Managed dove fields could play a role in recruiting new hunters, some believe.
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Pennsylvania has no wild bobwhite quail left. Ruffed grouse have fallen on hard times. And pheasants? Outside of one small area, the only hunting is for stocked birds.
But mourning dove populations are as healthy as ever.
The Game Commission is trying to take advantage of that, despite some concerns among its own staff.
When Game Commissioners meet April 23-24 in Harrisburg, they’re expected to give final approval to a proposal allowing for the creation of managed dove fields.
Those are places where grain – such as sorgum or millet – is planted, then strategically cut down a few rows at a time in fall, to attract doves. Hunters who visit those fields at that time can enjoy some fast shooting.
Commissioner Brian Hoover has hunted managed fields in some surrounding states and said “the excitement that generates” is unique.
Nationally, certainly, dive hunting is popular, said Matthew Schnupp, director of the commission’s bureau of wildlife management. In 2011, 1.3 million hunters pursued the birds.
By comparison, 1.5 million hunted pheasants, 1.4 million ducks.
It’s no surprise why doves are so close in their number of fans, he added.
Schnupp said they’re easy to hunt if not hit at a time of year when the weather is mild. They’re easy to clean when harvested and finer table fare, too. Young and old alike can chase them, too, as they require no special equipment and no extreme physical prowess.
“So really what a lot of the states have done is fostered dove hunting in an effort to deepen its role in that hunting heritage,” Schnupp said.
Pennsylvania has never gone that route, though. And it shows, Schupp said.
The state had roughly 94,000 dove hunters in 1990. That dropped to 40,000 by 2007. Today, Pennsylvania has just 14,000, said commission executive director Bryan Burhans. Only 3 percent of Pennsylvania hunters pursue the species.
By comparison, some states with far fewer hunters overall has far more dove hunters. North and South Carolina both had on the order of 50,000 dove hunters, Burhans said.
“Based on national averages, that tells us there’s substantial untapped potential for increasing dove hunting participation here,” Schnupp agreed.
There are indications more people would hunt doves more often if conditions were right.
A 2014 commission survey found hunters willing to pursue doves, but only if they can do so within 30 to 60 minutes of home. Respondents said they would hunt more often if they had more such places to go, too.
Creating and managing dove fields are the solution to those needs, Schnupp said.
Fields are not simply piles of bait, he said. Done correctly, they are habitat enhancement, featuring roost trees, water sources and gravel.
Some may not understand that, or even care, though. And therein lies one concern voiced by some within the agency.
The rule change commissioners are considering would allow crops to be cut and left to lay only until Sept. 15. Afterward, “manipulation” of crop fields – in any way to entice game, rather than just as a standard agricultural practice – would be illegal. To hunt such fields would be considered baiting, as has long been the case.
During that September period, only doves could be hunted over the managed fields.
Is that splitting hairs too finely, though?
Randy Shoup, director of the commission’s bureau of wildlife protection, said law enforcement staff believes the answer may be yes. Right now, he said, state law prohibiting baiting makes no mention of particular species or time frames, he said.
He’s afraid the courts – presented with cases by game wardens that are based on baiting species other than doves, after Sept. 15 – will decide the commission can’t allow managed fields for one species and prohibit them for others, he said.
“The bureau doesn’t stand opposed to the concept of managed dove fields. The bureau stands opposed to the potential ramifications down the road impacting other species,” Shoup said.
Hoover said he doesn’t believe the courts will rule that way, though.
It’s clear that hunting over a managed field in September for doves is different than someone cutting a field of corn and leaving it lay in November or December and then shooting deer or bears over it, he said. He doesn’t think courts will disagree.
“If a judge wants to make that jump, that’s a pretty big leap,” Hoover said.
The question is whether that potential outweighs the good of getting people hunting.
The commission is making a push to promote small game hunting, said board president Tim Layton of Somerset County. Managed fields, just like an increase in the number of pheasants being stocked, could be a part of that.
Doves in particular might appeal to younger hunters, too. Scnupp said the commission’s dove hunter survey showed that there are a good number of hunters ages 21 to 35 – those likely with kids and work demands – already pursuing them.
Those hunters are a target of recruitment and retention efforts, he added.
So, Schnupp said, it’s true allowing for managed dove fields will assuredly lead to “unintended consequences.”
“But they should be evaluated against the benefits of doing this as well,” he said.
Managed dove fields and money
One unintended consequence of allowing managed dove fields might be financial.
Landowners could conceivably manage their properties for doves, then lease it, charging hunters for the right to pursue doves there. That’s common in other states, and commission president Tim Layton said he’s already been contacted by several groups interested in pursuing that.
There’s no way to prevent that, Layton said.
But the commission does want to give hunters opportunities to chase doves on public land at no cost, he added. So he asked that each of the commission’s region offices look for places on state game lands where managed fields might be located, then develop them
“I know that’s not something that can be done right away. But we want to work toward that goal,” Layton said.
