WMA Dove Fields

Josh Smallwood, of Villa Rica, said, “Pine Log WMA quota dove hunt (2021) was a great success in my opinion. Had my limit by 4:30! Great action as birds flew almost constantly. There were a few lulls, but for the most part it was constant action! Thanks to the Georgia DNR and the guys who prepare the fields for the success!”

Hard to believe we’ve only got about a month to go before men, women, boys and girls will file into prepared dove fields in hopes of collecting a limit of 15 birds for the grill. 

Thankfully, WRD does a really nice job of providing a list of places for hunters to shoot. To the right is the latest list of public shoots, the crops that have been planted, the acreage of the fields and the predicted forecasts for opening day. Some of these fields are quota-only, and the deadline to apply over at www.gooutdoorsgeorgia.com is Aug. 15.

Those WMAs, VPAs and PFAs that are marked with an asterisk (*) are either offering adult/child quota dove hunts or general quota dove hunts.

* next to WMA in chart: Adult/child quota and/or general quota hunt restrictions apply; deadline to apply for all WMA dove quota hunts is Aug. 15. Apply for general and adult/child dove quota hunts at www.gooutdoorsgeorgia.com. Check regs before attending any public-land dove hunt.

If you’re applying for a dove quota hunt, review the quota-hunt selection odds table for the general and adult/child dove quota hunts at https://georgiawildlife.com/hunting/quota#odds. This will guide you on how many, if any, priority points it will take to get drawn for a shoot. For example, some folks don’t want to spend two or more priority points to hunt birds, and they’d rather shoot fields where it takes one or no points. 

Last year’s hardest general dove hunt draw from the fields listed to the right was the shoot at Albany Nursery where 414 folks put in for the coveted 35 spots. It took three priority points for a guaranteed draw. 

The dove hunt on Di-Lane WMA also took three priority points for a guaranteed spot, although 95% of shooters got on the field using only two points.

WRD’s Game Management Region map to line up with the public dove fields listed on the opposite page.

There were three adult/child dove quota hunts that required at least one priority point for a guaranteed spot. In order of difficulty in getting selected with one point, those WMAs were River Creek (first hunt), Buck Shoals (first hunt) and Redlands. However, on all three hunts, only River Creek’s field needed two priority points for a guaranteed spot. 

The overall most popular dove hunt in the state last year continues to be the one at Clybel WMA. There were 969 folks who put in for 200 spots. However, by using two priority points, 100% of folks who applied were given a spot, while 60% of applicants got on the field using one point.

WRD continues to put dove fields in the dirt, and we certainly hope this trend continues as interest in dove hunting continues to grow. The number applying for a WMA dove quota hunt has increased from 10,485 in 2019,  to 12,269 in 2020, to 13,501 in 2021.

Make note that unless otherwise stated, for the second year in a row all WMA shoots will start 30 minutes before daylight, not the 12 noon traditional start that Georgians have been used to all these years.