Nebraskaland

Nebraskaland Aug-Sept 2020

NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.

Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/1273904

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Doves – A Great Way to Start Hunting Getting started in hunting can be daunting. Some pursuits require specialized gear. Some require more knowledge or patience than most have to start with. Dove hunting requires none of those. All you need is a shotgun, a few boxes of shells and a bucket to sit on. That makes it a great place for adults to start, and a great way for adults to introduce kids to hunting. "Dove hunting really can be a good gateway into hunting," said John Laux, upland game program manager with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Mourning doves are the most abundant game bird in the country and found in all 93 of Nebraska's counties. Their numbers can provide fast action and lots of it in the fi eld, another thing that makes dove hunting attractive. Despite there being a third as many dove hunters as pheasant hunters, more doves are harvested each year in Nebraska than any other game bird thanks to liberal bag limits and plenty of opportunity. Laux also appreciates the fact that dove hunting takes little prep time and can be done on short notice. "I tend to take my kids out quite a bit," he said of his 5- and 7-year-olds, who tag along, collect plants, spot incoming birds and "play retriever." "We normally hunt in the evening over a pond where I know the last hour is going to be pretty good. It's a fairly consistent adventure that you're going to get a lot of action and you can kind of keep the kids interested." A water source like a pond is one of several good options when choosing a place to hunt doves, which fl y to water to drink in the morning and especially the evening prior to going to roost. Ponds with open shoreline ringed with bare dirt are best. Ponds adjacent to food sources are even better. In the Sandhills, overfl owing stock tanks are a great place to sit on a bucket or stool and wait for birds to arrive. Another option is to hunt a food source. Doves prefer to feed on seeds on the ground in open areas. Wheat fi elds, weedy pastures and patches of hemp are good choices. So are the food plots containing sunfl owers, millet or wheat that biologists plant with doves and hunters in mind on nearly 60 Game and Parks wildlife management areas around the state. Pick a place with bare ground, as doves don't like landing in tall vegetation. Action can be best early in the morning. If doves aren't fl ying, hunters can take a walk and fl ush birds from the food or adjacent cover just like they might a pheasant. Another place to hunt would be the fl ight path between a food and water source. These spots can be a good place to escape the heavy hunting pressure that is often found on public lands in heavily-populated portions of eastern Nebraska. Doves are a small target, and can seemingly fl y as fast as and maneuver like a fi ghter jet, so hunters are wise to up their odds any way they can. That may mean moving to the other side of a food plot or pond if most doves are taking the same approach, which would give you an easier shot. The national average is fi ve to seven shots per dove harvested. So while dove hunters in the right location will certainly get more shooting than a pheasant hunter, they might also do more missing. "It can be pretty humbling at times for sure," Laux said. Other than plenty of shells and a shotgun, the only gear that's really needed is dark- colored clothing or camoufl age, which with mild temperatures, means only a T-shirt. "It's pretty simple, which makes it easy to accommodate youth or other novice hunters," Laux said. For those who do want to step it up a notch, Laux says decoys can be extremely eff ective in getting doves closer. He likes to arrange them on a branch where he wants the birds to land on the edge of the pond he's hunting. If there aren't trees, he will bring his own branch. Spinning wing decoys are also eff ective. Warm weather and the casual nature of dove hunting are other reasons to go. But for many, the reason to hunt doves is simple: It's the fi rst bird season to open, a chance to train a young dog, to shake off the rust, and a sign that fall is near. By Eric Fowler Eli Kurrus and Jake Heard of Gretna take a bubblegum break during a hunt in Cass County. Dove hunting is the perfect introduction to hunting for kids. August-September 2020 • Nebraskaland 45

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