Public dove hunting in NEPA?

**Yuck** · October 20th, 2014, 06:53 PM

I'm looking for a place to hunt doves on public land. I realize most avid hunters won't want to give away their "spot", so any general info would be helpful. I'm planning to hunt weekday mornings until 9:00 or so.

My biggest concern is not disturbing other hunters. I'd hate to wander into a deer party on state game lands and spoil their shot. Any suggestions? I'm trying to stay within 25 miles of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton area.

**87th PVI** · October 20th, 2014, 11:18 PM

Evening hunting is what most dove hunters do. Find a spot between food & roost preferably with water nearby. Sit & wait for them to fly over from their food sources to the roost right at sunset. I'd imagine the same would go for a morning hunt but they'd be flying from the roost to the food right at sunrise.
Since evenings and early mornings have been tough for me to find opportunities to hunt due to my work schedule, I've had very good luck this year going out in the afternoon, walking the edge of corn fields & shooting them as they flush out of the corn.

**Yuck** · October 21st, 2014, 12:19 PM

So with some sort of food plot pretty much required for hunting, would you say that rules out public lands? Any advice on finding hunter-friendly farmers that would accommodate me periodically?

**87th PVI** · October 22nd, 2014, 12:37 AM

I hunt a game lands & my sportsmens club and had one squirrel/dove hunt so far this year on the farm where I deer hunt.
I have done better on the game lands so far this year for dove.

There are 6 plots of corn on the game lands where I hunt. In an afternoon hunt, I just walk around the edge of the corn & shoot them as they fly out across the open area headed for the woods.
There is a stream behind the woods so in an evening hunt I sit at the edge of the woods in front of a large dead tree that they seem to head for as a perch before going further into the woods. I have the corn in front of me & the woods & water behind me.

At my club, we have a pond, wooded area & some food plots & clay ranges separated by briar patches. They fly in over the ranges & food plots headed for the woods but sort of all converging on the pond which also has some pines & electric wires near it. I sit along a briar patch facing the plots & ranges with the wires, pines & pond behind me & they fly over in the last 10 or 15 minutes before sunset.

One would think the farm would be the best place since it's got a corn field with woods on both sides and a stream & there are only a couple people hunting it so it has the least pressure... We saw just two doves there on Saturday!