Trail Cams for the Dove Opener

In all honesty I don't know if you're joking around with this post, but putting up cams for doves won't really work. If you get a couple birds sitting on a branch near your cam it won't tell you if the spot's good. The only way to tell is to watch it and see what their flyways are.. if they fly by in significant numbers, and/or if they use that area for feed or mid-morning/midday roost. Stationary cams can't capture that movement.
 
SurfNHuntSD said:
In all honesty I don't know if you're joking around with this post, but putting up cams for doves won't really work. If you get a couple birds sitting on a branch near your cam it won't tell you if the spot's good. The only way to tell is to watch it and see what their flyways are.. if they fly by in significant numbers, and/or if they use that area for feed or mid-morning/midday roost. Stationary cams can't capture that movement.
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The key is hidden within your post, “significant numbers.” With two or three cams in a field, patterning the birds is unlikely. But with ten or more cams per field, patterning the birds is no problem! The key would be to number each cam and plot its location on a map as well as the direction its pointing. Keeping a count of how many birds I see on each cam will be critical as well. With so many cameras out, I could get mixed up easily if I don’t create a system.
 
You know, for the price of all these cameras, I could book a private land hunt. But then again, theres something rewarding about hunting public land birds.
 
As far as I know, no tags for dove in Ca. I think that is just for those hunts. But what do I know I sold all my firearms, one daisy red rider , years ago.
 
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Hunter527 said:
On the dove opener, we usually drive by the fields the day before to see which ones have the most birds. This has worked pretty well, but it doesn't always work. I think putting trail cameras out in the dove fields in the weeks before the opener can make our dove hunts even better. By knowing how many birds were in each field every morning in the weeks leading up to it, I can practically guarantee an awesome opening morning. I have two concerns. One, how many trail cams should I place in each field? Two, is it better to place the cameras on stakes for a wider view, or nestle them into the wheat stubble for concealment?
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Costco might sell you a box of 200 trail cams. Otherwise, and don’t tell anyone else, but there’s a subscription service called DoveDope.com that will give you GPS numbers for the hot fields.
 
WaterDawg said:
Costco might sell you a box of 200 trail cams. Otherwise, and don’t tell anyone else, but there’s a subscription service called DoveDope.com that will give you GPS numbers for the hot fields.
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I’ll have to go down to Costco and ask. Does DoveDope.com keep count of how many banded doves were spotted in each field? I’m hoping one day I’ll have a necklace of dove bands like those goose guides.
 
Hunter527 said:
I’ll have to go down to Costco and ask. Does DoveDope.com keep count of how many banded doves were spotted in each field? I’m hoping one day I’ll have a necklace of dove bands like those goose guides.
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Yeah, spotter planes, a network of avid local hunters, wind forecast, level of chlorophyll in the nearest watering source, stubble height by field, and which lures (oops, decoys) are working best this season.
 
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