Outdoors: Sharpen your eyes, reflexes during dove season

Wing shooters have an opportunity to sharpen their eyes and reflexes when the 2018 mourning dove seasons open statewide in Pennsylvania on Sept. 1. The first season runs through Nov. 24. A second season runs from Dec.10 to 18.

The mourning dove is perhaps the most hunted migratory game bird in the North America, according to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The species joins other migratory birds as a national resource that is protected under the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act and state law.

This time of the year, doves are seen just about everywhere. Their distinct cooing call and the whistling sound of their wings as they fly are all one needs to find them. In fact, the mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) is one of the most abundant and widespread of birds, the PGC says. One reason is their prolific breeding habits – a nesting pair may raise up to five or six broods a year.

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September through Novembers doves begin a migration that takes them south, some as far as Panama. Their return trip generally runs from May through March.

Also known as turtle doves, wild pigeon and wild dove; mourning doves are seen as beneficial since their diet is seeds from wild and pest plants and waste grain. The PGC says they generally do not damage crops. They will pick seeds and grain off the ground without scratching. They will also indulge in a few insects and snails that may venture their way.

Of course they also need grit for digestion and water. Most often the bird are found along road sides picking up grit, which may include gravel, cinders, glass or other hard material to help them grind up the seeds and food they eat.

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The PGC commissioners recently opened dove habitat management areas for the new hunting seasons. Locally the habitat areas are located in State Game Lands 242, along Route 74, between Dover and Dillsburg; SGL 243, south of Dillsburg, along Route 194 and SGL 249 near Hunterstown in Adams County.

The habitat program provides for tilled fields and allowing herbaceous plants to grow to provide food and cover doves and other wildlife such as songbirds and turkey poults. Warm season grasses such as millet and buckwheat which provide a food source through the summer. Major food sources are pokeweed, ragweed and foxtail which are found on abandoned fields.

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Winter wheat may be planted in the fall to provide a food source in the spring. Work of the PGC’s habitat crews help maintain and sustain dove populations for the hunting seasons. The game lands also provide needed roosting sites.

Game Commission staff members also take part in an annual dove banding program that provides critically important information to the National Dove Harvest Management Strategy. These data provide a detailed understanding of population factors and contribute to the setting of seasons and bag limits.

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Dove hunters must get a general hunting license for all seasons. Hunters, 12 and older,  must have a Pennsylvania Migratory Game Bird License to hunt ducks, geese, doves, woodcock, brant, coots, gallinules, rails and snipe. This license may be obtained from any license issuing agent, or through the Game Commission’s website. Electronic dove decoys can be used solely for hunting doves.

Note: a federal duck stamp is require for hunting waterfowl.

The arms and ammunition requirements are: “Manual and semiautomatic shotguns no larger than 10-guage with a capacity limited to no more than three shells in the chamber and magazine combined.” Also note, only non-toxic fine shot up to and including size T (.20 inches) is lawful for waterfowl.

For those archery enthusiasts, the PGC regulations allow for long, recurve and compound bow and arrows and crossbows to be used – good luck.

Bob Marchio is outdoor writer for The Evening Sun. He can be reached at bmarchio@embarqmail.com.