Doves should be plentiful when season opens

Iowa should be hosting plenty of doves when the state's mourning dove hunting season opens Sept. 1, according to Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Ron Munkel.

In a state with no dove hunting tradition and little managed dove habitat, however, it remains to be seen how many Iowa hunters will pursue the most plentiful game bird in North America.

With the rather sudden approval of a dove hunting season in late March, the DNR has had to scramble to plan and execute plantings of sunflowers and other dove-preferred crops on state wildlife management areas, Munkel said.

During the past week, DNR personnel have been mowing and disking those sites to make them more attractive to doves, he said.

“We are starting to see good dove usage at a lot of these sites and we are already beginning to pick up migrating doves,” Munkel said.

A list of public wildlife areas with food plots attractive to doves is on the DNR website at http://www.iowadnr.gov/Portals/idnr/uploads/Hunting/mdove_plots.pdf

Each listing has a map of the wildlife area with the name and phone number of a DNR biologist to call for specific information on the food plots, Munkel said.

Linn County has managed dove habitat at Chain of Lakes Wildlife Management Area. The Hawkeye area in Johnson County and Muskrat Slough in Jones County have similar managed habitat. Other Eastern Iowa counties with state-managed dove habitat include Allamakee, Bremer, Butler, Clayton, Delaware, Dubuque, Iowa, Jackson, Tama and Winneshiek.

Munkel said hunters can also expect to find dove on suitable private land.

Cornfields cut for silage, though probably not common until later in September, can provide excellent dove hunting opportunities, he said.

In general, hunters should look for open ground with available seeds and grains, he said.

Hunters can use lead shot unless they are hunting on a Wildlife Management Area that requires nontoxic shot to hunt all species except deer or turkey.

Since mourning doves are considered a migratory game bird, hunters must register with the Harvest Information Program (HIP) before hunting. Dove hunters can register with HIP when they buy their small game hunting license, by calling 1-855-242-3683 or by going to https://jc.activeoutdoorsolutions.com/ia_customer/app/goHome.do