Dove season planted fields ready for the plucking

Whiteville -- For many hunters, the opening of dove season over the Labor Day weekend jumpstarts the fall season. But for those who plant fields to attract doves, the season began in spring.

One of those with a year-round passion for wing shooting is Richard Edwards, who was busy calling hunters during the last couple of weeks before the first dove hunt of the year.

"We polled our members to see if they would prefer to shoot on Saturday or Labor Day," said Edwards, a medical sales representative from Wilmington. "Some of them might have been busy with other things on Saturday and we wanted to be sure that everyone could be at the club for our first hunt. They decided not to wait until Monday so we will hunt Saturday."

Edwards planted sunflowers and corn months ago to prepare for the upcoming hunt at the Mill Pond Hunting Club, which is located near Whiteville, N.C. Once it matured, he mowed some of the corn to attract the birds and checked on the number of doves feeding in his sunflower fields.

"I love the fellowship and enjoy the shooting," he said. "But what I really love most is watching everyone else shooting and having a good time. I also like seeing the doves come into a field that I've planted. It's exciting."

One of the club members, Carlton Williamson, said he always looks forward to hunting on opening day.

"I've hunted doves since before I could drive, when I was 14 or 15," said Williamson, an attorney from Whiteville. "I hope the weather is better this year than last year. Those really, really hot days make it difficult to sit out in the dove field. Sometimes we have a cool spell opening weekend that brings relief and it's nice."

Williamson said he enjoys the social aspects of the hunt, which include lunch on the day of the hunt and a dove feast for hunters and family members the day following the hunt. He shoots a 12-gauge Benelli shotgun and said he usually gets his limit. But he also practices some multi-tasking.

"Whether I get a limit depends on how many boxes of shells I shoot and how the doves are flying," he said. "But I always have fun with two kickoffs. Dove season kicks off the fall hunting season and I take along a radio to listen to the kick-off for the first regular season Carolina football game."

An early season sport

Joe Fuller is the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission Migratory Game Bird Coordinator. He said dove hunting is a high-participation sport.

"Last year, we had 44,000 doves hunters in North Carolina," Fuller said. "Those hunters harvested 687,000 doves. The harvest doesn't vary tremendously. It stays between 600,000 and 700,000 annually."

The harvest isn't spread evenly according to Fuller, who said the average hunter shoots 16 doves during the entire season. A lot of hunters shoot two or three birds, while some may take more than 200 during the season.

"The majority of doves, 60 or 70 percent, are shot over the first two weeks of the season," he said. "Only a small percentage of hunters do any late-season dove hunting."

The Preparations

The Commission plants dove fields on game lands throughout the state. The fields are planted in the same places every year, so hunters can easily find them. They are planted in wheat, sunflower and millet. Prior to the hunting season, the fields are disked, mowed and burned so doves can easily locate and feed on the exposed seed.

Some of the fields are open to anyone who has a Game Lands permit in addition to a hunting license and a HIP (Harvest Information Program) certification.

However, some fields are only open to those who received a special permit, which is applied for in advance of the season. Hunters who did not apply this hunting season and would like to experience a limited entry hunt should check the Commission website's Permit Hunt Opportunities section and apply in time for next dove season. Locations of Commission dove fields are also shown on the website, www.ncwildlife.org.