We're on a new lease this year that supposedly has 'marginal dove population'. My buddy wants to hunt doves at least one weekend during archery season.

I'm against anything potentially scaring the deer away. There is one open area that might be ok to hunt dove on, it's on the edge of our lease, never have seen deer there but it's likely a travel route to water.

All three on the lease are bow hunters.

What is your opinion on dove hunting during archery season on your lease? Is there any impact?

We definitely hunt doves. I don't think it affects the deer.

What kinda "dives" are you and your buddy hunting? IME it really depends on the lease and location of where you hunt. Most places it is ok if it is large enough place.

HF or LF? Only using 22's with rat shot to make it fair?

I have seen deer come out in the evening while we where dove hunting, I have also seen them run like he77. So I would agree with STX, they will react different, in different places.

May bother the bowhunters more than the deer. I dont think its the shooting, as much as it is the human activity/aspect.

I've had deer walk right thru the middle of the field we had 8 guys in blasting away

As mentioned, it's the activity that bothers them

I would not want dove hunters in archery season.

We only dove hunt if we have been in and out of the place quite a bit during the summer. The more traffic we have in the off season the less the deer seem to mind the dove hunting.

We dove hunt with 3 or more people on the same land we deer hunt. I can't tell you how many deer I have walked up on while finding the birds. So no I don't think it has much impact at all on deer hunting. To be fair occasionally you can hear other people dove hunting as well so it might be the deer in our area are use to it.

Don't over think it. Deer aren't that spooky.

+1. The deer will be back in their same routine the next day....if that long.

We hunt dove the first of September but not during deer season. Might try the dove again in January for the short season.
We usually have quite a few dove in July and August but they move on in early September for the most part.

We have deer come out where we trap shoot. They walk right past us down range, maybe 250-300 yards. They don't even mind the pellets falling around them.
I think if it is an environment that they are used to, they don't care.

I wouldn't do it. That's just me.

It may not bother 90% of the deer, but I have the sneaking suspicion it would bother the ones I am after-that being the smart, mature bucks....

The deer you want to see NG will only show their face in daylight hours when they are looking for tang. Shotgun blasts in September will have no bearing on those mature deer. Mid October is a different story.

Agree with Merc on this one, September - no problema, October - mid-later, potentially problematic.

Wonder how many big mature deer that are on cameras in the summer suddenly disappear after dove hunting starts around them

STX,

I think it has just as much to do with shorter days, angle of the sun and fall in the air then it does with shotgun blasts. Your thoughts?

If you never see a mature deer during season how do you know if he was not run off by the dove hunting pressure? Do deer get spooky to a lot of rifle shooting and hunting pressure?

All good points I think it's a combo of both. How small of a place in your opinion is too small to dove hunt?

This question pretty much sums it up for me.

I hunt on a larger ranch and there is dove hunting, but they have to work around the bow hunters. Like many, I have had deer walk in while I was shooting skeet or dove hunting, but I have also had deer at a corn spot come out of their skin trying to get away when the shooting starts at first light...from 800 yards away.

Not to say you can't kill deer with dove hunting on the same place or nearby, but I wouldn't want to hunt every day listening to shotgun pops, hunters yelling and all the additional traffic in and out.

Are any of the leases around you dove hunting?

I've never seen it cause any long term problems. You might push them away for a few hours or a day, but they'll be back. And I've had many occasions where deer have walked up to a water hole while we were blasting away at doves.

Unless your on a really small place I don't see negative effects from it. Deer are still in their late summer patterns anyway, which they will change significantly when mid October rolls around. By bow season the first wave of birds are dead or a lot smarter by then.

Bang! Bang!