First, you have to have to find where the birds will be. There’re after two things, food and water. If hunting over food, keep in mind a dove is not a strong bird; it’s legs and beak are weak so the food has to be easily available (laying on the ground). Examples of good fields to hunt would include: Corn field after cut for silage, wheat field freshly harvested, millet field freshly mowed / baled for hay. Next spring, I would suggest planting a field w/ warm season grains suitable for your area (millet, grain sorghum, sunflowers). Doves have a tendency to follow rivers and power lines; either would have potential to make a good field. Doves also have a tendency to land in the trees surrounding a field and wait and watch before coming in to feed, so keep that in mind when planning a field. 5 acres seems to be about the minimum size field for a good hunt and you’ll have better results if you have enough people to cover the field (think 10 people on 50 ac). If you have a field with a dense cover of grains where a dove can hide, it is possible to hunt them the same way you would pheasant. This will work best in the midmorning and late afternoon.
I’ve had pretty good results with a 28 ga loaded w/ 7.5 shot, but a 20ga or 12 ga is much better. 6 shot is as large as you’ll want to go and 8 shot is the smallest. The most important accessories for a successful hunt are a smoker loaded down with pork and beer!
