Afield: Get out, scout for mourning dove season | StarTribune.com

By BILL MARCHEL, Special to the Star TribuneLast update: August 23, 2009 – 12:55 AM How about a robin hunting season?Or sparrows, or cows? They’re just as challenging to hunt as mourning doves are. — To a farmer a “dirty field” is not a good thing. A farmer’s dictionary would tell you a “dirty field” is one with weeds sprouting between neat rows of crops. How many weeds are necessary for a field to be designated “dirty” is open for discussion.To a mourning dove, a “dirty field” is a good thing. A weedy field can provide a hungry dove a smorgasbord of delectable seeds such as foxtail, Johnson grass, pigweed and others.Thus, to a mourning dove hunter a “dirty field” is a good thing, too.Last week, on an evening cool enough to foretell the coming of fall, I searched for just such a field.The Minnesota mourning dove hunting opener is slightly more that a week away Sept. 1, and scouting for a prime hunting location is by far the most important aspect to ensuring a productive first-day hunt.My evening foray began at a familiar location. I initially found this particular dove hunting spot while scouting before the 2005 season. Back then the area had everything a mourning dove requires: food, water and shelter.  Click link below for full story!

via Afield: Get out, scout for mourning dove season | StarTribune.com.

Texas study examining lead issue in dove hunting | Houston Chronicle

By SHANNON TOMPKINS Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle

Shannon Tompkins Houston Chronicle

A Texas study comparing lead shot and non-toxic shot in real-world dove hunting conditions hopes to answer questions about the effectiveness of non-toxic loads some see as the fugure for wingshooters.

Texas has taken the lead in trying to answer vexing questions with which wildlife managers have wrestled for more than three decades: how prevalent is ingestion of spent lead shot by doves, what health-related problems are associated with the hugely popular birds swallowing the toxic pellets and are there viable non-toxic alternatives to lead shot in dove-hunting situations?

More than two decades after biologists and wildlife managers began a phase-out of lead shot for waterfowl hunting after intense research showed ingestion of spent lead shot was annually killing millions of ducks and geese, wildlife professionals still have relatively little information on lead shot’sits effects on the nation’s dove population.

A package of multiyear research projects being conducted by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department hope to produce some of the first large-scale data quantifying the issue ofhow lead impacts on doves. It’s also to providinge hard science on the effectiveness of options should evidence suggest lead shot be banned for dove hunting.

TPWD currently is involved in research to gauge hunter awareness of the issues surrounding lead shot and doves, and their attitudes toward the possibility of banning lead shot for dove hunting. For Full Story Click Link Below

via Texas study examining lead issue in dove hunting | Shannon Tompkins | Chron.com – Houston Chronicle.

Doves Offer No Peace Of Mind

by Rob Phillips
Yakima Herald-Republic

YAKIMA — If you find yourself at a barbecue or some other social gathering this weekend, and you are a dove hunter, let me give you a small bit of advice. You may not want to mention you are, in fact, a dove hunter. I know it is hard to believe, but it seems some people have some preconceived notions about dove hunters and dove hunting.

If you happen to mention something about going dove hunting on Monday, there is a good chance youll get an obvious and immediate reaction. People will glare as if you just made some major faux pas. Their brows will furrow, and their noses will wrinkle like they have just smelled rotting fish. Some will turn away, as if youve suddenly developed a hideous growth on your face. Full Story

Doves offer no peace of mind | Yakima Herald-Republic Online.