DNR to manage 14 fields for dove hunting

To provide more opportunities for dove hunters this fall, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is managing 14 public fields on wildlife management areas specifically to attract doves.

The three- to five-acre fields were planted this summer with small grains, sunflowers or other crops known to attract doves. To get ready for the Sept. 1 opener, area wildlife managers have been knocking down sections of the crops, causing seeds to fall and increasing their attractiveness to ground-feeding doves.

"We're hoping to build a dove hunting tradition in Minnesota by providing opportunities for hunters to get started in the sport," said Bill Penning, DNR farmland wildlife program leader. "These fields will be an excellent place for novice hunters, as well as youth, to get a feel for hunting this fun and challenging game bird."

About one-third of the state's managed dove fields are located at the Lac qui Parle Wildlife Management Area near the South Dakota border. The remaining fields will be scattered throughout southern Minnesota, Penning said. Hunters on these fields will be required to use nontoxic shot to avoid accumulating lead in areas that attract ground-feeding birds.

Because crops are being manipulated, the fields would be considered baited under federal waterfowl regulations and thus are off limits to duck and goose hunters. Signs reminding hunters of the nontoxic shot requirement, as well as regulations that disallow waterfowl hunting, will be posted on the fields. The new fields, however, shouldn't interfere with waterfowl hunting.

"They are not located where waterfowl would typically go," said Penning. "Our intent is to expand hunting opportunities without taking anything away from the waterfowl hunter."

Because Minnesota's dove hunt is regulated under federal guidelines as a migratory game bird, the season will open Sept. 1, along with other states in the Mississippi Flyway. However, doves tend to leave Minnesota when nighttime temperatures begin to drop near freezing.

"The majority of birds generally migrate through Minnesota by the middle of September," Penning said. The daily bag limit for doves is 15. Hunters 16 and older are required to have a small game license and Harvest Information Program certification.

The following wildlife management areas (WMA) will have posted dove-hunting fields: Red Buffalo WMA, Lac Qui Parle County; Lac Qui Parle WMA, Swift, Big Stone and Lac Qui Parle counties; Coteau Pit WMA, Lincoln County; Hole-in-the-Mountain WMA, Lincoln County; Two Rivers WMA, Redwood County; Tiedemann WMA, Goodhue County; Whitewater WMA, Winona and Olmsted counties; and Carlos Avery WMA, Anoka and Chisago counties.