LITTLE ROCK — With a cooldown expected this weekend and dry conditions enabling Arkansas Game and Fish Commission staff to prepare dove fields on wildlife management areas, this year’s opening weekend may be one of the best in years. According to David Luker, assistant chief of the AGFC’s Wildlife Management Division, local staff on many areas in east Arkansas are reporting good conditions and doves already using the fields that have been prepared for the hunt.

“Most of our fields are disked and prepped in winter wheat seed,” Luker said. “We also have conducted a lot of growing season burns on some of the areas, which exposes a lot of seed and attracts doves. You won’t find the wheat there, but we’re seeing birds use these areas in the last week.”

Brett Leach, AGFC Waterfowl Program coordinator, said the AGFC uses winter wheat for the majority of WMA dove fields to give wildlife and hunters more bang for the buck.

“The top-sown wheat attracts doves before it sprouts, but it also provides supplemental nutrition for deer and other wildlife later in the season,” Leach said. “Top-sown wheat and burned fields look much different than the traditional sunflower fields many hunters are accustomed to, but they attract some birds if the timing is right.

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansans gearing up for the state’s kickoff to hunting seasons might have noticed that the Sept. 7 opening day doesn’t fall on Labor Day Weekend, which is typically associated with the event. The break from the federal holiday is a matter of unfortunate timing, so to speak.

Each year, federal migratory bird frameworks dictate that dove seasons in the Central Management Unit (migration corridors similar to flyways) may not begin before Sept. 1 and must conclude by Jan. 15. Labor Day, which began in 1882 and became a federal holiday in 1894 is annually scheduled for the first Monday in September, regardless of the calendar date.

Here’s where the phenomenon known as “calendar creep” comes into effect. This year (and next year), Labor Day Weekend will actually begin at the end of August, preceding the first available date for dove season.

During these years the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission has to decide whether to open the season on Sunday, cutting the weekend short, or to postpone the opening day to the following weekend.

In 2019, the AGFC was faced with this decision and decided on the Sunday opening day. Staff and commissioners fielded many calls from the public that many people were not able to take advantage of the Labor Day holiday from work, which resulted in their traditional opening weekend of dove season becoming a single-day hunt.

With this in mind, Commissioners and staff agreed that postponing the season until Sept. 7 allowed more opportunities for all Arkansans to enjoy a full weekend of dove hunting unpressured birds during the season opener.

Luckily this issue only presents itself two out of every seven years, notwithstanding shifts caused by leap year. Unfortunately, next year will see the same delay because Sept. 1 falls on Labor Day itself, leaving no room for a full weekend of fast flights and delicious doves.