Under federal guidelines, it is different.
For doves, any field that has been grown can be manipulated in virtually any way. It can be knocked down, bush hogged, burned, etc. About the only thing that cannot be done for a grown dove field is adding additional grain to the field, or to remove grain from the field and then bring it back onto the field.
The regulations for hunting waterfowl are MUCH more strict. Fields where waterfowl are hunted must be a normal harvest. Knocking down grain, bush hogging (in most cases), burning, etc. makes it a baited field for waterfowl hunting. There have been some allowances for a failed crop to be bush hogged and still hunted, but under their regs, it is usually not permitted. When you start getting into gray areas such as that, a call into your state USFWS office can give you a definitive yes or no.
So, while both doves and waterfowl are both migratory birds, there are distinctly different sets of regs on what is legal in the way of fields.
