Page 40 - Outdoor Oklahoma - May/June 2021 Issue
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JOEY MCALLIsTER/ODWC bare soil. They include mowing, burning, disking,
and sometimes herbicide application. Each area
manager has a favored process, but here is an
example of what some managers might do to
enhance dove hunting on their area:
Fields are sprayed with a non-specific herbi-
cide to kill all plants within the plot. This accel-
erates the drying process of the vegetation so
that it will burn more completely. Spraying is not
required, but it will reduce plant material and
make downed dove easier for hunters to find.
Fields then need to be mowed for two primary
reasons: to scatter seed along the ground mak-
ing it available to dove as a food source, and
to protect the grain from the fire that will soon
race across the field. If a standing wheat field
is burned, it is more likely to consume wheat
grain than when the grain was scattered along
the ground below the intense heat of the flames.
Mowing fields is planned around weather fore-
casts. If rain is in the forecast, mowing is delayed
making sure the fields have time to dry out so
that they can effectively burn. Rain is less of a
concern if the field is sprayed. Burning can take
Wild-growing sunflowers are among the top dove foods place nearly immediately after mowing if the
in Oklahoma and are readily produced by winter disking. field has been sprayed days before.
DON P. bROWN/ODWC
Fields planted in wheat for dove hunting at Keystone WMA.
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