completely hypothetical of course...

a landowner has browntop around a very large, new lake where he's bushhogging browntop periodically that was planted for erosion. he's also been throwing out feed wheat in bare spots and lightly covering with a atv and drag and it's bringing in birds.

to what extent does the additional feedwheat he's throwing out impact the legality of shooting birds over? does it JUST have to be covered? the fact that the lake is relatively new means there is plenty of exposed soil and it's covering pretty well...very little seed sitting on top of the ground. i was thinking there was an 'agricultural process' something or another i once read and i'm thinking this qualifies...thoughts?

The laws are so vague that it would be considered perfectly legal by one LEO and ticketed by the next, and it would be upheld depending entirely on the judge & the offender's bank account.

If I am not mistaken the wheat can only be planted after a certain date set by the state (extension service I think) In my area it's the 15th of Sept. It can only be planted once on any one piece of ground.

Check with the GW to be sure. The state guys and the fed. guys dont always agree on this!

and to add...some of the wheat has already germinated but he continues to add even yesterday. he agreed not to put out anymore for a few weeks. my thoughts were that if i go and make sure all is covered today, with some already growing, that all would be fine???

From a 2011 article about top-sewing wheat for doves, "“Another thing is multiple seeding. The Extension System does not recommend more than one seeding. Therefore, if the field is seeded more than once, it would make the field illegal to hunt doves over ... ”

http://www.outdooralabama.com/oaonline/doveplanting11.cfm

I would either err on the conservative side or set aside a pile of cash for just in case.

good link wmd...thanks for passing along

Is the earth around the pond considered a field though? Normal agricultural purposes (farming, crops, etc...) don't really have much to do with growing vegetation around a pond to stop erosion. Seems like a normal process to me to get some ground cover to keep dirt out of the pond.

But pile up some cash anyway, just in case

Aw shoot. Hypothetically, of course, I would think it is shootable since its for erosion purposes. One of the best dove shoots I've had was sitting along a fencerow with a pond in front of me. The birds were coming in to drink and to dust at the edge of the pond, and flying along the fence to get there. I just sat and waited for them to bank toward the pond. I stopped at 15, since thats the law.

The seed can be "top sowed" meaning not covered, since it is an accepted agricultural practice. Further, there does not even have to be a well prepared seedbed. Just understand that this is more "risky" because less seed will germinate. That's what the DCNR says.

Don't forget about what the Feds say, too.

That is not what the DCNR website says:

the Extension System recognizes that top-sown wheat is a bona fide planting practice under conditions where there is good seed bed preparation and the ground is not excessively hard.

http://www.outdooralabama.com/oaonline/doveplanting11.cfm

and the fact that the area described is a newly constructed lake, all of the surrounding area is newly (this summer) turned soil/fill that was hydroseeded, some planted with browntop, silt fenced and top sewn

I agree that you're "safest" to go a ahead and disc a bit. This is the document that I was referring to: on the second page, bottom right hand paragraph it says:

"Recommended practices of planting
grain without a prepared seedbed are: (1) no
till drilling; (2) broadcasting small grains into
the cotton stubble that remains after harvest
followed by mowing the cotton stubble; and
(3) aerial seeding small grains into standing
crops such as cotton or soybeans prior to
defoliation or leaf drop."

This is the link, if you're interested. Second page, bottom right hand corner

http://outdooralabama.com/hunting/game/DoveBrochurefinal.pdf

"Recommended practices of planting
grain without a prepared seedbed are: (1) no
till drilling; (2) broadcasting small grains into
the cotton stubble that remains after harvest
followed by mowing the cotton stubble; and
(3) aerial seeding small grains into standing
crops such as cotton or soybeans prior to
defoliation or leaf drop."

I have seen that before but don't know anyone that is doing arial seeding. Might be some broadcasting into cotton stubble and then mowing but I don't see that practice much either for a dove shoot. Drilling would cover the seed so I doubt anyone wants to do that for a dove shoot.

None of those would apply to the case that started this thread. I'm also not sure these would qualify as "top sown". Certainly drilling is not top sown and with the other methods the seed is covered either by mowing or leaf drop.

If nothing else, this thread has alerted the DCNR and USFWS to not only at least this site's situation but a question they're probably discussing for future reference.

This is clearly an ambiguous situation, because a few years ago a certain sheriff and other high ranking officials were "busted" for hunting a "baited" dove field in West Alabama.

About 30 years ago I was invited to a dove shoot in a big peanut field. The guy that invited me and I were walking across the field and I noticed there was enough cracked corn, busted peanuts and wheat on the ground to feed out a pen of steers. I ask him about it and he pointed to two sitting judges, three sheriffs, two legislators, numerous deputies and a couple of game wardens and said "don't worry about it".

Our own DCNR officials were found to be in violation by a federal agent not long ago. They were warned ahead of time instead of just getting busted like other hunters though:

Game of gotcha - Robert Dewitt, Tusc. News

Officials: Dove shoot field in line with laws