Had this on the Trapping Only forum and figured it would more appreciated here.
We planted our dove field on May 28 or 29 right before we left for our cruise. I stuck a camera up once we got back on June 8. We went almost that entire month with no rain. I don’t think we got any rain until June 27 or 28. Luckily once it started we started getting rain almost every evening if not then every other evening. Still can’t believe the seed lasted that long.

What is it? Brown top? Sorghum?

What do you plant in a dove field?

Brown top. Plant it, let it die or spray it, mow it, burn it, hunt it.

Got some bucks hanging around.

Rain sure makes a difference.

My acre of chufas were pretty a month ago.....now they're a total loss...no rain for a month on a sand hill...

Hope ours made it we, got a good rain and they came up but not much sense.Going to check on them Saturday

I plant Brown Top, Jap, German, Millet and Chufa. Better than Sunflowers . . . at least here :-)

I’m hoping we’re in the Summer time thunderstorm every evening pattern! We went a good 3-4 weeks with NO rain.

Yeah deer use that field now. It’ll be all gone when we shoot, but we always have seed that resprouts and comes back up. We don’t hunt that field. We don’t hunt that field for deer. But once it’s burned and after the dove hunts it’s a good spot to call for coyotes. Killed 4-5 in it last year.

The other side of the big pines in the background are newly planted pines and then the property line. The other side of that is a huge peanut field this year. Even when it’s cotton the deer use it.

You can glass that field at night and there will be 70+ deer in it, lol. It’s the only thing we plant on the entire 2500ac and that’s just so the landowner can have a dove hunt. We’ll have a landowner hunt then a regular dove hunt. Luckily I get to help with and hunt both, lol.

Turkeys & deer will eat every plant of Chufa they find! Bad investment for Dove alone :-(

Think they plant chufa for turkeys, not dove.

That's why I said about this being about a "Dove field"?

Do the seeds the doves eat survive burning well?

Do you have to get a permit or do anything special to burn?

I have 2 fields I would love to burn. Both have lots of noxious weeds. One is a small steep hill. The other is a low area that has a multitude of springs that drain into it, that dry up in late Summer. Neither would be easy to make hay on.

Keith

Yeah the seeds are fine with a burn. And yes, we have to get burn permit every time we burn. Just call in and can generally get a burn permit every time we call…but we know when to call too. If it’s a high risk, we know they won’t approve it so no sense in calling.
Our entire county has smoke rising March and April, that’s our normal burn season.
We divide the field up and have strips of Egyptian wheat planted as a cover for hunters and gives the quail a hide area when they come to feed after the burn.

Thanks.

Will you burn the field again before dove season opens or do you just burn in the Spring?

Locally, early season, most doves crops are almost entirely full of giant ragweed seeds. I like the taste of the giant ragweed seeds myself. They taste better than and somewhat similar to sunflower seeds. Later in the season, the doves here are mostly full of corn. Right now the doves are thick in the just harvested wheat fields. I wish they were open to hunt now, because hunting the wheat fields would be great sport and fun.

Keith

I sprayed a mature wheat field with gly about a month ago. Spread browntop three days later. Didnt need any tillage. Doves eating last years wheat seed as the browntop grows. About to start heading out. Spray and throw

Chufas planted for turkeys....not doves. But, lack of rain done them in.

Also, deer don't eat the chufa tops.....chufa is in the nutsedge family...tough grassy blades. Deer will paw up the tubers some and eat those.....especially in the fall.

Yeah, I know about Chufas.

All our fields are harrowed right before quail season starts (mid Nov) mainly to get the birds out of them and in the “quail woods”. They are allowed to grow until the next harrowing, never burned. Some are ragweed, some are partridge pea, some are just natural vegetation.

The only burning in the “Fall” is the dove field and maybe small pines that aren’t leased out for pine straw. Most of our young pines are leased out though. The manager talked the owner into leasing those out and it’s a win win deal. They keep them sprayed for no vegetation and easy pine straw removal and it pushed the quail out which helps us out. When the straw is removed it’s basically bare ground and easy seed access. We don’t burn those areas while they’re under contract.

As far as dove are concerned. Imagine all that field in nothing but browntop millet and all that seed on the deck. The first year we just absorbed the cost to get the birds in…no hunting. The next year we started hunting. This is year 4 or 5 I believe. We generally have some real good hunts. Opening weekend and the next weekend are the only two hunts we have. If it stays dry and the seed doesn’t sprout we may have just a family/friend hunt on an off weekend during quail season.