Almost got in trouble on a baited field!!!

[jard]

Bought 2 spots in a pay hunt today up near Portland. Me and my son did this hunt 3 years ago and it was great so I took the entire family, wife and 3 kids (13, 8, & 7). Corn hadnt been cut so it was slow going and HOT. But about 4:30 we could tell the birds were starting to fly it was about to get right. 10 minutes later, 6 Game Wardens roll in and start checking people and I know something is up. He walks over and we hand over our guns and license and he proceeds to tell us the field we are on is heavily baited and fixing to be shut down!!!! HE was a super nice guy and we chatted for a second before we packed up. No pay hunters were ticketed as we obviously had no idea. But I bet the owners are gonna get hammered.

I was extremely pissed that my 2 little ones didn't get to enjoy seeing lots of doves shot and fetched on their first real dove hunt and explaining what happened to a 7 year old is hard.

If anyone is having a pay hunt soon, I will buy 2 spots!

 

[ZachMarkus]

Hate that happened to you.

The baited field thing is a joke, I have been told by TWRA officers that hunters have absolutely no effect on the dove population and the lifespan of a mourning dove is 2 years. If that's the case then why is there a limit and why can't you have a baited field if you want to on private property. TWRA has to over regulate everything they do, that way they can have more things to write tickets for. It's all about the money with them. Rant over lol


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[scn]

Hate that happened to you.

The baited field thing is a joke, I have been told by TWRA officers that hunters have absolutely no effect on the dove population and the lifespan of a mourning dove is 2 years. If that's the case then why is there a limit and why can't you have a baited field if you want to on private property. TWRA has to over regulate everything they do, that way they can have more things to write tickets for. It's all about the money with them. Rant over lol


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LOL

You need to move your rant over to the USFWS. Doves are regulated under federal guidelines, including the baiting part. And, if an officer actually told you that, they were wrong. The lifespan of a dove is short, but, unrestricted hunting could and would cause population issues. The regulations for dove hunting are about as liberal as you can get.

 

[ZachMarkus]

Hate that happened to you.

The baited field thing is a joke, I have been told by TWRA officers that hunters have absolutely no effect on the dove population and the lifespan of a mourning dove is 2 years. If that's the case then why is there a limit and why can't you have a baited field if you want to on private property. TWRA has to over regulate everything they do, that way they can have more things to write tickets for. It's all about the money with them. Rant over lol


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LOL

You need to move your rant over to the USFWS. Doves are regulated under federal guidelines, including the baiting part. And, if an officer actually told you that, they were wrong. The lifespan of a dove is short, but, unrestricted hunting could and would cause population issues. The regulations for dove hunting are about as liberal as you can get.

It was two officers that told me that during a long conversation we had in the dove field a couple of years ago.


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[river925]

If the great minds of the world all agree that a bag limit of 15 is correct and would allow dove hunting prosperity my argument has always been why not allow a field that provided the opportunity to kill 15. I know it would create an opportunity for some to abuse the limit that is set but that is another argument. Kind of like gun control argument not pertaining to criminals and all that. I am not going down that road. I would be willing to bet there are more Hunters who would have correct license, plug in gun, and stop at limit than not. A lot of these hunters also do not have ability to plant fields that create 1000x more grain and food than what they could simply throw out which is perfectly legal. This is simply my two cents worth. I will not post on it again as I will not not get into an argument with all the "purists" over baiting laws.

 

[Omega]

If the great minds of the world all agree that a bag limit of 15 is correct and would allow dove hunting prosperity my argument has always been why not allow a field that provided the opportunity to kill 15. I know it would create an opportunity for some to abuse the limit that is set but that is another argument. Kind of like gun control argument not pertaining to criminals and all that. I am not going down that road. I would be willing to bet there are more Hunters who would have correct license, plug in gun, and stop at limit than not. A lot of these hunters also do not have ability to plant fields that create 1000x more grain and food than what they could simply throw out which is perfectly legal. This is simply my two cents worth. I will not post on it again as I will not not get into an argument with all the "purists" over baiting laws.

Honestly, here in TN is the only place I have tried to hunt in a field specifically planted to attract doves. In Ft Bragg NC, we hunted the edge of drop zones, and mostly got our daily limit. Down in Sanford, NC we hunted a farm, planted in soybean, corn etc, but the best hunting was the edge of a large pit, no food in sight, but a big white tree that seemed to be their navigation aid. We would all pretty much get our limit, and stop there even though we hardly seen any wardens around there. I can't rightly recall, but I want to say that the limit was 12 back then, and there was also a further restriction on that to a certain dove. In any case, we were ok with the limit, as it was work to get all those dove breasts out. And of course I wasn't the best shot so shells sometimes ran out before the limit was reached.

 

[RUGER]

Best dove hunting spot I have ever hunted was a stock pond (clean dirt banks) in the middle of a 50+ acre pasture.
Had one dead oak and a few huge live ones around the pond.

Oh the memories.

 

[Roost 1]

Best hunts I was ever on were at the local rock quarry.