Is Iowa Dove Hunting Law Sacrificing Song-Birds for Money?

At the crack of dawn, nearby gunshots were ringing in the air. Confused at what was being hunted, it dawned on us that the Iowa dove hunting season was officially open. Three hundred feet from where we have fed song birds, including the dove, the hunters were dropping them like flies.

I'm no bleeding heart; we raise cattle, goats and poultry that end up on our table or someone else's. I grew up with a brother who lived to hunt and trap. Hunters can hunt pheasant, quail, deer, turkey and the list continues. Why do we need to hunt song birds? There are 44 other states that already allow this and Iowa had held firm to the preservation of the mourning dove. What made us decide to hunt them now?

The Iowa DNR (Department of Natural Resources) expects 20,000 dove hunters this season. They also anticipate $6.9 million dollars to be spent in the state on food, gas and supplies. An additional $462,000.00 to be collected in state and local sales tax should finish answering the question of why.

Mourning doves, also know as turtle doves, can be seen at backyard feeders. They are quiet, calm and do not provoke fights like Blue Jays. They coo and sound as if they are lamenting. The doves are also exceptionally easy prey, as they eat on the ground and live less than 25 feet in the air.

Hunters and their dogs have officially broken nearly one hundred years of no dove hunting in Iowa. Doves have been protected in Iowa since 1918. In a bill regarding raccoons, the dove hunting was quietly added. The majority of Iowans oppose the dove hunting season that runs September 1st - November 9th. Voices of that majority went unheard or ignored in favor of the new law.

The DNR and some property owners made food plots to draw in the doves. The size of a dove's breast is very small; it takes many of them to make a meal for a couple of hunters. The limit is 15 doves a day per hunter or 30 doves in possession.

Hunters on three sides of us will probably make it difficult for the doves to make it to my yard. I doubt that I will have the pleasure of watching them eat and listening to them coo in the numbers we currently experience. Hopefully, the sacrifice of doves are worth the money the Iowa government will make. I know it is not worth it to me.

Des Moines Register
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