where to hunt the doves

[chuckwagon]

been looking for a place around the west metro area .. like west of chaska to hunt doves i looked at the wma's around the area but nothing is open to doves. can on you only hunt these birds on the 8 managed dnr dove fields? any tips would be great .... having hard time and just want to get out there for the first time !!

[2 DA GILLS]

WMAs not open to doves? They have WMAs closed to dove hunting? Do they have a sign stating closed to dove hunting?

[chuckwagon]

go to the dnr site and look up wma's they have a grid on what you can hunt there all the wma's except for the 8 dnr managed ones say no to doves

[USPENAMC]

look for some areas right on the 212 near brownton, stewart, buffalo lake areas...... guaranteed great shooting in the morning and in the evenings

[Powerstroke]

I found what chuck was talking about and it doesn't read "closed to hunting" it just states that there aren't any doves there. Its pretty silly for the DNR to say there are no doves there because there are.

All WMAs are open to hunting unless posted closed.

[USPENAMC]

yup as far as i know wmas are open to dove hunting unless posted otherwise i recommend going into the recreational compass and head west on 212 and find some. Dont feel bad if you dont see too many or none at all during the day but come MORNINGS or EVENINGS they start coming out on CUE 5 6 at a time sometimes but mostly in pairs

[brittman]

Find a small dug-out, creek, or other source of water with a muddy shoreline where the doves can get a drink.

Doves must drink water as they feed.

Inctercept them along this pathway between food and water or hunt the water.

[chuckwagon]

i have been trying ney wma in hendersen. it a pheasents forever wma so they have corn beans and sunflowers .... but in the evening hours i see only about ten birds fly by in all directions no real path to a roost or any order to the flight patter. is te hunting better in morning? bad spot maybe, seams like a good one with the river and crops there. any info will help.

[Scott M]

Gotta agree with the 212 route. Buffalo Creek runs along the highway for a while. Otherwise try the Luce Line Trail along Highway 7. You can walk that trail with a gun, the DNR recommended this spot to me when I called them up looking for places in the area you are asking about.

Lots of WMAs and other spots open to hunting. Or try along Hwy 22 between Hutchinson and Glencoe. There is some public land near Biscay that is really weedy near Buffalo Creek.

[chuckwagon]

witch section of the trail can you walk with a gun? i'd like to try that before the cold gets here and the birds are bye bye

[Scott M]

I'd go online and get the phone numbers for either wildlife or trails and waterways and give them a call. They can point you in the right direction. From what I understand, there aren't any closures of the trail to firearms, except obvious exceptions like when the trails cuts through a city. When I walked it, it was between Silver Lake and Hutchinson.