Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
For the love of dove
Pandemic could renew hunt’s popularity
Dove season begins Sept. 5, and the coronavirus pandemic makes it likely to be a well-attended event.
From a hunter’s standpoint, dove season is the unofficial beginning to autumn. It usually coincides with the opening weekend of college football season and high school football season. Spring turkey season and squirrel season begin much earlier, but since autumn represents midnight on a hunter’s clock, they see dove season as the year’s first hunting season.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2019 Mourning Dove Population Status, there were 249 million doves in the United States as of September 2018. That number was 243 million in 2017. These are significant decreases from 308 million in 2011. The biggest decreases are in the central management unit, which includes Arkansas.
The Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that 694,000 hunters killed 10.4 million mourning doves in 2018. Of those, hunters in the central management unit — which includes Arkansas — killed 46%. In Arkansas, hunters generally kill between 250,000-260,000 doves.
In 2011, 955,700 hunters killed 17 million doves. The trend indicates fewer hunters are killing fewer doves, but if the dramatic spike in fishing and turkey hunting participation offers any clues, dove hunting participation will also increase this year.
Also, according to the USFWS, dove numbers are increasing in the eastern and western management units, but are declining in the CMU. Luke Naylor, migratory bird biologist for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, said dove populations are still very healthy in Arkansas.
“A bird that nests five or six times a year has the potential to do very well here,” Naylor said.
Hot, dry weather likely helped dove nesting success, and subsequently, the recruitment of young-ofthe-year doves into the population.
Unknown is what effect an early cool snap might have on local dove populations for opening day. Resident doves favor hot, dry weather, and fields that were full of doves can be empty the day after a cold front moves through. Doves might or might not return to a previously hot field.
On the other hand, some excellent hunting often occurs late in the second segment of the season, from Dec. 8 through Jan. 15, when cold weather forces doves south into Arkansas from northern states.
Most Arkansans hunt on private fields that landowners planted with
sunflowers. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission also maintains dedicated dove fields at several wildlife management areas around the state.
To hunt doves, Arkansas residents 16 and older need a hunting license and a free Harvest Information Program registration. Hunters younger than 16 do not need a license or HIP registration.