Dove Hunting

[blindset61]

This is a first post for me, I hope I'm doing it right.  Now that the dove opener has come and gone, I'd like to make a statement about the public dove hunting in the state. 

I wish the AR G&F would make an effort to lease some good managed fields for public dove hunting in various portions of the state.  From my experience, the "dove fields" as they do have aren't managed well and never have any dove using them.  The good hunts occur on private, managed farmlands and hunting is by invitation only. 

If the Game and Fish can't invest the time to prepare and manage some of their WMA areas for dove fields, why cant' they arrange to lease some of these "good" fields from private owners, enough to provide the public guys a good hunt also?l
 

[DeerSlayer]

How many dove fields do they have? Any idea? I wonder if they are just over-hunted and that's why you haven't had much success. You are right though, best fields are private fields, then again, it's pretty much that way in all hunting and fishing.

WElcome to the forum by the way.

[Kevin]

Good points. I would like to see some numbers on how many birds they stock.

[Wizard]

How many dove fields do they have? Any idea?

According to their website, they have 62 fields.

http://www.agfc.com/hunting/Pages/PublicDoveFields.aspx

[ducktape]

If the Game and Fish can't invest the time to prepare and manage some of their WMA areas for dove fields, why cant' they arrange to lease some of these "good" fields from private owners, enough to provide the public guys a good hunt also?l
 

this is just a rumor i heard over the weekend. They do have some leased fields, or some of the fields listed or leased and some of the fields listed are on WMAs too. The problem is getting someone in to manage the good fields, it is one thing to bush hog a field and call it done, it is another to grow millet, sunflowers, etc then bush hog, then disc it up to make a good field.

They hire other people to do these things and well lets say the payment isn't exactly on time, so take that as you will.

Again this is a rumor, i don't hunt those AGFC dove fields, due to bad over hunting as well, or so many people at one field.

By the way, welcome to the forum

[ArkansasSloughboy]

Some of the dove fields are excellent. They are also scattered across the state so there is one relatively close to everyone. Did ya'll see the Sunday paper. There was a pic of guys that killed 3 bands on public land. That's pretty good.

[blindset61]

Letting you guys know I appreciate the answers to my post.  BTW, the author of the hunt in sundays paper didn't do so well either at the location in Hope.  I've just never seen any of the public dove fields that had any success thus far.  A few years ago Holla Bend used to allow dove hunting-and had a good location-but no more.

I hope the situation changes-in fact, I'm going to contact the G&F commissioners and see if that might help any.

[blindset61]

I did find a few doves using an area where I had permission to hunt and killed five Saturday evening. 

My wife grilled chicken breasts and ribeye steak Sunday evening and I added the dove breast halves that I'd wrapped with bacon along with a jalepeno slice on each side.

The dove beat the other two hands down.  I'm talking some good chow.

[Kevin]

If you wanted to, you could post that recipe with some pics and we can run it in our recipes section. Sounds awesome.

[ArkansasSloughboy]

I had bacon wrapped dove for dinner last night as well.

I was looking for a public dove spot before season so I called a biologist for the AGFC and he told me that the AGFC used to rent private fields for the public's use, but they had quit because there wasn't enough participation for the price. Also they were having trouble getting what they paid for so they just try to prep the fields themselves to save money and be sure of what they are getting. I would have to go to the public fields to have an viable opinion on their effectiveness. I hunted an awesome field this weekend and the difference that 50 yards makes in a prepped field is tremendous. Were some of the people on the public fields blasting away? PS, I'm not sure that the author gets on the 'X' much.

[blindset61]

The recipe is pretty simple-just remove the breast halves from the dove, use a half strip of bacon per breast half, put a slice of jalepeno on each side of the breast and wrap the bacon half around it tight, use a toothpick to hold things together, throw on the grill.  Duck breast are great that way too-I sometimes wrap the duck breast in foil also and let them grill a little longer since they are a lot meatier.

I called about dove hunting on the Camp Robinson SUA the past two years and the guy told me they didn't have any.  One of my boys was at a family get together at Petit Jean and he checked the mgt. fields at the WMA there and said there wasn't any either.  The AG&f dove fields I've seen look like a bushhogged pasture.

In the past, when I had access to lands and equipment, I sowed sunflowers (blackoil, 50# bought at the farm store) and brown top millet, grew it off, and  two to three weeks before season opened bushhogged strips through it, and the shooting would be awesome.  I see no reason why the commission-with all their equipment, funds, and manpower- couldn't be doing the same for the public hunters that don't have access to private hunts.