Jeff-Widgnwhacker-Wallis
09-15-2006, 12:11 PM
http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/571/prostaffnewsheader1dd.jpg
I sit here typing this article and the thermometer on the wall reads 100.6 degrees. Merely going outside and standing still will cause one to sweat profusely. And if you must do any type of outdoor activity or work, in a matter of minutes you will be soaking wet. But those little breezes that blow every few minutes are a gift from God! I sometimes wish we could fast forward to November.
http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/531/bandeddove2webcopysr4.jpg
Despite the heat, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks are once again trapping and banding mourning doves in Mississippi. Dove banding began July 1 and the MDWFP has 850 birds to band in 2006. According to Scott Baker with the MDWFP, “Our dove banding efforts are part of a larger southeastern dove banding effort. What will be learned from the banding data are movement patterns (migration), age at harvest, and harvest rates by age and sex.” Dove banders across the state are capturing mourning doves and recording sex and age of the bird before attaching the small, silver bands and then releasing the dove.
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/7483/dovesintrap2smallcopyuy5.jpg
According to Jim Willcutt with MDWFP, statewide the MDWFP employees and outside volunteers banded 447 adult doves, 677 juvenile doves, and 10 birds of unknown age, totaling 1,134 doves during 2005. This brings the 3-year total (2003-2005) to 3,404 doves banded in Mississippi.
Dave Godwin, Small Game Coordinator for the MDWFP says that mourning doves are an important game bird in Mississippi and many other states. Nationally, more doves are harvested annually than all other migratory game birds combined! In recent years, state and federal wildlife agencies have agreed that we need better data on several aspects of mourning dove ecology to be able to best manage this important species.
http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/6028/lillyanddovebsmallcopyps4.jpg
Researchers hope that this large-scale study will allow wildlife managers to estimate mourning dove survival and harvest rates. The study should also provide valuable information on the geographical distribution of dove harvest. The results have not been totaled for 2006 as banding is not yet finished. Hunters are encouraged to call the number on the band if they recover a banded bird. You may keep the band and will receive a certificate about where your bird was banded and information about the age and sex of the bird.
http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/6136/dovebandingtruck2smallcopyau1.jpg
But as we prepare for the upcoming dove season, there are a few things to remember when readying dove fields for our feathered guests. Mourning doves are migratory birds, and are thus regulated by Federal hunting regulations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Here are a few dove field do's and don'ts, as taken from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks' pamphlet Dove Field Preparation and Hunting Regulations in Mississippi.
Can I legally hunt doves over top sown winter wheat? Yes, as long as it is done in a manner consistent with a normal agricultural practice. The planting of wheat for wildlife food plots, winter grazing for livestock or agricultural erosion control are all considered normal agricultural practices. Must wheat be sown on prepared ground? No. Wheat can be no-till drilled into unprepared ground. Also, over seeding of wheat or rye prior to harvesting of soybeans, corn or cotton to establish a cover crop is recognized as a normal agricultural practice.
What is the planting rate for wheat? Wheat is to be planted at a rate no greater than 90 lbs (1 1/2 bushels) per acre that is spread evenly across the area. It may not be piled or clumped.
After a corn field is harvested, the entire field or strips are plowed up and planted in wheat; is this considered a legal field for dove hunting? Yes, if it is done in a normal agricultural fashion.
Can part of a field be bush hogged at different times, such as four rows now and four rows later and so on? Yes, manipulating a crop in this fashion is the most reliable way to attract doves over a longer period of time and to avoid any uncertainty regarding the legality of the practice to attract doves for hunting.
Can standing grains be bush hogged and additional grains be added to the field? No.
Can millet or sunflowers be top sown? No. Japanese millet is the only millet seed that is top sown, and it is normally done on mudflats for waterfowl. All other millets, corn, sunflowers, milo and many other grains are covered with soil when planted and are planted in the spring and early summer.
Can I top sow wheat over an unprepared pasture? No. Winter wheat is not normally sown over pastures with adequate vegetative cover.
Can I plant a wildlife food plot in the fall and hunt doves that are attracted to it? Yes, as long as the proper planting rates and dates are followed, and it is done in a fashion considered to be a normal agricultural practice.
Can I harvest a corn, milo or sunflower field and then redistribute the seed over the field? No. You can not distribute or scatter grain or other feed once it has been removed from or stored on the field where grown.
What can I do to have a legal field and a good dove shoot? The best way is to plant a grain crop preferred by doves that will ripen just prior to the time you want to hunt. After the grain is ripe and before the hunt, it may be knocked down or bush hogged. Preferred grains in Mississippi include both brown top millet and sunflowers. Maintaining bare ground areas by disking throughout the planted areas will also help attract doves.
Other things to remember this dove season are:
Any baited area is still considered to be baited 10 days after the complete removal of all grain, salt or feed that is not a result of a normal agricultural practice. Hunting the field within the 10 day period is illegal. Questions about what constitutes a normal agricultural practice should be addressed to the Mississippi State Cooperative Extension Service (MCES). MCES also has a publication titled”Dove Field Preparation and Hunting Regulations” that can be found at www.msucares.com
The hunter must maintain possession of his/her birds at all times in the field and between the field and his/her primary means of land transportation. This is referred to as “field possession”.
After field possession ends (at the primary means of land transportation), the hunter may give his birds to someone else provided they are tagged with the name and address of the hunter who killed the birds, the hunter's signature, the total number of birds involved and the date the birds were killed.
On the opening day of the season a daily bag limit is the possession limit and no hunter may possess more than the daily bag limit, tagged or not. After opening day, a possession limit is 2 daily limits, although only one limit of 15 doves may be harvested per day.
Eurasian collared doves (commonly called ring-necked doves) are an exotic species. They may be harvested and do not count towards a daily limit of mourning doves.
Legal shooting hours for migratory birds begins 30 minutes before sunrise and ends at sunset. Hunters must use plugged shotguns capable of holding no more than 3 shells when hunting any migratory game bird.
For more information on preparing dove fields and dove hunting regulations, visit www.mdwfp.com. To report wildlife violations, you can call 1-800-BE-SMART. Also be sure to enroll those kids or anyone born after Jan. 1st, 1972 into a hunter education class this fall. Visit www.mdwfp.com to find a class near you.
http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/1516/maledovesmallcopynj0.jpg
So if you take a banded dove over your food plot this fall, remember to call that band number in and you will receive a certificate! You might be amazed to learn how far that bird has traveled since it was banded. Take your kids or someone else's kids hunting this season.Too many of our youth have lost, or never had, the desire to hunt and had rather spend time indoors playing video games, watching television or surfing the net. It takes conservation minded adults to introduce these youngsters to hunting, fishing and trapping. It also takes a good example to mold their young minds into future caretakers of the great outdoors. If we don't show them how to hunt, fish and trap, who will?
I sit here typing this article and the thermometer on the wall reads 100.6 degrees. Merely going outside and standing still will cause one to sweat profusely. And if you must do any type of outdoor activity or work, in a matter of minutes you will be soaking wet. But those little breezes that blow every few minutes are a gift from God! I sometimes wish we could fast forward to November.
http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/531/bandeddove2webcopysr4.jpg
Despite the heat, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks are once again trapping and banding mourning doves in Mississippi. Dove banding began July 1 and the MDWFP has 850 birds to band in 2006. According to Scott Baker with the MDWFP, “Our dove banding efforts are part of a larger southeastern dove banding effort. What will be learned from the banding data are movement patterns (migration), age at harvest, and harvest rates by age and sex.” Dove banders across the state are capturing mourning doves and recording sex and age of the bird before attaching the small, silver bands and then releasing the dove.
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/7483/dovesintrap2smallcopyuy5.jpg
According to Jim Willcutt with MDWFP, statewide the MDWFP employees and outside volunteers banded 447 adult doves, 677 juvenile doves, and 10 birds of unknown age, totaling 1,134 doves during 2005. This brings the 3-year total (2003-2005) to 3,404 doves banded in Mississippi.
Dave Godwin, Small Game Coordinator for the MDWFP says that mourning doves are an important game bird in Mississippi and many other states. Nationally, more doves are harvested annually than all other migratory game birds combined! In recent years, state and federal wildlife agencies have agreed that we need better data on several aspects of mourning dove ecology to be able to best manage this important species.
http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/6028/lillyanddovebsmallcopyps4.jpg
Researchers hope that this large-scale study will allow wildlife managers to estimate mourning dove survival and harvest rates. The study should also provide valuable information on the geographical distribution of dove harvest. The results have not been totaled for 2006 as banding is not yet finished. Hunters are encouraged to call the number on the band if they recover a banded bird. You may keep the band and will receive a certificate about where your bird was banded and information about the age and sex of the bird.
http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/6136/dovebandingtruck2smallcopyau1.jpg
But as we prepare for the upcoming dove season, there are a few things to remember when readying dove fields for our feathered guests. Mourning doves are migratory birds, and are thus regulated by Federal hunting regulations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Here are a few dove field do's and don'ts, as taken from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks' pamphlet Dove Field Preparation and Hunting Regulations in Mississippi.
Can I legally hunt doves over top sown winter wheat? Yes, as long as it is done in a manner consistent with a normal agricultural practice. The planting of wheat for wildlife food plots, winter grazing for livestock or agricultural erosion control are all considered normal agricultural practices. Must wheat be sown on prepared ground? No. Wheat can be no-till drilled into unprepared ground. Also, over seeding of wheat or rye prior to harvesting of soybeans, corn or cotton to establish a cover crop is recognized as a normal agricultural practice.
What is the planting rate for wheat? Wheat is to be planted at a rate no greater than 90 lbs (1 1/2 bushels) per acre that is spread evenly across the area. It may not be piled or clumped.
After a corn field is harvested, the entire field or strips are plowed up and planted in wheat; is this considered a legal field for dove hunting? Yes, if it is done in a normal agricultural fashion.
Can part of a field be bush hogged at different times, such as four rows now and four rows later and so on? Yes, manipulating a crop in this fashion is the most reliable way to attract doves over a longer period of time and to avoid any uncertainty regarding the legality of the practice to attract doves for hunting.
Can standing grains be bush hogged and additional grains be added to the field? No.
Can millet or sunflowers be top sown? No. Japanese millet is the only millet seed that is top sown, and it is normally done on mudflats for waterfowl. All other millets, corn, sunflowers, milo and many other grains are covered with soil when planted and are planted in the spring and early summer.
Can I top sow wheat over an unprepared pasture? No. Winter wheat is not normally sown over pastures with adequate vegetative cover.
Can I plant a wildlife food plot in the fall and hunt doves that are attracted to it? Yes, as long as the proper planting rates and dates are followed, and it is done in a fashion considered to be a normal agricultural practice.
Can I harvest a corn, milo or sunflower field and then redistribute the seed over the field? No. You can not distribute or scatter grain or other feed once it has been removed from or stored on the field where grown.
What can I do to have a legal field and a good dove shoot? The best way is to plant a grain crop preferred by doves that will ripen just prior to the time you want to hunt. After the grain is ripe and before the hunt, it may be knocked down or bush hogged. Preferred grains in Mississippi include both brown top millet and sunflowers. Maintaining bare ground areas by disking throughout the planted areas will also help attract doves.
Other things to remember this dove season are:
Any baited area is still considered to be baited 10 days after the complete removal of all grain, salt or feed that is not a result of a normal agricultural practice. Hunting the field within the 10 day period is illegal. Questions about what constitutes a normal agricultural practice should be addressed to the Mississippi State Cooperative Extension Service (MCES). MCES also has a publication titled”Dove Field Preparation and Hunting Regulations” that can be found at www.msucares.com
The hunter must maintain possession of his/her birds at all times in the field and between the field and his/her primary means of land transportation. This is referred to as “field possession”.
After field possession ends (at the primary means of land transportation), the hunter may give his birds to someone else provided they are tagged with the name and address of the hunter who killed the birds, the hunter's signature, the total number of birds involved and the date the birds were killed.
On the opening day of the season a daily bag limit is the possession limit and no hunter may possess more than the daily bag limit, tagged or not. After opening day, a possession limit is 2 daily limits, although only one limit of 15 doves may be harvested per day.
Eurasian collared doves (commonly called ring-necked doves) are an exotic species. They may be harvested and do not count towards a daily limit of mourning doves.
Legal shooting hours for migratory birds begins 30 minutes before sunrise and ends at sunset. Hunters must use plugged shotguns capable of holding no more than 3 shells when hunting any migratory game bird.
For more information on preparing dove fields and dove hunting regulations, visit www.mdwfp.com. To report wildlife violations, you can call 1-800-BE-SMART. Also be sure to enroll those kids or anyone born after Jan. 1st, 1972 into a hunter education class this fall. Visit www.mdwfp.com to find a class near you.
http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/1516/maledovesmallcopynj0.jpg
So if you take a banded dove over your food plot this fall, remember to call that band number in and you will receive a certificate! You might be amazed to learn how far that bird has traveled since it was banded. Take your kids or someone else's kids hunting this season.Too many of our youth have lost, or never had, the desire to hunt and had rather spend time indoors playing video games, watching television or surfing the net. It takes conservation minded adults to introduce these youngsters to hunting, fishing and trapping. It also takes a good example to mold their young minds into future caretakers of the great outdoors. If we don't show them how to hunt, fish and trap, who will?