A Hunter safety course is scheduled for Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Cedar Grove Church at Grange Hall and Fisher Ferry roads. The free course is open to everyone 10 and older. Participants should bring their social security number and a pen or pencil. More information is available by calling instructor Mike Richmond  at 601-638-0234.

Dove hunters urged to see that land is legal

As hunters across the state prepare for Monday’s opening of the dove season, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks is reminding those who plan to partake in the hunt to make sure the fields they hunt on are legal. Due to abnormal amounts of rain, some fields may be considered areas that are baited, which is illegal.

“This has been one of wettest Augusts on record in Mississippi, and many wheat plantings may have sprouted already. If the same area has been planted in wheat more than once, it is not a normal agricultural practice and hunters should not hunt there because the area will be considered as baited for doves,” said Kevin Brunke, MDWFP Migratory Game Bird Biologist.

A baited area is defined as “any area on which salt, grain or other feed has been placed, exposed, deposited, distributed or scattered, if that salt grain or other feed could serve as a lure or attraction for migratory game birds to, on or over areas where hunters are attempting to take them.” However, it is legal to hunt doves on area where grain has been scattered as a normal agricultural practice. Some examples of legal areas are over harvested crops, standing crops, mowed crops or planted wheat fields. Wheat may be planted for wildlife food plots, winter grazing livestock, as part of crop rotation or for erosion control and be considered a normal agricultural practice. Crops that are not planted in accordance to the guidelines of the Mississippi State Cooperative Extension Service cannot be hunted on legally.

More information on dove hunting regulations is available at www.mdwfp.com by searching the keywords “dove field brochure.”