Bayou Outdoors: Kick Off Time

article by DAN CHASON | photos by Rod Haydel

SEPTEMBER BRINGS SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS of the year. Football is one, starting to clean out deer stands and planting the last of food plots, and of course, my two favorite things: Dove and teal hunting.

Dove season always brings with it the anticipation of being able to grease up the old scattergun and bring home some tasty birds for dove wraps on the grill. But the truth of the matter is that dove hunting for me starts well before that opening day. It starts with the first clipping of the fields, planting, weed control and assuring that the old honey hole is ready to clip for opening weekend.

What is most misunderstood about preparing fields for doves is exactly what constitutes baiting a field versus legally preparing it. Doves are a migratory bird, but Louisiana regulations allow manipulation of crops (disking, mowing, burning) to give doves what they want the most. There are three things a dove needs: Food, gravel and water. Food is obvious and can range from sunflowers, millet, corn, milo or my favorite, goat weed. About 8 days before season, the field is clipped to disperse the seeds. After that the field is disked and then controlled burned to further enhance the seeds. Normally, I do not cut the whole field. I have found it better to cut a portion in strips, hunt opening weekend and then save the rest for the broken up splits of season where I can keep fresh seed for most of the year as long as there is no heavy frost. The golden rule is that as long as you don’t reintroduce any type of grain into the field, it is legal.
With teal, the legal manner is much different. As a teal is a duck, you cannot manipulate the field. The way we manage this is to not plant in front of our blinds where the majority of shooting takes place. The field is planted and left alone. It is not legal to cut it, run over it with any device including a UTV/ATV. That is considered manipulation. Teal season is normally the second weekend of September, and the hunting can be extremely good, if you have good water, open water and any seeds that the teal are looking to eat. The best areas are open reservoirs, open brakes and, of course, just about any lake legal to hunt in the area.
To hunt doves, there is a little more to it than just going to a corn field and sitting down. Doves typically like an area where gravel is close, as they need the gravel to aid in digestion. The second thing they love is water. If you are close to gravel and water with a food source, you are half way there. The other thing in scouting for doves is to scout your prospective field and watch the power lines. Doves will sit on these power lines, then swoop down for gravel or food throughout the day. The other thing to scout for is flight lines. A flight line is the typical path a dove takes to move from field to field and from water/gravel and back. These flight lines are typically breaks in the tree line or a road coming into the field. If you find these lines where they cross your field, you have found the sweet spot. Remember, you must be 100 feet from the center line of a maintained road (parish or state) when you shoot.

The biggest mistake dove hunters make (and a very unsafe one) is to shoot too heavy of a load. Low brass, ounce and one eighth is plenty with either an improved or modified choke. There is nothing worse than being across the field from someone shooting high brass shells and getting peppered. Safety glasses are a must when dove hunting for this reason. Also never ever shoot below the horizon. Shooting lower than that even with light loads can seriously injure someone. The last thing most important to dove hunters is to be legal. Save some for tomorrow. It is very tempting when you have found a honey hole, to shoot until you run out of shells, regardless of the limit. Stay legal and sober when dove hunting, or Mr. Green Jeans may come see you and ruin your hunting rights for life.

Teal are a different story. I like the Heavi Shot in number 5’s for the best load with an improved cylinder. Some hunters opt for a full choke, but my experience is that you lessen the choke in relation to how the ducks work and how well you can talk to them in on a call. Teal travel in large numbers normally. It is not uncommon to have a group of 30 birds come over your decoys. They fly fast and very differently than a mallard. Teal will almost always make three passes. Let them go two times and be ready for them to be wheels down on that third pass. The call is also very different but can be accomplished even on a standard mallard call. Purse your lips and quicken your cadence to a “kee, kee, kee, kee, kee”…five note call. Always call at their butts and never when they are approaching. Pick out one bird and remember that when teal are shot at, they almost always go straight up. This is a problem, if you have multiple guns with open chokes, as it is not hard to limit out with one volley. Pick your spot. If I am on the right side of the blind, I tell my companions that I shoot the ones on the right and vice versa. This works well, as we don’t have the issue of teal being pulverized due to being shot multiple times.

Some of my best and fondest memories have been in a dove field or teal blind. It is a great time to gather kids and friends, as there is a lot of action and it is not a time you have to be still and very quiet.
Take the time to share that trip with a friend, veteran or kid. Leave some for the next trip and remember to thank the good Lord for the bounties we enjoy in the great outdoors in Louisiana.