another 15 days, close for another two weeks, then open again for another 15 day season.

I sincerely believe that would give us a far better opportunity for some of the migrating birds from the north. It seems like all the birds we see are locals.

What do you think?
 
#24 ·
You lost me on that one. Why are you not hunting the migrating birds from the north as you say now? Doesnt our season run from Sept 1st. until early Nov. How would a split season make it better if you can hunt them now. They are either here or they arent...I always hunt them. They have been some of my very best hunts after opening day.....
 
#25 ·
L Sidener said:
You lost me on that one. Why are you not hunting the migrating birds from the north as you say now? Doesnt our season run from Sept 1st. until early Nov. How would a split season make it better if you can hunt them now. They are either here or they arent...I always hunt them. They have been some of my very best hunts after opening day.....
I saw a lot of migrating birds here in late November and December. They stopped, rested up and then flew on to Texas, where they have a split season and can hunt all the way into Jan.
 
#26 ·
Weather here in south La. made for a terrible dove season overall. We have 3 splits here and third split in middle Dec. brought a bunch migrating birds into the farm. Had a really good shoot came out early so birds could feed and rest. Was going to hunt again later in week-cold front blew in-doves blew out. Here it is Jan with the season over on Jan 7 and have not seen more than a dozen birds on the wire here at the farm on any given day in the last 10-12 days.
 
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