Youth on the hunt for doves

Guide Brady Lichtenberg (left) stands with attendants of the Missouri Department of Conservation's youth dove hunt at the Reform Conservation Area, Tuesday. During the hunt from 3 p.m. to sunset, hunters were allowed to harvest up to 15 doves, which is the legal limit during dove season.
Guide Brady Lichtenberg (left) stands with attendants of the Missouri Department of Conservation's youth dove hunt at the Reform Conservation Area, Tuesday. During the hunt from 3 p.m. to sunset, hunters were allowed to harvest up to 15 doves, which is the legal limit during dove season.

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Michael Shane Winters, 29, is escorted Thursday to a probable cause hearing.

The Missouri Department of Conservation teamed up with the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) to host a second annual youth dove hunt, Tuesday.

Guides, parents and 27 children between eight and 15 years old who were armed with 12 and 20-gauge shotguns waded through a field of sunflowers designated for the hunt at Reform Conservation Area in Callaway County. MDC Wildlife Biologist Nicole Walker, who also coordinated the event was able to purchase ammunition and clay doves for practice using a $1,500 grant from the NWTF. The hunt, which started at 3 p.m. and ended at sunset kicked-off dove hunting season, which will end Dec. 16.

The MDC plants four to six fields of sunflowers, wheat and millet to prepare for the dove hunt, using the one with the best dove management for harvesting the birds. During migration the doves eat the sunflowers as a source of protein before continuing on their journey south, Walker said.

It's normal for 30-40 percent of the fields planted to fail for various reasons throughout the season, Walker said, but summer rains that pooled in the Whetstone Creek Conservation Area hunting fields forced the MDC and NWTF to relocate to Reform.

"The Whetstone fields failed," Walker said. "We didn't have any flowers at all."

Lee Hughes, who is the public lands coordinator with the MDC, said that it takes 90 to 100 days for sunflowers to mature so they begin planting early and will know whether the fields will succeed by mid-August. Wheat and millet, which take less time to reach maturity, are an alternative option in the sunflower fields fail.

"It becomes a race to get the soil warm enough to get the seeds to germinate," Hughes said. "Because you plant them early you expose them to the spring weather. You scramble to do the best you can."

Only 3,749 acres planted for the dove hunt throughout the state survived this year compared to last year's 4,715 that survived, he added. Various reasons can cause a field to fail, such as a large amount of rain or other animals eat the plants before the dove hunting season can begin.

"You can dove hunt anywhere in the state, but not all places are great for it," Hughes said.

Despite the setback, about 15 doves were harvested during the event.

After leaving the field attendants learned how to clean and prepare the doves to eat.

"You don't get a lot out of them, but I usually tell them to wrap it in bacon and pop it on the grill," Walker said.

Attendants were not required to have a hunting license and MDC guides, who do have their full hunting license, supervised them during the hunt. Those under the age of 16 are not required to have a license and can hunt without supervision as long as their hunter education is complete, Walker said. To hunt doves, anyone over the age of 16 is required to have a small game hunting license and a migratory bird license. Hunters are able to harvest the legal limit of 15 doves during the season.

To prepare for the event the MDC hosted a clinic Aug. 29 that was mandatory for children attending the opening of the dove hunting season. At the clinic children spent four hours at four different stations learning about dove management and biology and gun safety and hunting ethics, Walker said.

The children were not required to have experience with shooting in order to attend, but experience helped, Walker said.

"I love seeing the kids get outdoors. This is a great opportunity for them to learn a valued skill set and learn how to do it safely and ethically," Walker added.

The MDC will return to Whetstone Creek in October for its next youth clinic, which will teach children about trapping to maintain the number of predators in the area.