Message from the DNR Director:

Doves and Waterfowl Usher in Fall Hunting Season

By Frank Jezioro, Director, WVDNR

September 1st will signal the beginning of another hunting season in West Virginia. For many years now, September 1st is the traditional opening of dove season across a wide swath of the United States. These early seasons provide extra opportunities to get out and enjoy good shooting before the regular seasons kick in.

For such a small bird, dove hunting, or better phrased, dove shooting, is a major event. The farther south you go the bigger event it becomes with cookouts featuring the day’s bag of morning doves. Many southern plantations in the Carolinas, Old Virginia and Mississippi host extravagant bar-b-que after the day’s shooting. In West Virginia, we have a couple of shooting preserves in the Eastern Panhandle and in Monroe County that conduct dove shoots with blinds and shooting butts set up for visiting hunters. 

In reality, we talk about dove shooting instead of dove hunting because there is normally very little hunting for the birds, but more shooting once the field is located.  For years it has been published by the arms and ammunition companies that on the opening day of dove season there will be more shotgun shells fired than there will be the rest of the entire season. The reason is that the birds are small, fast flying with a very erratic flight pattern.

PLANNING THE GOOSE HUNT

The early goose season should be good this year with an abundance of geese. While goose hunting, remember that your gun must be plugged to hold no more than three shells total. If using a repeater, that means one in the chamber and two in the magazine. And also remember that steel or lead alternative shot must be used.  So no lead shot when hunting waterfowl. 

A little pre-season scouting can help make your opening day a success.  Drive around in any of the major river valleys and watch for geese on the water on nearby land.  Check out the flood control ponds and any harvested corn, bean or milo fields.  Geese will have set up areas of use and should be there when the season opens Sept. 1st.  If the land is privately owned, stop and ask permission to hunt before the season opens.  If on public land, make sure it is open to hunting. According to the Federal Migratory Bird regulations this year you will be allowed five geese per day and a possession limit of 10 after the second day of the season.

PLANNING YOUR DOVE HUNT

When planning your dove outing, look first for places where grain has been recently harvested, especially wheat, milo, buckwheat sunflowers and corn.  There is always some spillage in this type operation and the doves will find it and set up a feeding pattern.  They will normally feed early in the morning and in late afternoon. Remember, on the first day of the season there is no shooting allowed until noon.  Doves also will search out water sources like small ponds, streams and lakes.  If you can’t locate a harvested grain field you can often do just as well if you can locate a recently reseeded surface mine where a lot of wheat straw has been used in the reclamation and replanting.  The birds will pick out the small pieces of grain from the straw.

PUBLIC LAND HUNTING OPPORTUNITIES

In providing shooting areas for doves the WVDNR also does some planting on selected Wildlife Management Areas.  Green Bottom and McClintic on the Ohio River near Point Pleasant are traditional areas for dove and goose shoots.  Bluestone, Hillcrest and Pruntytown WMAs also have fields planted specifically to provide quality dove shooting.  When scouting out areas, look along the major streams and rivers of the state. Look where there is some form of agriculture, specifically small grain. The South Branch Valley around Romney, Moorefield and Petersburg are good locations to find birds but sometimes getting permission to hunt is difficult, especially if they are still harvesting. It is always best to secure permission first before opening day. Again according to the Federal Migratory Bird regulations, this year’s bag limit will be 15 per day with a possession limit of 30 after the first day.

GUNS, LOADS, EQUIPMENT

Doves are not hard to bring down – they are just hard to hit.  Any shotgun is adequate for bagging the little winged rockets.  While any gauge can be used, it is probably safe to say that the favorite gun for dove shooting will be a 20 gauge side by side or over/under and for geese it will probably be a 12 gauge, although with the new shells the three inch 20 gauge is an excellent choice.   

Improved cylinder and modified chokes work well as far as chokes go for doves and probably modified and full for geese...  If you choose to shoot your favorite pump or semi-auto shotgun make sure the gun is “plugged” so that it can only hold three shells.  Plugged guns are mandatory as dove and waterfowl shooting comes under the federal regulations governing migratory birds, although a migratory bird stamp is not required for doves as it is for geese.  Both geese and doves will require that you obtain a HIP card from any license agent.

Now that you have your gun, you need to choose shells.  7 ½’s and 8’s in low brass target type loads are the odds-on favorites for doves.  For geese, a lot of hunters prefer size BBB steel. 

SAFETY IN THE FIELD

Since there are normally other shooters surrounding a dove field, safety is a key consideration.  Something in a lightweight camo shirt and vest works well. I always wear some sort of safety shooting glasses as you are looking up and others are firing into the sky.  If after geese around water, be sure to wear some sort of prescribed floatation vest.

Don’t shoot low-flying birds and be aware of other shooters in the area.  Take plenty of shells, some cold water or soft drinks as the September sun can be hot, a small folding stool or chair and get out for some fast action and great eating.  A good retriever will be a big aid in recovering both geese and doves. 

As I travel around in mid-August, all indications are that both morning doves and geese had a very good nesting season and should provide an abundance of birds.