HUNTING DOVES IN NORTH DAKOTA - North Dakota Game and Fish

You can use different strategies
to hunt doves with success. Some
hunters like to walk tree rows,
flushing the birds into the open.
In the above photos, hunters
employ the use of decoys to lure
birds within shotgun range.
Where Are The Hunters?
Fall starts the same for me every
year with a September 1 dove
hunt. Sometimes the weather cooperates,
sometimes it doesn’t. The one constant is
my attendance.
This first week of September was
previously the first chance to hunt, but
that’s changed some in recent years with
Canada goose hunting opportunities in
August. Even so, I’m usually too busy in
CHRIS GRONDAHL
HUNTING
DOVES
IN
NORTH
DAKOTA
By Mike Szymanski
August, so September 1 is still my first
real chance to get out.
The dove opener, and often the two
weeks that follow when good numbers
of birds are still in the state, is something
I revere. Many ask “Why bother with
doves … they’re so small.”
Well, to me that’s part of the draw.
What other opportunities do we have
where you can go on a hunt, expend
20 ND Outdoors August-September 2010

CHRIS GRONDAHL
CRAIG BIHRLE
20-60 shells and, depending on your skill
level, have your dog make many retrieves, and
go home with a limit of birds and two meals?
Dove opener has never been an “unofficial
holiday” in North Dakota as it is in other
states. It’s a shame because we really do have
a lot of dove hunting opportunities and not
many dove hunters. Moreover, dove hunting
participation and harvest has been on a
steady decline the past 30 years. In 2008, only
about 7,000 people hunted doves in North
Dakota. Based on state surveys, the harvest
was roughly 26,000 birds. That’s a far cry from
1980 when nearly 25,000 hunters took about
107,000 birds.
The behemoth of the mourning dove harvest
world is Texas, where in 2009, based on
the federal estimate, 236,600 hunters harvested
nearly 4.5 million birds..
While North Dakota shouldn’t expect to
have nearly the participation of Texas because
it is a larger state and has more hunters, the
Game and Fish Department is concerned that
the number of dove hunters in North Dakota
is dwindling.
Dove hunting is generally thought of as an
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“entry level” activity for other hunting activities, given
its simplicity and tendency for high numbers of shells
fired. So why is it that fewer and fewer hunters are
taking to the fields each fall to hunt doves in North
Dakota?
It could be that as North Dakota becomes more
urbanized, going dove hunting means traveling farther,
which is less appealing. Or in our modern and
highly-scheduled age, fewer kids want to go, or have
fewer opportunities.
Then again, maybe it’s because other hunting and
fishing opportunities in North Dakota are so appealing
that people are choosing those instead of dove
hunting. Maybe since dove hunting has never been a
big deal in North Dakota, most hunters don’t know
what to expect, or understand what a dove hunt really
is.
As an avid waterfowl hunter, I like how dove
hunting has a lot of the same strategies as duck hunting,
even involving decoys. I enjoy them all, and all
are classic dove hunting methods.
Waterholes
Waterhole hunts can be fast and furious and are
generally short-lived as birds zip in and out for a
quick drink just before sunrise or closing in on sunset.
The hottest activity typically lasts 30-45 minutes,
with about another 30 minutes to an hour of decent
activity. These hunts offer shooters with some of the
most difficult shots as birds are often dropping in
altitude and decelerating from fast to zero in a matter
of feet.
The best waterholes for a good dove hunt are those
featuring bare soil leading up to the water’s edge,
with at least a portion of the bank having a shallow
grade. These waterholes are often in pastures or hay
lands and may also be a dugout. Just like duck hunting,
not every nice looking waterhole will have birds
using it. I like to see a couple of small groups (3-5
birds) go in before hunting a hole I haven’t scouted.
Another good indication that doves are using the
hole is the presence of feathers near the water. The
best times to be at waterholes are just before daybreak
and the last two hours of daylight.
Crop Fields
Hunting a good dove feed can be rewarding.
North Dakota doesn’t have the manipulated food
plots over which millions of doves are shot in the
south, but doves will concentrate in harvested canola,
wheat or barley. Standing sunflowers, which generally
are unharvested during the first couple weeks of
September, also attract doves, but it is illegal to hunt
in unharvested cereal and oilseed crops, including
MIKE SZYMANSKI
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sprouted winter wheat, alfalfa, clover and other
grasses grown to seed, without the owner’s consent.
Make sure to get landowner permission to hunt
within standing sunflowers, even if they are Private
Land Open To Sportsmen acres.
Doves feed on the smallest of seeds, many of
which are annual weeds such as pigeon grass or
barnyard grass, so any field with weedy patches or a
weedy perimeter can attract doves.
Good fields often have perching structures
like power lines, fences, bushes and small trees, or
straw bales nearby where birds can transition into
the field, or just get off the ground. I like to sit in
fencerows or rock piles, but occasionally there will
be some slough grass in the middle of the field to
hide in. Most of the shooting is at birds entering
and leaving the field. (Note: It is illegal to shoot
doves or other birds resting on utility lines or fixtures
adjacent to such lines.)
You can also walk the field and flush birds off
the ground. I try to stay near the edges to keep
from pushing all the doves out of the field. This
may sound easy, but it can be challenging as birds
generally flush at staggered distances and locations,
making it difficult to remain focused and stay with
a bird. Doves generally feed at or slightly before
daybreak, and begin to head to fields again in the
late afternoon.
Day Roosts
Day roosts, or loafing areas, are an excellent
backup plan when early morning hunts don’t go as
planned. Doves typically find places to sit between
morning and evening feeds in sometimes nondescript
areas.
Abandoned farmsteads, small tree plantings,
sometimes even just a telephone wire or fence that
runs over or through a few trees or bushes, can
attract doves to hang out for the day.
Hunting roosts that birds are entering just
before dusk is discouraged as those situations lend
themselves to higher crippling rates due to lost
birds, and can force birds from an area.
Tree Rows
Walking tree rows for doves is a tactic that provides
an opportunity for some quick action when
more traditional hunting situations aren’t available.
Doing so can be especially rewarding once
sharp-tailed grouse and Hungarian partridge come
into season. There are times you just never know
what will flush from the shade of trees.
Jumping doves from tree rows can provide challenging
shots from all angles as birds flush from
the ground to 30 feet up. Quick reactions are a
must as doves may flush far ahead, or sit tight and
flush when you walk past.
Equipment
One of the nice things about dove hunting is
that so little gear is required – a bird bag, water for
hunter and dog, and a box or more of shells is generally
all that I carry. The bird bag can be a bucket,
which works as a seat, a place to hold food, water,
birds, hulls and other garbage.
Decoys can be employed in many of the aforementioned
hunting situations. Dove decoys are
fairly simple and inexpensive, but some hunters do
use spinning wing decoys. Camouflage and elaborate
blinds are not a necessity. Typically, I just wear
a dark or drab T-shirt and jeans. When hunting in
the open, uprooting a few large weeds can provide
a quick and simple blind.
I use and recommend nontoxic shot for all hunting,
including doves. A big advantage is that by
using nontoxic shot loads that have similar velocities
to nontoxic loads used later in fall, you are truly
warming yourself up for other hunting seasons. I
use steel No. 6s with an improved cylinder choke
for most of my dove hunting. If I know that shooting
situations will be up close, I switch to steel No.
7s, again with the improved cylinder choke.
More and more sporting goods stores are starting
to carry small steel shot loads, and they are
more affordable than ever. Over the past couple
of years, the price of lead shot has increased due
to demand for raw lead materials across the globe,
resulting in steel and lead dove loads being comparably
priced.
Doves are also excellent, nutritious table fare and
are easy to clean. With a little experience, a limit
of doves can be cleaned in 15 minutes. I like to
use many of my same duck or pheasant recipes for
doves, with one exception where I bread the whole
breast medallions (removed from the bone) and
deep fry as a snack. The daily limit for doves is 15,
which is two meals for me, or one for a small family.
However, sometimes things don’t work out and
I may only come home with a few birds. If I don’t
already have doves in the freezer, I use those birds
for “garnish” when preparing other wild game.
If you plan to hunt doves this season make sure
to register with the Harvest Information Program.
Remember, the birds are out there, it’s just the
hunters who are missing.
MIKE SZYMANSKI is a Game and Fish
Department migratory game bird biologist.
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