North Carolina dove heaven

These public fields draw flocks

Sandhills GL

This game land is huge (61,225 acres), spreading across four counties in the south-central piedmont, and has more dove fields (20) than any public land in North Carolina.

Sandhills draws hunters from Charlotte to Winston-Salem to Fayetteville and is open on Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and holidays.

The quail-dog field-trial area is closed to dove hunting from the third Sunday in September to the end of the hunting season.

Bailey-Caswell GL

The Wayne Bailey-Caswell GL, a three-days-per-week area, is perfectly situated in the Northern Piedmont and draws hunters from Winston-Salem to Raleigh. It has eight large fields planted in buckwheat, corn, millet and sunflower seeds.

Butner-Falls

With seven dove fields northeast of Durham cover 210 acres, Butner-Falls of Neuse draws hunters from the Bull City to Raleigh to Hillsborough, Roxboro and Oxford/Henderson.

“The depot (field) at Brickhouse Road (88 acres) gets pounded hard early,” biologist Baranski said. “Pretty soon the doves leave. It’s a shame because other good fields exist.”

Remember to check the 2018-19 Regulations Digest  or go online at www.ncwildlife.org to see if the game land you want to hunt is a three-days-per-week or six-days-per-week area.