Photo by Mike Marsh.

Dove hunting in the South is a big deal, and South Carolina is no exception. Outside of college football there is nothing that has such a near-religious following during the month of September as dove hunting.

Opening day and Saturday hunts are penciled in early. When college football games conflict with a hunt, compromises are pursued from all directions before a hard choice has to be made. Nonetheless, during any given dove hunt where more than two hunters gather, you will likely hear gunshots momentarily interrupting the radio play-by-play broadcast of a game.

Most Southern dove hunts are a social affair. I've been on great dove hunts farther from the equator, but for the total outdoor experience, the hunts in the South are unbeatable. The socializing with other hunters and friends before or after a hunt, or sometimes both, combined with the hunting make a Southern dove hunt a wonderful experience.

Access to a good dove field can be tough to come by. Long-time fields that are steeped in tradition usually require an invitation, which limits the hunting to a very select few. Other good private areas have a membership fee that may run as much as a small car.

You may get lucky and end up on a good shoot, but for most hunters in the state having a good dove hunt either means preparing the field yourself or taking advantage of one of the many dove fields around the state that are located on public land.

I will be the first to admit that the idea of hunting on public land may not be attractive, at least in some cases. However, having experienced many excellent dove hunts on public lands in South Carolina over the years, I will say you are missing out if you are not taking advantage of these public-hunting opportunities.

There are routinely over 40 public dove fields each season on wildlife management areas (WMAs) across the state. During the 2006-07 season, there were 46 fields located in 30 of the state's 46 counties. Unlike some public-land hunting, such as waterfowl, all of the better hunting is not restricted to the coast. Chances are there is a good field less than an hour's drive from your house.

"Our public dove fields continue to provide an excellent opportunity for dove hunting," said Billy Dukes, small game project supervisor for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR). "Last season, 2,697 hunters harvested 12,085 doves on the 29 fields we monitored during their respective opening hunts.

"Total harvest was up 24 percent from the 2005-06 season and up 89 percent from the 2004-05 season. The number of hunters was up 32 percent from the previous season.

"Even though the number of hunters increased," Dukes said, "the increase in harvest was much greater than the increase in the number of hunters, which indicates these fields are providing great hunting. Overall, these fields average over four doves per hunter annually."

Critics might argue that the number of hunters increased because the 2005-06 season came right after Hurricane Katrina, a time when gas prices spiked and, in some cases, gas wasn't even attainable. That's a justifiable conclusion, but these fields are supporting more hunters than seasons before Katrina.

"Growing conditions for crops does affect how well the public dove fields produce," Dukes said. "Unless it's a very localized weather event that affects a field, our fields suffer right along with the private fields."

SCDNR officials have noticed in the past that more hunters will hunt public fields in poor growing years because their fields may have failed. However, that doesn't appear to be the case for last season since it was a good growing year.

"Since the public dove fields program has been around for 30 years, I don't think it is taking that long for the word to get out, although it could be some of that. Maybe hunters have a few less places to hunt and are relying on the public fields," Dukes said.

Whatever the reason or reasons, the fields are producing. The top 10 fields last season all averaged over five doves per hunter. Unlike seasons past, some of the names are not the ones normally spotted at the top of the dove leader board.

Dukes reported that the top 10 fields (doves per hunter) last season were Draper Tract (7.64) in York County, Webb WMA (7.51) in Hampton County, Sandhills State Forest Wilkes Chapel Field (7.14) in Chesterfield County, Thurmond Tract (6.77) in Union County, Lake Wallace (6.16) in Marlboro County, Hallman Field (5.96) in Lexington County, Evans Property (5.70) in Anderson County, Sandhills State Forest Davis Field (5.40) in Chesterfield County, Crackerneck WMA (5.17) in Aiken County and Santee Dam WMA (5.06) in Clarendon County.

Results for some of the favorites were Donnelley WMA (4.39) in Colleton County, Canal WMA -- upper and lower fields (3.61) in Berkeley County and Oak Lea WMA (4.86) in Clarendon County.