Food plot for doves
 

Looking to plant a food plot to shoot some doves and fill the void of not deer hunting this year. What is a good mixture to plant? Also what will be considered hunting over a baited field? I looked on the LDWF website and it appears that anything that attracts them is illegal. Any info is appreciated.

I'm pretty sure you can plant but not cut unless you are harvesting the crops then its deemed natural, its just left overs. You can plant and just leave the crop as it grows. It's the same with ducks, if you have a uncut rice field and you go and cut a big X in the middle and leave the rest standing that is considered baiting.

Great thread, I was wondering the same. I was thinking about prepping a little bit of land and giving it a shot this year. Luckily I have a chicken coop to hunt and the doves are a nuisance so I could kill them year round if we wanted...I'd rather wait until the season though. I think you must harvest 2 weeks prior to opening day also.

Could you plow it instead of cutting?

Doves are different than ducks. I'm pretty sure you can so just about anything but throw seed on the ground. Then again as long as you make an attempt to cover the seed it's not baiting. Sunflowers are good probably the best. And brown top millet. Let it grow then cut strips in it.

Be careful doing this. Has GW ticket 12 of us because we cut strips in our brown top. Next year we went mud riding in it 3 days before the season and GW did not have any problems with that.

When discussing how to prepare a dove field, the subject of illegal baiting is very important. This document is not intended to fully discuss the issue of baiting, nor does it cover all possible baiting scenarios. A simple guideline to remember is that for dove hunting, it is legal to grow crops in accordance with LA Cooperative Extension Service recommendations and then manipulate these crops so that seeds that were grown on that particular field are readily available to doves. It is not legal to add supplementary seeds to a dove field, nor is it legal to harvest seeds and later return the seeds to the field. Dove baiting regulations are different than those for waterfowl. Contact LDWF Enforcement Division or visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service website (www.fws.gov) for information regarding migratory bird baiting regulations.

We have had a huge dove hunt for 10 years now that we hunt over sunflowers. We smash them every year with over 50+ people each day...

Now it's a little late to plant for the first season but you have time for 2nd.. You can bush hog your fields two weeks before opening day.. 2 weeks prior to the opener bush hog your planted sunflowers or what you planted... 1-2 days before we bush hog all the grass around the fields that we allowed to grow taller then usual..

This is regulated and hunted by many and WLF has come and gone checking field and licenses thru the past and we have never had one tickets!!!

It's simple not rocket science.. Plant but 2 weeks prior to hunting, don't throw any seeds out!


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Correction, all bait must be gone two weeks prior to hunting it. I know a couple fella who learned that the hard way.

That is only for non planted stuff You can't rebroadcast seed . Also found out the hard way you can't Hunt over feed for horses when you usually feed in the barn:work:

True... Because you plant something and you must bush hog two weeks prior depending on how much you plant opening day there is nothing wrong with planted sunflowers still on the ground... This is why we plant our 150 acres of sunflowers really thick!!! Opening day we usually still have seeds on the ground from the two weeks we had bush hogged

Thanks for the input guys. I will try to get something planted to get them to keep coming back.

Millet is a good option right now, I planted sunflowers in May and millet, once the millet headed out we tilledit under to reseed and double stock.we also supplemented feed by broadcasting whole rice wheat on location roads which holds them there until sunflowers are ready.

i thought your crop had to be cut 10 days prior to opening day. thats what i have read.