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Public dove-hunting areas abundant in Missouri

The Conservation Department plants crops for doves on 104 conservation areas.

8/22/2005

JEFFERSON CITY--Every Missourian who wants to hunt doves has a place to go. Most have a public dove field within easy driving distance of home.

The Missouri Department of Conservation maintains dove fields on 104 conservation areas.

Sunflowers are the most common dove attractant on these fields. Others have wheat, millet or sorghum. Area managers typically mow strips of these crops just before the dove-season opener and mow additional strips periodically throughout the 70-day season to keep fields attractive to doves. The result is excellent, widespread dove hunting opportunities in Missouri.

"Doves are prolific nesters," said Conservation Department Resource Scientist John Schulz. "The large number of birds they raise every year creates a tremendous hunting resource. The idea behind providing these fields is to make that resource available to as many hunters as possible."

Schulz said evidence suggests the strategy is working. Each year the Conservation Department bands several thousand doves and then counts the number of bands returned by hunters. The percentage of bands returned makes it possible to estimate annual dove survival and harvest and overall dove numbers.

Band-return data also allow comparison of dove harvest from state to state. These numbers show that Missouri hunters harvest a larger percentage of doves than any other state.

"Lack of access to good hunting sites is one of the main reasons people don’t hunt," said Schulz. "The dove-field program shows that people are interested in dove hunting, and they respond if you give them access to high-quality hunting lands."

A list of conservation areas with dove fields is available online at missouriconservation.org/hunt/dove. Local regulations require the use of nontoxic shot for dove hunting on some areas. For details of dove hunting regulations, consult the 2005 Migratory Bird Hunting Digest, available wherever hunting permits are sold. The guide also is available at the Conservation Department Web site.

-Jim Low-

 

 

 

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