Learn me on brown top millet for Doves

[gamecock1974]

We havent done much of this in the past, but we have a little field (3.5 acres) that I went to work on with my son and nephew (both 11) in an effort to maybe shoot a dove or two in September. Sprayed, burned, disced, broadcasted browntop and fertilized, then covered. We planted it on June 27 and have gotten a good amount of rain on it since. I haven't laid eyes on it since we left that day, but plan to got have a look at it this weekend.

Unfortunately given the limited amount of time, and a field this size, I had to plant it all at once, vs in stages as I have been told is the better way to do it, so guessing it will all produce at about the same time.

I have read a good amount on what we need to do as we approach the season, but seems there are a bunch of different opinions - like most things.

I have heard or read a variety of things to do as we approach the season start date ---- to spray it with glyphosate two weeks before the season, burn it, bush hog it all, bush hog it in strips, disc it, disc it in strips, among others.

For those of you that plant browntop for doves - what are the steps you take as you approach the season?

Appreciate any guidance.

[thunderchicken]

Mow it and if you access to a hay rake, rake it into swaths and burn it. Years ago we were in a dove club and the guy that owned the club used to do that. Some of the shoots he had were insane.

[Gut_Pile]

Only reason to spray it would be if it's not going to be ready in time to shoot.

Burn it, mow some strips, plow some strips. Burned millet and fresh dirt has kilt a lot of dove. When it's time, broadcast wheat onto those plowed strips and continue to shoot.

With as warm as it stays down here, I have gotten two crops of millet before where the millet I cut in late august had sprout, put on seed heads again, and we bush hogged it and shot it in November. Quite possible you could have the same results depending on the weather.

[dubs]

Burn it. Our best hunts have been to cut it all at once. We know that we will only get good early season shoots and we are okay with that.

In our experience, the more open bare land the birds can see, the more comfortable they are coming into the field as apposed to cutting some and leaving some standing.


Edit to add I agree with the post above to disc areas as well.

[tman]

Clean ground is key. Whatever it takes.

[Catdaddy]

It will make in 60 days

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[2thDoc]

and still suck

[DRDUCK]

It will make in 60 days

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Yep and done right it will hold dove's

[Catdaddy]

and still suck

It's not sunflowers for sure.

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[gamecock1974]

I'm not looking for 15 doves in 45 minutes kind of a shoot, rather just hoping for a few doves for my sons and nephew to take a swing at.

Appreciate the info.

Think we will burn it in the fall. After we burned it to plant, went back a week later and I jumped a good many out of the field that were there when I started to disc it, so hoping we will have some around to mess with.

Would try sunflowers but don't have all the equipment I understand to be required to accomplish such.

Thanks for the guidance.

[Gregory]

Burn then disc strips.

[SCDAWG]

Disc and get a couple hundred lbs of 5 way scratch

[MolliesMaster]

This was planted without all the special equipment. It can be done.


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[Highstrung]

I wouldn't burn it, there's no reason, and it leaves little black marks on your khakis if there's any moisture out there.. i.e rain or dew. Disc clean strips every so often through it or beside it, set your bushhog as low as can, and rev that thing up, cut it slow and sling it. It would be a pain in the ass to hunt over a huge patch of millet while standing, bird finding sakes. I mean you don't want a hayfield or weed field looking mess, just don't get carried away thinking you need it and everything around it looking perfect, and think that's why you don't have birds.. They like some clean strips, but super clean fields are overrated by birds. Not us, they're pretty as all heck, but the birds don't care.

[Duckman#1]

Mow it and if you access to a hay rake, rake it into swaths and burn it. Years ago we were in a dove club and the guy that owned the club used to do that. Some of the shoots he had were insane.

This is what I do. Rake it to one side then a week or so later rake it back the other way and a week later burn the swath.

[gamecock1974]

This was planted without all the special equipment. It can be done.


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Guess this is why you don't believe everything you read. have read that if you broadcast them, they will grow, but you have to get the spacing right - else they wont make. Assuming you broadcast these?

[MolliesMaster]

Yep. Probably went a little too heavy but expected more loss from deer pressure. The plus side to the overseeding has been great weed suppression. Nary a chemical has been sprayed on them.

[huntinghagen#12]

This is a field I planted behind my old house several years ago. It was broadcasted.

071F3C22-82E3-4C14-B05D-1200D82F8F52.jpg

[SCDAWG]

When you guys broadcast like that, do you drag harrow over the seeds? Or catch it before a rain?

[huntinghagen#12]

When you guys broadcast like that, do you drag harrow over the seeds? Or catch it before a rain?

I would spray to kill everything, disc heavy, spray again, broadcast, then lightly disc, and try to do it within a day or two of rain coming as well. I would disc some rows when it first started coming up as well and keep it bare dirt. When the sunflowers headed out and started to die, I'd go in and spray glyphosphate to kill any weeds. It made for a pretty clean field with hardly any money in it at all. I probably wouldn't do it this way on a big field, but on a 2.5 +/- acre field in my back yard, it worked fine.