Iowa’s dove hunting season opens today and DNR wildlife biologist Todd Bogenschutz says numbers are up despite some bad spring weather.
“It was a challenge for some of the guys to do some of the food plots because you know the weather was just so goofy. Especially in April there was a snowstorm, and then things got wet,” Bogenschutz says. Hunters should see plenty of birds early on.
“We don’t do any surveys for doves, but anecdotally a lot of good reports. The doves start migrating south this month, and if we had a real good cold snap before the season opens, a lot of them would have been heading south. But that just hasn’t been the case,” Bogenschutz says. Bogenschutz says dove hunting has gained popularity, but isn’t as big as the pheasant season in Iowa.
He says it is a fairly short season and then people tend to move on to other things. He says they have around 10,000 people hunting doves, with 50 or 60,000 hunting pheasants.
All dove hunters are required to register with the Harvest Information Program (HIP). It’s free, fast and the information is used to help determine participation and harvest. Register by following the instructions at www.iowadnr.gov/doves. The dove season runs through November 29th.