You must have heard of the season of doves.
Dove season is known as the season when most people hunt doves for many purposes. A few of them are listed below.
First, doves are hunted so that some individuals can practice shooting.
Duck season comes after the dove season, so people prepare for duck season on doves.
Second, doves are easy to hunt for beginners, especially since they are easier than other animals to practice hunting as doves are more conveniently shot.
More so, you do not even require any sort of special equipment to hunt doves.
Third and the most obvious one, is people hunt doves for food.
Some say doves are better in taste as compared to ducks.
One dove is not enough for an entire meal but most people do not hunt one dove only.
Last, doves ruin or damage fields and plants.
In order to avoid any sort of damage, doves are hunted down and killed in the fields.
When is dove season in Arkansas?
Dove season in Arkansas occurs within two sessions.
The first being from December 8 to January 15 and the second was from September 5 to October 25.
It is said that you can only hunt doves 30 minutes from the sun sets till sunrise.
The equipment used for hunting doves is shotgun.
Keep in mind that there are limits to how many doves you can hunt as well.
Where to hunt doves in Arkansas?
The first place to hunt doves is the Big Lake Wild Management Area in Mississippi County in Arkansas which has 15 acres of dove field.
The address for this is 2274 AR-18, Manila, Arkansas, 72442.
Next up is the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Woodruff county, Arkansas. This river is 40 acres wide and was established in 1986.
The address for this is Cotton Plant, Arkansas 72036.
Third, is the Camp Robinson Special Use Area in Faulkner county, Arkansas. This camp is 35 acres which gives you plenty of space to hunt.
The address for this camp is 331 Clinton Road, Conway, Arkansas 72032.
Adding more to the list, you have the Ed Cordon Point Remove Wild Management Area that is in the Conway County.
This place is one of the biggest places to hunt doves as you have 65 acres of land.
The address for this is 375 Fish Lake Road, Atkins, Arkansas.
The best time to hunt doves
Doves are mainly easier to hunt in places where they are most active or prominent in the sky.
Doves are quickly found from a few minutes before sunset to sunrise.
After sunrise, it can be extremely difficult to search for them, let alone hunt them down.
More about mourning doves
Mourning doves are beautiful grayish to dusty pink colored doves.
They have many names which include, the American mourning dove, rain dove, turtle dove, the Carolina pigeon, and the Carolina turtle dove.
As a mourning dove opens its wings, it makes a whistling sound and smoothly and quickly flies off.
Mourning doves are mainly found in Arkansas, but, when you hunt for them, keep in mind that the limit to hunt mourning doves is 15.
Top 3 things to keep in mind while dove hunting
You must keep in mind whilst hunting that a dove is always aware of its hunters.
They keep a strict watch to fly away whenever they come across someone searching for them.
Therefore, in order to have a successful dove hunting session, you must wear clothes that camouflage you into the environment.
Second, to attract several doves you can keep a birdhouse near you.
Any sort of decoy that can attract a dove towards you will make the hunting process a lot smoother for you.
Last, it is important that as you hunt doves; you understand their actions and behaviors.
Knowing what doves feed on and where they prefer to eat is very important so that you can have an enjoyable experience while hunting.
Doves prefer to eat sunflower seeds, millets, wheat, oats, and other sorts of grainy crops.
They also enjoy what they find on the ground as that is quite convenient for them to feed on.
Where is dove hunting illegal?
It is prohibited to shoot doves in Vermont, New Hampshire, Alaska, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, Maine, and New York.
These places restrict dove shooting under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
