Family-Outdoors

 With dove season opening  Sept. 1 , sportsmen have a lot of reasons to start preparing to go afield.              Reports from across the state are all pointing to the same thing, according to Josh Richardson, migratory game bird biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.              "It's been a good year for doves in Oklahoma," he said. "People are seeing large groups of birds forming up, and with the summer-like weather forecast for the next seven days, those groups should continue to grow."             The previous two years had been especially hot and dry, which may have affected many hunters' approach to dove hunting.              "Concentrating on water holes the last couple of dry years has been a good strategy, but for much of the state this year, water is far from being a limited resource," Richards...

English: Iowa Department of Natural Resources logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) An estimated 30,000 hunters will be in the field when Iowa’s dove season opens on Saturday.  The dry summer likely created conditions that will benefit dove hunters. Doves eat seeds, like sunflowers, corn and weed seeds, and prefer eating on bare ground. If looking for a place to hunt, the Iowa DNR has a listing of public hunting areas with food plots for doves online at www.iowadnr.gov/Portals/idnr/ uploads/Hunting/mdove_plots. pdf. Even without a dedicated food plot, hunters should look for any area that offers them concealment and small grains or weed seed, water or grit. Since doves are considered a migratory game bird, hunters will need to have a plug in their gun limiting them to three shells and must register with the Harvest Information Program before they go hunting.  Hunters may register online at https://jc. activeoutdoorsolutions.com/ia_ customer/app/goHome.do...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Dove hunting season is fast approaching, and this year sportsmen have no excuse for not inviting someone along with them thanks to Oklahoma's annual Free Hunting Days Sept. 1-2. Resident hunters do not need to possess an annual hunting license or HIP permit while hunting on these days.             This year dove season will run Sept. 1 - Oct. 31, statewide, followed by another nine-day period open from Dec. 22-30, statewide.             According to Josh Richardson, migratory game bird biologist for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, areas with water and a native or agricultural food source should be good spots come September.             Despite it being hot and dry, Richardson said breeding counts were up at the start of the summer. Food resource...

ge (Photo credit: USFWS Headquarters ) Before dove and waterfowl hunters take to drought-affected fields this hunting season, they should take time first to review baiting laws. Baiting can be a complicated issue. It can become more complicated in years in which drought conditions have pushed many farmers to destroy their standing agricultural crops. It's imperative that hunters keep in mind what is legal and what is not legal during waterfowl and dove hunting seasons. What is legal? You can hunt waterfowl on, over, or from: • Standing crops or flooded standing crops • Standing, flooded, or manipulated natural vegetation • Flooded harvested croplands • Lands or areas where grains or top-sown seeds have been scattered solely as the result of normal agricultural practices. You can hunt doves on, over or from: • Standing crops • Lands where seeds or grain have been scattered solely as a result of normal agricultural practices • Lands...