The State of Louisiana used to take about 80 acres of land at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola (they have 22,000 acres there) and plant it in corn in the spring. They never harvested it and about 1 week before dove season they brought in the bush-hogs and bush-hogged the entire field.............corn still on the plants. The ground was yellow with corn.
Nope that ain't baiting.............it's considered an agricultural operation even if the stuff is planted for the sole purpose of attracting doves. If it's planted somewhere else then brought there and scattered that's illegal.
Within a few days the skies were black with doves. On opening day those of us invited had a blast and sore shoulders.
Anyone that worked at the prison and their guests, all the game wardens in the area, plus a lot of state officials with the Dept of Corrections and other agencies were always there (I was always a guest of a very dear friend was a major in the security force there and who sadly passed away last spring............you will be missed Edgar!). There were always about 10 convicts nearby to clean all the birds.
There were about 6 of us that hunted together in our deer club that were always there and we would take all of the doves we killed (I wont say how many but there was more than 90 doves
) after the convicts cleaned them and froze them and the day before deer season opened I would make a gumbo in an 80 quart pot to go along with the bar-b-que that was done on a pit so big it had to be towed with a truck.
We invited everyone in our hunting club plus other clubs in the area and damn near the general public. Just bring what you want to drink, bring your wife or your girlfriend.............hell bring both of them!