# Small dove fields?



## nhancedsvt (May 30, 2013)

Need some advice. Looking to plant a couple really small areas at my uncle's place to draw some doves in. He has two areas which are probably 1/4-1/2 acre each (may be a little bigger but I'm just guessing). Ordinarily I wouldn't think it would be worth my time, but they have about 10 or so acres of young planted pines behind their house and I've shot my limit from their porch on more than one occassion. Just looking to do something extra to draw them in. Thinking of planting a small patch of millet and a small patch of sunflower. What varieties are best and when should I get them in the ground? Thanks.


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## wranglerjoe1968 (May 30, 2013)

I have also wondered about a small field


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## oops1 (May 30, 2013)

I don't see why it wouldn't work.. you may just have to cut the entire field and have one hunt as opposed to mowing lanes and having multiple shoots. Brown top millet will work. We already have sunflowers in the ground. Not sure if you're too late on them or not.


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## Dustin Pate (May 30, 2013)

If you have many deer around a small field of sunflowers may be a waste of time. They can come in and eat the young plants up in no time. Also, you are a little behind on them to have them dried out by opening day. They need to go in around the middle of May if possible.

The easiest route is Browntop millet and you have plenty of time to make a crop with it.


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## jcanady (May 30, 2013)

I have planted a 1/2 to 1 acre field for doves at my house. Its pretty much just for me to shoot over. The first year I planted brown top millet and came very close to my limit. I cut half the field one two weeks before opening day and then cut the rest the week before. I have planted sunflowers in the past but on a small field millet yields more feed on the ground per square inch.


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## zzweims (May 30, 2013)

I prefer several small fields to one large one--though the smallest I've planted was maybe 3 acres.  I think you'll do fine with millet and a strip or two of bare ground.  The deer don't 'usually' mess with millet, but they will tear up your sunflowers on a field that small.


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## jandr1 (May 30, 2013)

plow up a couple small strips and put wheat out and keep on doing it for a while


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## Jim P (May 30, 2013)

I have a small field (3/4 acre) that the dove and a few turkeys are tearing up, also 4 smaller fields that the dove are at.


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## zzweims (May 31, 2013)

jandr1 said:


> plow up a couple small strips and put wheat out and keep on doing it for a while



Too late in the year to grow wheat.


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## HUNTER475 (May 31, 2013)

zzweims said:


> too late in the year to grow wheat.



dont think he was talking about  " growing " wheat ..... Lol


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## zzweims (May 31, 2013)

HUNTER475 said:


> dont think he was talking about  " growing " wheat ..... Lol



Me either....but I didn't want to make assumptions


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## specialk (May 31, 2013)

jcanady said:


> I have planted a 1/2 to 1 acre field for doves at my house. Its pretty much just for me to shoot over. The first year I planted brown top millet and came very close to my limit. I cut half the field one two weeks before opening day and then cut the rest the week before. I have planted sunflowers in the past but on a small field millet yields more feed on the ground per square inch.



this.....done it last year on a 5ac plot behind my house....several limits taken....


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## across the river (May 31, 2013)

nhancedsvt said:


> Need some advice. Looking to plant a couple really small areas at my uncle's place to draw some doves in. He has two areas which are probably 1/4-1/2 acre each (may be a little bigger but I'm just guessing). Ordinarily I wouldn't think it would be worth my time, but they have about 10 or so acres of young planted pines behind their house and I've shot my limit from their porch on more than one occassion. Just looking to do something extra to draw them in. Thinking of planting a small patch of millet and a small patch of sunflower. What varieties are best and when should I get them in the ground? Thanks.




We used to plant a couple of small fields in high school and did pretty well on them, but  only a couple of us hunted them.  You don't have to have a large tract to kill birds, but you have to get them to find it.  Leave a small area unplanted and just poor the feed wheat two them for a month or two before you want to hunt it.   Plow all the  wheat under eleven(just to be safe) days before you want to hunt it, and then you can bush hog about half of your millet to continue to give them something to eat.   We killed plenty of birds on fields that were 1/2 to 3/4 acres .  The only issues is you can burn the birds out quick because there are fewer of them, and the millet doesn't last that long once it is cut.  You can do very well the first time you hunt it, but it won't be something you can wear them out on every weekend of the season.


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## jcanady (Jun 1, 2013)

specialk said:


> this.....done it last year on a 5ac plot behind my house....several limits taken....



You must be the other guy over by me that shoots behind his house hahaha.


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## jandr1 (Jun 1, 2013)

zzweims said:


> Too late in the year to grow wheat.



not growing wheat just throwing it out to attract doves but you have to do it before a certain date


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## king killer delete (Jun 3, 2013)

Out west in Kansas I would hunt small pot ( water) holes for doves and when I first came to GA I would go to the river and hunt doves. I know that sounds crazy but it sure was productive.


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## Burney Mac (Jun 6, 2013)

Our fields are considerably larger than what you speak of. I think for sunflowers it takes around 120 days to mature, and browntop millet takes 95, if I remember correctly. We typically use sunflowers, corn, or milo as our perimeter cover with a strip or two down the middle for cover as well. Depending on how the field is laid out and what cover is available on the edge I would do this, also depending on what type of equipment you have. You can take a regular grain drill and stop up every other hole, or every two and plant corn this way, if you don't have access to a corn planter. Since it is a little late in the year you can plant a variety of browntop and buckwheat. As long as your millet isn't to thick and doesn't choke out the buckwheat, the buckwheat will mature faster. The millet will atleast be headed out a few weeks before the opener. Depending on the weather and how green it is you can always come over top and spray with roundup, a light application usually does fine. As far as the seed rating goes, whether you use a drill or broadcast the seed you can go two different routes. One is to go light and just focus on this year, if you go a little heavy and you bushhog the millet and let it lay over winter, you can come back in the spring and disc the field and should have enough volunteer millet come up to have a shoot over. If you disc the field during the fall most of the millet will germinate again and will continue growing until the first frost hits it. As far as varieties just your standard browntop millet, buckwheat, and black oil sunflowers. We purchase most of our seed through Southern States, we don't have any Co-OP stores around us. Another option is burning. If you don't have the time to worry about planting you can always burn it a few weeks before the opener, then come through a lightly disc the field, or strips. We ran into a wet year a few years ago and this was our only option, one of the best years we had ever had. Now we leave a field out just to burn, and plant the others. Sorry for the long post, just trying to help.


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## chase870 (Jun 6, 2013)

Bare dirt and feed wheat will turn the sky black with doves





hunter475 said:


> dont think he was talking about  " growing " wheat ..... Lol


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