Dove here still?

kansasbrittany

kansasbrittany

Banned
Guys,

I'm trying to figure out what is going on with the dove birds. I have been hunting a pretty nice public wheat/sunflower field locally (Wabaunsee county)this dove season. There were loads of dove using this field the first couple days of season, and plenty of hunters pouding it as well. Now there aren't 20 dove using the field and I'm really not seeing many on the roads.

I have a dove trip planned for NC KS this w/e and I'm wondering if the birds have moved on. So, do you think the birds are moving/have moved south OR do you think they just aren't in that field b/c of the INTENSE pressure?

Are any of you still seeing decent #'s of dove in KS?
 
I think its just the pressure we poundeed them hard saturday sunday they werent at the spot but lastnight they came bac i really think its the pressure
 
FCSpringer said:
KB there is still a ton of them up here, so they have not quite moved south yet.
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Thanks FCS and GCB!! I appreciate your feedback. I was pretty sure they hadn't moved on yet, but some of the folks around here were making me worry with their assumptions. Can't wait to head out there this w/e:thumbsup:
 
There was an article in the wichita paper Sunday about dove hunting and pressure. Go to the outdoors section of the sports section to read it.

Anyways, a guy down here by Columbus planted 1 acre of sunflowers on his 10 acre plot of land. He bush-hogged it a couple weeks before the season, and then him and his 10 buddies hunt it all season long. He won't allow morning hunting as thats when the big flocks come in. They wait until 3:30 each day to start, and as soon as their limit is shot they all move out. They'll only hunt it a couple of days in a row and then give it several days off to let the birds get back to using it. I can't remember how many doves they shot out of that one acre patch last year but it was huge.

I've hunted sunflowers here in Missouri that get pounded the opening couple of days, the birds leave and don't come back. I've never been back a couple weeks later to see if they start using them again or not.
 
@KB - I don't live in KS, but it hasn't gotten anywhere near cold enough for all the doves to have left the countryside. Keep in mind that they are "migratory" birds & move around a lot - if you wanna stay in 'em, gotta keep rollin with 'em...Any number of factors can move 'em somewhere else on a dime- hunting pressure, picked over crops, plain ol' fickleness, ect.

I used to stay on 'em all season long & it's funny how there could be a hundred fresh cut cornfields in the same area or a dozen clean-banked water holes & they would all pick ONE or two that they liked for whatever reason (& not always necessarily the one I would have picked if I were a dove)! :) A little day-be4 or morning-of SCOUTING goes an awful long way in dove hunting, unless you are perfectly content sittin on a chair & watchin the sunrise/sunset, hopin against all hope on a wing & a prayer!!! A simple pair of binoculars & some gas burned up in the EARLY morning often pays off in huge dividends for an afternoon and/or next-day shoot!!! :thumbsup:

P.S. The birds will SOMETIMES come back to a shot-over (but not a picked-over) field IF completely left alone for a couple weeks - not in quite the same numbers as be4, but still plenty enough for another good time or two!
 
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I just got back last night from around the Pratt area, and saw plenty of birds, and shot plenty of them, but they were only in certain fields. I hunted a wheat stubble field with a standing corn field behind me and had as many as 8 come in at a time (of course most were singles or doubles). Down here in Oklahoma they have also been pretty sparse also, in fact I saw more up there than down here. Driving up to Kansas I saw very few on telephone wires. Me and a buddy I hunt with down here think they are still north, but we could be wrong. Good Luck.

Rod
 
hotrod13 said:
I just got back last night from around the Pratt area, and saw plenty of birds, and shot plenty of them, but they were only in certain fields. I hunted a wheat stubble field with a standing corn field behind me and had as many as 8 come in at a time (of course most were singles or doubles). Down here in Oklahoma they have also been pretty sparse also, in fact I saw more up there than down here. Driving up to Kansas I saw very few on telephone wires. Me and a buddy I hunt with down here think they are still north, but we could be wrong. Good Luck.

Rod
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I think you're right about most of them still being up north. I finally got a chance to talk to a couple of my buddies out west and it sounds like the birds haven't really started showing up yet. 3 more days of work then it is time to take a vacation to my happy place:thumbsup:

I'll come back with pics of roosters busting out of the grass and share them here.
 
Plenty of doves around Liberal. I always host a Labor Day dove shoot for family and friends. In spite of poor shooting several hundred birds were harvested. But most importantly a good time was had by all.
 
I am not seeing many birds at all around here (south of KC). In areas where I was seeing 20 - 30 birds before, I am now seeing 1 or 2. Maybe another wave will come through??

Rut
 
Where ya headed to hunt? I live in North Central Kansas, around Smith Center. And from what I hear there is a decent amount of doves in that area. I'm in school at Hays, but I am headed home this weekend to get some shooting done.
 
RuttCrazed said:
I am not seeing many birds at all around here (south of KC). In areas where I was seeing 20 - 30 birds before, I am now seeing 1 or 2. Maybe another wave will come through??

Rut
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Well I'm hoping that next wave is here now... Heading into work today I saw those 20-30 doves where I'd been seeing 1 or 2 the last few days. Gonna go and give it a try tonight
 
Man I did alright the first weekend but since then around Wamego I have been skunked. I must be going where the dove are not.
 
RoosterTim said:
Man I did alright the first weekend but since then around Wamego I have been skunked. I must be going where the dove are not.
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The migratory crew has yet to arrive. I shot my first collared doves in W KS this w/e. Saw decent #'s of mourning doves, but nothing to get excited about.
 
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