Clay offers a pretty good-sized field or two during most years, and has been a favorite of local dove shooters for many years. Sunflowers are a primary staple grown for doves, but other things like millet are sometimes thrown in the mix.

Gently rolling fields lined with some trees give doves a place to stage in midday before starting to descend onto the fields looking for food later in the afternoon. Hunters may want to note that depending on the weather on a given day, birds may move in sooner or later than expected.

Often on very hot, bluebird sunny days, doves seem to wait a little longer before coming to feed. On cloudy, overcast days, they may show up early afternoon and work in and out of the food fields until nearly dark. Doves will also continue to fly in light, misty rain, too, so don't rule out a trip just because it gets a little damp. In fact, especially on public fields, those days might be some of the best because hunter numbers will almost surely be smaller than on more pleasant afternoons.

BLUEGRASS REGION
As you enter the central part of Kentucky from the east (the Bluegrass Region), you'll notice it starts giving way to much better dove habitat and crop growing territory.

One area that is becoming better known for dove hunting is the 522-acre Kentucky River WMA in Henry and Owen counties. Some river bottom fields will be available. These fields will be planted in a variety of grains, which is usually allowed to grow up and mature, then mowed or manipulated to get more seed on the ground as September approaches.

Like any other WMA, Kentucky River gets its share of hunting pressure, but because it also holds waterfowl, hunters must use non-toxic shot on this area. No lead dove loads are permitted. The no-lead shot requirement, and perhaps because this WMA is at least some distance away from the major central Kentucky metropolises, helps keep the hunter numbers reasonable. And, if hunters take care, as they always should in picking shot direction, hunting a full field of other hunters isn't all that bad when doves are plentiful. Just keep the shots up, and stay alert, and the hunting experience should be pretty good.

Hunters should take SR 355 north to Browns Bottom Road to locate the fields. This WMA is a good place to have a dog handy, as around the edges in some spots, the habitat is a little thick. Dogs can really improve the number of birds that wind up in the bag if you have to hunt in a high grass spot, or along a fencerow where it's weedy or woody. Inevitably, birds are going to fall in hard-to-find spots. Using a retriever to sniff them out is a great help.

One other spot to put on your radar in the Bluegrass Region is 11,672-acre Taylorsville Lake WMA. Some of the nearby private lease fields have taken a little hunting pressure off the fields on this property. This WMA potentially is one of the best in the region to attract birds. Hunters will find dove fields off Van Buren Bottoms, below the SR 248 bridge on the Salt River.

GREEN RIVER REGION
You're probably thinking it a little strange that the Green River Lake WMA isn't in the Green River Wildlife Region, but hey -- go figure.

An area for dove hunters in the mid-western chunk of the state that is in this region, and remains decent for opening day festivities, is the 5,424-acre Higginson-Henry WMA in Union County.

Close to 40 acres of dove food is planted as a rule, including sunflower, millet, wheat and even popcorn at times. The quality of dove hunting is somewhat determined by how much other harvesting of crops has occurred by the first of September. When the harvest is late, and the WMA fields are dropping seeds on time, the number of doves using the public land for food is generally better.