Finally got the dove field planted.

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patocazador

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After many delays, I planted my dove field with brown-top millet this morning. I'm holding off on fertilizing it until I hear thunder, however. That stuff's too expensive to throw out there unless it rains soon after.

The season opens the last week in September. I wish i could reload a BP shotgun quicker. The pre-made paper "cartridges" give lousy patterns in my guns.
 
Bob,
Do you have both mourning and ring-neck doves? Pass shooting at mourning doves is a challenge for most, especially shooting a muzzy. Good luck on the crop and bagging doves.

John
 
Yes, we have both but the ring-necks count in the bag limit of 15. The state says we have white-wings too but I've not seen any around my place.
 
Good deal Bob! Do you have pictures of your plot? Im not really into eating dove due to the small size, I prefer grouse but shoot and eat what you can enjoy!

I think I'll not like my 12g singe barrel after the first couple birds LOL. I can see it being a pain in the rear end when you want to mow them down.
 
No season or limit on ring-necks here as they are considered an invasive specie. Since they can nest five time a year their numbers have really grown in the last couple of years. The mourning doves head south in August but most ring-necks stay here all winter.
 
Most of the ringnecks around here stay in the housing developments where they get fed by the retirees.

It got real dark and started thundering so I rushed out and fertilized the field. Of course, the clouds all blew away and we didn't get more than a few drops of rain.

Jon wrote: "Do you have pictures of your plot?"

I didn't take a photo because it just shows a few acres of disced dirt. Nothing has sprouted since this morning. ;)
 
OK Jon, I took a photo of the dove field this morning. We haven't had a lot of rain but we've been getting a short shower almost every day.

The browntop millet still has to stop its vegetative growth so it can put out seed heads. Our dove season opens on the 26th of September.

Browntop%20Millet%201web_zpswqupsnep.jpg
 
Thanks. I don't have a seed drill so I just broadcast the seed with a cheap hand-operated spreader. It looks like I missed a few spots. I also disced it in rather deep because we hadn't had rain in quite a while. Two days later it started raining almost every day.
 
UPDATE: I went out to the dove field and pond and the rain has really helped. The millet is starting to top out with seed after just 5 weeks.

Millet%208-8%202aWEB_zpskhpsznms.jpg


Millet%20heading%20up%202aWEB_zps2k18arc3.jpg


The pond was almost dry and now it's about half full. The ducks will like that.

Pond%20aWEB_zps2qj2c9b6.jpg
 
I don't know what jipcorn is. Regular field corn here doesn't do well late in the year. The bugs and weeds invade it. Sweet corn is grown in the spring and is all picked by the first of June.

I grew cowpeas one year and the doves wouldn't touch it. Both browntop and proso millet plus milo are the best attractors down here. Sunflowers don't do well either.
 
Those of us that have grown the stuff commercially know it as jipcorn, but to others it is milo or sorghum. Deer, pheasants, grouse, quail, huns, and doves love it as do others.

It originated in Australia.
 
In that case, yes, we can and do grow it. For some reason milo seed is hard to find here.
I have to plant the Pennington bird seed sometimes when I can't get pure milo. The Pennington stuff has mostly milo and proso millet plus sunflowers and some corn or wheat in small amounts. A few sunflowers come up but never make it to seed production.
 
I disced up another couple of rows 2 weeks ago and planted it Sunday with Pennington's Bird Seed. It contains a bunch of stuff but down here only the proso millet & milo come up thick plus a bit of wheat and a few sunflowers make it but don't do well.

3 hours after I planted it we got an inch of rain and another quarter inch today.

I need to mow a few rows in 8-10 days to get more birds coming in. There's only about a dozen doves in there now. The season opens on the 26th of Sept.
 
thats funny Bob.  where my bird feeders are  I have millet and sunflowers growing also..the sunflowers are in bloom now  and the millet has big seed stocks..I have to cut them  the turkeys come in like crazy to get seed dropped from feeders..its nice to see the hens with all the chicks with them   my dog has a dirt hole he lays in on hot days..well the birds go there and take dust baths...the millet grows fast...i left the cutings there so the seed stalks will dry and they will eat it I guess
 
I just checked and the proso and milo have already sprouted. There were 50 doves in the field at noon today. They are passing the word. :suspect:

Seriously, after mowing the seed heads and scattering it, doves appear like magic in ever increasing numbers. It's almost like they spread the word to all the birds in a wide area.
 
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