# Most cost effective way to run Cable/lines for Dove



## C.J.

I want to run some cables across our fields for Dove season, I was thinking about getting a roll of rubber coated wire, anyone used anything like this that you can get cheap? probably need 300yds


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## GLS

The local power company ran dummy lines for free on a buddy's land.  He spent a lot of money installing lines and meters on the rest of the property, etc., and the REA did it gratis.  Five creosoted poles, anchors and two lines of galvanized steel cable stretched across them at zero cost to him.


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## coveyrise90

Wow... Your buddy must have spent a lot of money with the power company to  have gotten all of that for free! 

If you get the line ran, please let us know how it work out for you.


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## Cabin creek man

We used tv cable wire the type that is on the poles it was a bit less expensive than regular steel guy or copper wire. Had a guy on a 40 foot extension ladder hook it from oak tree to oak tree. Ours has been there for about 8 years now and birds love it.


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## C.J.

anyone know where i can buy any of this from?


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## oops1

Check a scrap metal yard.. They get stuff like this all the time and may only charge you what they can get for it.


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## Curly

Rubber coated wire will not work good.  I may provide the wire for 2 spots on the shoots...If you are not too far away...


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## C.J.

we in athens


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## jandr1

old power lines, aluminum wire with a steel core, or get electric fencing wire.


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## C.J.

anyone know where I can buy this stuff? most scrap metal places dont sell it back to the public


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## arrow4u

we have used barbed wire without the barbs. you can get it at tractor supply. tie one end to a tree then run it across the field and go over a tree limb hook a cum-a-long to the other end and tighten it up.


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## C.J.

arrow4u said:


> we have used barbed wire without the barbs. you can get it at tractor supply. tie one end to a tree then run it across the field and go over a tree limb hook a cum-a-long to the other end and tighten it up.



that's a good idea, anyone else know where I can get this stuff at?


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## TenPtr

I created an artificial dove line in my little 3.5 acre dove field using one of the most cost effective techniques possible.   I purchased 100' of uncoated (key factor) steel cable (3/8"), a few heavy duty screw in grounding anchors, two cable clips and 2 cable thimbles,2 large twist in screw eyes, and a few U nails.  

I took my chainsaw to the property and cut down two pine trees with similar dimensions and straightness.   I cut off the limbs relatively flush to the trunk or "pole" and cut the butt to the approximate diameter of the 3' holes I had dug out with post hole diggers.  I had 2 pine poles that were both cut to roughly 20 ft in length.   I hauled them over with rope tied behind my truck and I dropped off each pole a few feet from the holes.   I then took the end of the cable with the loop and nailed it down from the tip top of one of the poles using U nails.  I ran it down about 12" along the backside of the pole top with a U nail every 2'' or so.   I then took the end of the cable without a loop and threaded it through the eye screw which I hand cranked into the center of the tip top of the pole with the U nails.   I then took the unsecured end of the cable and walked it over to the other pole which was about 75' from hole to hole.   I cranked in another eye screw to the top of that pole and threaded the cable through it.   I then used the thimble and the clip to create a loop at that end of the cable.   
Next step was too push the poles into the holes I had dug and stand them upright.   It took some adrenaline but I managed to stand them up in the holes and secure them with packed down dirt.   I didn't use concrete mixer because I didn't want to make the poles difficult to remove down the road.   
Once both poles were up and the cable was hung up, it was time to take the loose end which was hanging down within arms reach and MacGyver a rig to secure it to the ground so that the cable tension was suitable for dove to perch on.   I used a chain and a strap to tie the loose end of the cable to two screw in ground anchors and I pulled the cable taught with my truck and a little impromptu pulley rig with the anchors screwed in the ground.   I tightly secured the chain and the strap to the anchors with my truck maintaining the cable tension.   Once I tied off the "guy wires" I cut the tag end off my trailer hitch and the DIY MacGyver dove wire was complete.   It stands about 17-18 ft tall and the cable runs 75' from pole to pole with the remaining 25' of the 100' strand utilized in the grounding support.   
 I installed the dove wire a few days after we burned and planted the field in browntop millet and sunflower.   I finished putting the wire up around 3:00 and by 3:15 I counted 24 dove on it.   
This 75' long 18' high MacGyver dove wire cost me about $100 and took about 3 hrs from the time I cut the first pine tree down to the time I watched the first dove light on it.   
  I put it up last July and ever since then it has literally been a dove magnet.   It might be small but it is lethally productive.   Every dove that comes into this field literally hones in on this wire like they have no choice.   There are trees all around this field that they loaf in but having this wire out in the open truly manipulates the flight pattern and provides much more shot opportunity than ever before.  It was once a field where birds loafed around in the wood lines and dropped down to the field later in the day to feed and often did so without presenting a passing shot.   Now that the wire is up in the middle of the field it brings loafing birds out of the woods and over the field which greatly increases the fun and overall productivity of our small field.   
The wire attracts, holds, and enhances dove and the utilization of our small field year round.   
  It is not only attractive to dove but it is a hot commodity for blue birds and every songbird species in the area.   The sparrow hawk is the only unwelcome visitor attracted to the perches provided on top of the 2 poles but there is nothing I can do about that.  It has not been a problem by any means so at the end of the day there are no cons to the addition of my 75' dove wire....100% beneficial in every aspect.   
We had a artificial wire installed in several of our old dove fields that were professionally put up using the proper poles, cable length, height, tension and grounding......They were exactly what you see along the highways but they ran from end to end down the center of our fields and obviously not conducting power...   The dove loved these professional dummy powerlines without fail but none of them have altered the productivity of a field like my 75' MacGyver wire in my 3.5 acre millet field.   
My equipment and method of installment was anything but conventional and/or professional.... However, I knew where it needed to be and why it needed to be there.   It is not a long term structure but I can get a good many years out of it before I need to replace/repair anything.  I had no access to heavy equipment and I had to rely on my own two hands and horsepower to do the heavy lifting.   I only used half of the hardware I purchased so 6 u nails, 2 screw eyes, 1 clip, 1 thimble, 100' strand of uncoated 3/8 steel cable, 2 anchor screws.... All I needed.   The strap and chain were already in my truck for other purposes but came in handy...  The poles were growing on my property in the form of pine trees so my chainsaw enabled me to create my own "telephone poles" on site.   
My dove wire cost next to nothing to put up.  It was physically demanding for 1 man with limited equipment but I got it done.   It is strategically placed in the field and is heavily utilized by local and migratory dove.  
 I have counted as many as 50 dove sitting on it at the same time.......enough to make it obvious that the wire tension was pulled and anchored by a guy lacking tools.   Birds make it sag when they stack up in the middle and when they all fly off at once it bounces up and down for a bit before settling back to its original position.   It could be a tighter but it is obviously tight enough for the dove.

I hope this helps you in some way, shape, or form....    The key factors are not looks, style, length or anything like that.   The keys are using the RIGHT TYPE OF WIRE and hanging it in THE RIGHT PLACE with SUFFICIENT WIRE TENSION to support stability.   

The addition of a dove wire to a dove field is a no brainer even if supplies, equipment, $$, labor is limited.    A well placed artificial line can be the difference maker in field productivity.   Smaller fields surrounded by loafing trees often fail to produce good shoots even if the dove numbers are there.   This is because they loaf around the trees and drop down along shady edges of the fields to  feed and then they pitch back up into the overhead limbs.... Never having a need or reason to fly over the field or out to the center.   A well placed dove wire can enhance a field in ways that not even sunflowers can compare.   

If you cant do the wire there are other options that work well.   Create your own dove perches and place them strategically.   12' wood/metal/PVC poles, rebar, hammer/ U nails, and posthole diggers can enhance a dove field...   creativity can go a long way here.


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## GLS

Your sagging wire story brings to mind what can happen with live wires.  A buddy's field  has a powerline running along one edge.  There have been occasions when hundreds of doves will sit on the wire, causing it to sag which has shorted the top hot wire against the bottom ground wire.  As many as a dozen birds have been killed when that happens with power interruption occuring on the property.


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## ghadarits

*CATV cable ran along the roads*



C.J. said:


> anyone know where i can buy any of this from?



I would check with your local Cable provider and see if they have any damaged 1/2 or 3/4 coax. Once its kinked or the sheath is damaged at all its no good to them other than recycling.


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## C.J.

what about running wire from two different trees that are already in the field and using them instead of the poles?


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## CraKaLaCKiN

Most power companies will give away old unserviceable poles. You'll need to go pick them up. Take a chainsaw just in case you need to shorten them. When you get there make nice with the 'boots on the ground'. Tell them what you are doing, invite them to come to the shoot. They may assist in getting you some cable to string between the poles.


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