Dove Hunting Questions

[Diago]

This will be my first year of Dove hunting. Are there any concentrations of Doves around grand forks area? Would I be better going to another part of the state? If so what region would you recomend?

Thanks for the help!

Jim

[Dave S]

If you can find some fields with newly harvested wheat or oats and powerlines nearby, there will be doves.

[Muskie456]

Lep,

I hunted them last year and found that they generally roost on power lines. Is that the case most the time? It would be nice if they didn't.

[RumRiverRat]

Find a gravel pit with some water surrounded by a weedy field with dead trees or Power lines near by and you will find doves.

[tybo]

One thing you can do is drive around in the evening and/or mornings if you can and scout for them. As has been stated you will find them around new cut grain fields and near water. They feed, get water and roost. They do this a few times a day. As was stated they like to roost in old dead trees and on power lines. When going to water they like to land on dirt or gravel and walk up to the water to drink. They will decoy at times so if you can get a mojo or other decoys and set it up around these types of areas you may get a few flying by to check things out. If you find some fields observe them a little bit and you'll start to see the patterns.

I got permission for a great field last year and had some incredible shooting but I had to put in a few miles to scout it out. I am in the process of doing the same thing now. They are migratory so if it starts getting cold up North you can get birds moving through and if you're lucky they'll be concentrated in some areas you may be hunting. The water, food & roost areas are what you need to look for.

[muc33]

I always focus on two things....

Wheat

Water

[Lunker]

What is a good shot size for dove?

[tybo]

Generally 7.5 or 8 shot is fine. Doves aren't hard to kill they're just hard to hit. You'll just want to make sure you have a good shot pattern using the choke and ammo combination for the distance you'll be shooting at or the distance you think you'll be taking most of your shots at.

[broken_line]

is it legal to drive around and shoot them off gravel roads in the country?

[broken_line]

also what you can do is take and get some pics of doves print them out then glue to a piece of card board then glue a shishkabob in the flutes of the cardboard..

[John Swanson]

Me and my cousin walked the edge of corn feilds last year, when the were just turning brown and we killed a few that way. just send the dog in and walk the outside edge kinda fun.