It’s hard to beat good dove hunting action when it comes to wing-shooting, so any legal thing a hunter can do to increase the number of doves is highly recommended. Food plots for dove hunting are one way to do this. Doves are attracted to many different seeds and grains, including corn, milo, millets, sunflowers and even buckwheat. Although many hunters used small plots for other species, larger food plots from 5 to 40 acres are recommended for good dove hunting fields.
Grasses such as Carolina geranium, foxtail and fall panicum produce seeds favored by doves and actually can make a food plot more attractive to these birds. Where certain broadleaf weeds can be an issue, grasses such as milo (grain sorghum) and millets should be substituted for forbs such as sunflowers because herbicides can then be used for weed control. Where grasses such as crabgrass and johnsongrass cause problems, a pure stand of sunflowers or buckwheat allows the use of grass-selective herbicides to control grass weeds.
There are many food plots and seed mixes that can be put together for doves, but millets and sunflowers work great together. For this mix, combined 10 pounds of white proso millet, 10 pounds of dove proso millet, 10 pounds of browntop millet and 5 pounds of peredovic (black oil) sunflowers. You can also substitute 3 pounds of milo in place of the sunflowers. Many hunters will plant sunflowers alone, but I think a seed mix is better for dove hunting fields.
In addition, research reports have shown white proso millet is the preferred seed for mourning doves, followed closely by dove proso millet and browntop millet. Regardless of type, if a good crop of millet is established then doves will be there. Also, the love affair between doves and sunflowers is well known, but if white-tailed deer are abundant then sunflower heads may be consumed before reaching maturity.
Another option when planting food plots for dove is a corn and milo combination. This mix takes 10 pounds of seed quality corn and 3 pounds of milo. Pure stands of corn or milo may also be planted, but I always prefer seeding a combination of plants in any food plot. Sunflowers can be planted at the rate of 25 pounds per acre and, of course, make excellent food plots. A good idea is to plant sunflowers on one-half of the field and then plant a corn-milo mix on the other half.
If sunflowers are planted for dove hunting, then management of the food plot becomes critical. Sunflower fields are normally managed by bushhogging sections or strips before and during the dove season. Also, sunflower fields can also be burned after the plants mature and turn brown to attract birds. Burning releases the seed and creates an open structure at ground level that doves really like.
Doves prefer fields with structure such as trees or powerlines nearby that allow them to perch and loaf near the feeding area. In addition, a source of water and grit will make the area even more attractive for doves. Also, if your food plots planted for dove hunting have a few weeds, don’t worry. Many of the naturally occurring weeds such as ragweed, barnyardgrass, croton, pigweed and pokeberry produce good seeds that dove consume.
We try to plant food plots for doves each year. It’s hard to beat annual sunflowers. The best thing is that once established you don’t have to plant again if you manage them properly.
U mean sunflowers will be a one time plant and come back every year?
Gary, if you plant annual sunflower then they should persist for many years if managed properly. You will some some return each year anyways, but proper management will help ensure they thrive. After having established a stand of annual sunflowers, the best practice is then to disk the plants during the dormant season (winter).
I have a ranch in northern California with an area of about 14 acres, which is fenced in. There is scattered oak trees around the perimeter, along with a river in close proximity, along with ponds within 1/4 mile from the field. There are dusty dirt roads in real close proximity. This field is fairly level but slightly sloping. Between November and April we get about 12″ of rain. There presently is mustard grass and other grasses that I don’t think produce any seeds that doves seem to like because it holds very few birds. I wanted to convert this into a dove hunting plot by disking it well this winter, then in the spring time, spray to kill any weeds that are growing, then disk it again prior to planting. We do not reallhy have any way to irrigate so we have to time our planting so as there is still moisture in the ground. What I want to know is does the way I plan to do it the correct way? What should I plant? There are usually an abundance of doves in the area but not much food to hold them there. This year we had more dove weed than we’ve ever seen, but for whatever reason it had no black seed. This dove weed was not in the 14 acre field, but in the surrounding fields in close proximity to this field. Any advice would be appreciated.