Michigan Dove Season Starts

(Lansing, Michigan) For almost a century, it was illegal to blast mourning doves out of the Michigan sky but not anymore. By a 7-0 vote, the Michigan Natural Resources Commission approved a dove-hunting season starting today and ending October 30. Hunting seasons will also occur in 2005 and 2006 and then an assessment of the effect on the population will be used to determine if continued hunting should be permitted.

Mourning doves are among the most common birds in North America, with a population that fluctuates between 400 million and 500 million and is affected primarily by weather conditions.

Hunters kill an estimated 25 million doves a year in the United States, about 5 to 8 percent of the population. Biologists say that figure is insignificant in light of doves' natural mortality rate, which ranges from 30 percent to 40 percent annually.

Hunters normally try to shoot the birds as they fly into grain fields to feed, and doves are considered the hardest game bird to hit, with an national average of seven shotgun shells fired for every dove killed.

Just think about it. Seven shells for one bird means you would most likely need a semi-automatic gun to get any kills. Can't you just imagine - Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Yahoo! I got one! Hunters are allowed to bag 15 doves daily.

By the way, hunting opponents are not giving up the fight. The anti-gun anti-hunting crowd is now trying to collect enough signatures to put the dove-hunting issue on the ballot to let the voters decide.