News

Shooting Ban in Effect

Published September 1, 2005. By Laura Rico. Sentinel-Standard.
Mourning dove shooting ban now in effect

A mourning dove shooting ban, effective today, will suspend the Sept. 1 - Oct. 30, 2005 and 2006 mourning dove shooting season, an issue that has been the cause of sometimes heated debate.

In June 2004, after a 100-year state ban, Governor Jennifer Granholm signed a bill, Public Act 160, allowing a three-year trial hunting season of the bird. The Michigan Natural Resources Committee approved the bill.

One year later, on June 2, 2005, the Board of State Canvassers approved and certified more than 275,000 petition signatures calling for the restoration of the mourning dove shooting ban by registered voters. Only 159,000 signatures are required by law for certification. The issue will appear on the November 2006 ballot.

According to Article II, Section 9 of the Michigan Constitution, the certification of the petition signatures stops the shooting of mourning doves until the next general election.

Opinions on the ban vary, but Julie Baker, director of the Committee to Restore the Dove Shooting Ban, said there is a broad base of people, including hunters, who are involved in the effort to stop dove shooting.

"Shooting mourning doves doesn't make sense," Baker said, "especially since they pose no danger to people or property, are not a viable food source and are not overpopulated."

She said Michigan harbors less than one percent of the nation's mourning doves. Because, according to Baker, the criteria for hunting doves in the state is not met, she said the shooting is really target practice.

"They fly fast, and those who hunt them call that 'fun'," she said.

Harold Rich of Orleans Township said he supports mourning dove hunting, but not for target practice.

"Hunting is an important tool for the Department of Natural Resources to keep populations under control," he said. "To let any game populate unchecked means that a job that should be being done, is not."

Rich said he thinks there is an adequate population of mourning doves in Michigan to support a hunt. He also pointed out that many other states have a dove hunting season.

John Niewoonder, a wildlife biologist with the DNR in Ionia County, said that as a state employee, he is not able to comment on the issue.

According to the Michigan DNR website, the mourning dove is one of the most abundant and widely distributed birds in the United States. The continent-wide dove population estimate is over 400 million in the fall migration.

In Michigan, mourning doves are especially abundant south of a line from Bay City to Ludington. According to conservative population estimations, 4 million mourning doves migrate from Michigan each fall. Surveys also indicate no change in the state's dove population over the last 38 years.

Currently, mourning doves may be hunted in 40 states, including all Midwest states that surround Michigan. Annually, approximately 22.7 million doves are harvested nationwide. That is roughly five percent of the total national population.

Some local hunters support the ban, as Baker found in her efforts to stop dove shooting. Arthur Pelon of Fenwick, a member of the National Rifle Association and avid hunter, said he considers the mourning dove issue as fuel for anti-hunters.

"We should preserve what hunting is allowed right now," he said. "This ban may pass with voters, but then how far will it go?"

Pelon said that just because he is a member of hunting organizations doesn't mean he has to agree with their platforms.

"We haven't been able to hunt them in Michigan for years, so why now?," he said. Pelon said he doesn't know many hunters in this area that are for shooting doves.

"We've talked about the issue at meetings, but no one has ever come out strong against the ban," he said.

When Public Act 160 was signed into effect, dove hunting was established in six southern Michigan counties: Barrien, Branch, Cass, Hillsdale, St. Joseph and Lenewee.

Hunters who intended to hunt mourning doves were required to purchase a $2 dove stamp in addition to a small game license. Funds generated from the stamp were to be divided equally between the Non-game Fish and Wildlife Trust Fund and Game and Fish Protection Trust Fund, both of which provide revenue to the DNR.

The history of the mourning dove in Michigan government has generally been focused on preservation. In 1905, the state designated the mourning dove as a songbird rather than a game bird, which made hunting the dove illegal. In 1998, it was designated Michigan's State Bird of Peace.

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