advice on field for next season

[gantt]

i have a small meadow on my land that i want to make a dove field out of for next year. Myself and two friend's from work plan on pooling our labor together to make our own field for next season. i am looking for advice on what to plant. i have not done any dove hunting in over 15 years, and back in my younger days we hunted "hot" fields. want to do it the right (legal) way this time.

 

[sportsman94]

How small and what is your deer pressure like? Millet will foot the bill, but you may be able to do other stuff depending on your answers to the questions!

 

[Mexican Squealer]

Brown top is simple and cheap. Sunflowers are best (in my opinion) if you can keep the deer off ‘em

 

[basstrkr]

Another idea would be to plant wheat this winter as an attractor and cover crop. Let some of it stand for next year and the rest can be plowed under and millet planted.

 

[OffTheBeatnPath]

Like said above varies by deer pressure / acreage..
We did a 4 acre sunflower field last year and we couldn't keep them out of it.
I'd plan on fencing it

 

[gantt]

the deer are there for sure. our land was clear cut about fifteen years ago and is growing back naturally. very thick undergrowth still. lots of deer. sunflowers won't stand a chance. the field is small, maybe 400 yards long by 20-40 yards wide depending on the area. was thinking about millet and wheat. i plant sunflowers by the road each year and the deer ravage it

 

[Dustin Pate]

Any other dove fields in the area? Going to be hard to out compete them with a field that small. It can work sometimes, but can be an uphill battle.

 

[gantt]

Like said above varies by deer pressure / acreage..
We did a 4 acre sunflower field last year and we couldn't keep them out of it.
I'd plan on fencing it

i have a cousin that plants sunflower for dove and they fenced it with several sets at differing heights and distance away from the other fences. they end up getting tangled and tearing down entire sections. i think its almost impossible.