Doves

Hunting doves is unnecessary and serves no wildlife management purpose. There is no reason to open a shooting season on doves. Mourning doves, also known as the farmer's friend, are ground-feeding birds that eat pest weed seeds. They pose no threat to agricultural crops, homes, or anything of value to people. Many states have long-standing policies of protecting doves. There are no management problems within those states, and no one has suggested that doves are overpopulated. 

Many "non-target" avian species are often unavoidably and mistakenly shot by mourning dove hunters.  These mistaken identity kills include American kestrels, Sharp-shinned hawks and several other federally protected species. 

There is an unacceptably high wounding rate for dove hunting. Scientific research studies confirm an average wounding rate of 30 percent in hunted areas—meaning that nearly one in three birds is wounded and not retrieved after being shot

Dove shooting contributes to the discharge of enormous amounts of toxic lead shot in the environment.  According to a long-term study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Fish and Wildlife Service, hunters discharge an average of 8 shots for every dove shot and bagged. Densities of greater than 860,000 pellets per hectare have been reported in dove fields, which are usually crop-growing soils. Cumulative lead deposits pose a significant risk to ground-feeding mourning doves and to other wildlife that directly and indirectly ingest toxic shot, including birds of prey and other animals who scavenge on downed birds.

Doves are not a viable human food source. As small birds, even if shot properly, doves have very little "edible" flesh on them. During the 60-day shooting season of September and October, doves are actually at their lightest body weight for the entire year. However, doves are an important source of food for protected birds of prey such as eagles, falcons, hawks, and owls.

Shooting doves is known to produce orphaned young. Doves are scientifically known to still be nesting during the 60-day shooting season of September and October. Doves mate for life because both parents are required to successfully fledge squabs. The killing of one parent is known to cause unnecessary suffering of dependent young who will die in the nest of starvation.