Commentary; Posted: 4/7/04

Open season on doves likely

T.W. Budig
ECM Capitol Reporter

Minnesota may soon have a mourning dove hunting season. Legislation is moving through both House and Senate establishing a dove season ó something not seen in the state for 50 years.

Gov. Pawlenty supports the initiative.

Hunters in 39 states already hunt the plaintive mourning dove, a federally recognized migratory bird.

In the Midwest, other than Minnesota, only Iowa and Michigan do not have dove seasons. Mourning doves are not hunted in New England.

Wisconsin has a dove season, but only after lower court challenges and a refusal by the state supreme court to temporarily halt it.

Mourning doves are generically held as symbols of peace, but things become more statutory over in Wisconsin.

Thatís because in 1971 Wisconsin adopted the mourning dove as its official symbol of peace. The designation emerged out of the political froth of the Peace Movement era and after long debate, itís said.

There is no hunting season on badgers, Wisconsinís state animal. This is ironic, at least in terms of animal temperament.

Badgers are ornery ó ìMeaner than a badger in a barrelî it used to be said of those with flaming tempers.

Mourning doves coo.

Itís estimated Minnesota has a population of 12 million mourning doves, according to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Mourning doves range from Canada to southern Mexico.

Identifiable in flight by their long tails, the dove is a swift flier capable of hitting 40 mph or even faster if the wind is right. Mourning doves build nests of twigs sometimes on the ground, sometimes in trees. Females produce two white eggs; parents share the task of incubation.

Mourning doves will have multiple clutches over a nesting season. That mourning doves are federally recognized migratory birds may seem somewhat surprising, as they do not trace autumnal skies with delicate skeins suggesting a collective destination.

Mourning doves just look at each other out on the wire and call it a season, apparently.

One feature of mourning dove biology the hook and bullet lobby often cite in their arguments for a hunting season is the birdís short lifespan.

According to the Wisconsin DNR, about one-half of the mourning dove population dies each year but the birdís fecundity makes good the loss.

Being hunted in 39 states does not seem a recipe for longevity, but the Wisconsin DNR says nation-wide hunting mortality on mourning doves runs between 10 to 15 percent.

Other arguments heard in favor of a mourning dove hunting season, besides that everyone else has one and the birds donít live long anyhow, is that a season could pump tourists dollars into Greater Minnesota.

Mourning doves make a good introductory quarry for young hunters, proponents say. And the birdís nimbleness in flight make them a sporting target.

Opponents cite the contradictory nature of shooting symbols of peace, concerns over the amount of lead pellets that will rain down and possibly poison other wildlife, and the limited table fare mourning doves offer.

Lawmakers have lampooned a hunting season on this account ó needing a flock of mourning doves to fill a serving platter.

The Minnesota Federated Humane Societies ó a group opposed to a hunting season ó noted that mourning doves weigh only four to six ounces.

Dressed game weighs less, of course. So a dressed, average-sized mourning dove would likely yield perhaps two ounces of meat. Thatís assuming the bird wasnít riddled with shot.

Were dove meat used to make hotdogs, the ratio would be roughly one-to-one ó a modest meal. Still, proponents counter that bluegills donít provide much meat yet are relished and eaten by the millions.

Whether Minnesota will have its first mourning dove season since 1947 should become plainer this week with House and Senate floor action.

An attempt to remove the dove season from the Senate game bill fell short in committee.

Mourning dove hunting season activists have failed for years to establish a hunting season in Minnesota. This could be their year.

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