Let's take a closer look at the top three fields from last season. Draper Tract is located about four miles east of McConnell in York County. Two 30-acre fields are available for public dove hunting. The fields are normally open on Saturdays only during the first season and Monday through Saturday during the second and third seasons. You are permitted to hunt only in the afternoon during all seasons.

Opening day participants are selected by drawing. You must apply to SCDNR by mid-August. For more information on the drawing for the Draper Tract, you may contact SCDNR at (864) 427-5140.

During last season's opening day hunt, 94 hunters shot 4,409 times and harvested 718 doves. Hunters averaged 46.90 shots, which was way above average for the 29 fields monitored, and needed 6.14 shots for each dove harvested, similar to the 6.12 average overall for all fields.

Put another way, the limited number of hunters allowed each person to do plenty of shooting. Since the hunters shot average, everyone went home with a mess of doves, a fact indicated by the average-per-hunter harvest (7.64).

The Webb WMA field has been around for some time, but until recently, it never produced this well.

"The Webb WMA field was a result of excellent field preparation by staff," Dukes said.

The field at Webb WMA is 35 acres and it is open on a irst-come, first-served basis during scheduled dates, typically on Wednesdays during all seasons. The dove hunts have to work around scheduled deer hunts on the WMA. Hunting is only permitted during the afternoon. For more information, you can contact SCDNR at (803) 625-3569.

Last season, 37 hunters showed up during the first hunt. They shot 1,386 times and killed 278 doves. Hunters took an average of 37 shots and killed a dove with every fifth shot. Like Draper Tract, Webb WMA was a case where a reasonable number of hunters were on the field and they were able to pick their shots and did not need to rush because someone else was going to get the bird first.

The Wilkes Chapel field on the Sandhills State Forest in Chesterfield County is located near the forest's headquarters. It is a 54-acre field that is usually open during Saturdays only during the first season and Monday through Saturday during the second and third seasons. Hunting is only permitted during the afternoon at all times.

The large field supported 184 hunters during the opening day hunt last season. They shot 6,910 shells and killed 1,314 doves. Similar to Webb WMA, hunters shot an average of 38 times and killed doves on about every fifth shot. Again, the field supported about the right number of hunters who shot well and had plenty of opportunities, which translated into a bang-up dove hunt.

"We have a lot of good public dove fields in the program," Dukes said. "Success is dependent on how good a crop on-the-ground staff is able to produce, which of course, varies every year. However, I think there are some good fields to keep an eye on.

"I believe some of the up-and-coming fields are the Thurmond Tract in Union County, Bourdeaux Field in McCormick County, Crackerneck WMA in Aiken County and the Hallman Field in Lexington County.

"The two fields at Sandhills State Forest also look to be good," Dukes said.

Even though Dukes based his opinions on last year's results, he said many of these fields are new, located in good dove areas of the state, and appear to offer much potential.

"Just because those fields were mentioned it doesn't mean other fields have declined," Dukes said. "In fact, it's probably the opposite.

"The other fields are still good, but by creating other good fields it may help take the pressure off the perennially top fields, thereby increasing hunter satisfaction as well as success."

In addition to the public dove fields that are open to anyone, SCDNR also supports special youth dove hunts. Eligibility for these hunts requires an adult 21 years or older to bring one or two youth 5 to 15 years old on the hunt. Adults are permitted to hunt, but they may not shoot when youth in their party are shooting. In fact, their guns must be unloaded, and vice versa. The bag limit is 12 doves per youth participant. Birds harvested by individual hunters must be kept separate, and in no instance may an individual hunter harvest more than 12 doves.

There were eight special youth dove hunts during the 2006-07 season. Most of the participants are selected by a drawing, so it is best to check the public dove field list ahead of time for drawing information.

It is difficult to gauge these hunts. Using doves harvested per hunter is not a fair measure, because youth hunters usually shoot a little poorer than adults. For example, youth killed a dove on about every eighth shot, whereas adults on the public dove fields average about a dove every sixth shot. Nonetheless, hunters averaged 3.28 doves per hunter for the eight fields open last season, with the McCullough Field in Newberry the highest at 5.39 doves per hunter.

Since many of these fields are open to general hunters at a later date, a better measure of how good the fields might be is the number of shots taken. During the youth hunts, the overall average was 27 shots per hunter, which is equal to the 29 fields open without the youth restriction. Thus, these fields have some birds as well.

All public dove fields are open on a first-come, first-served basis, except for those that have drawings to restrict the number of hunters. There is no entry before noon and no shooting after 6 p.m. during the first segment of the season. In addition to a valid hunting license, hunters are required to have a wildlife management area permit and a migratory bird permit. All state and federal laws apply.