Dove Hunting: The Bird of Peace as Target Practice

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	There is no reason to shoot these gentle birds.

Mourning doves are the traditional bird of peace and a beloved backyard songbird. They delight millions who engage in birdwatching or who lure the gentle birds to their backyard feeders.

But a minority view mourning doves as nothing more than live targets, sometimes referring to them as "cheap skeet." More doves are killed each year—more than 20 million—than any other animal in the country.

But there is simply no good reason to shoot a dove.

Dove hunting is unnecessary and serves no wildlife management purpose. Mourning doves—also known as the "farmer's friend" because they eat pest weed seeds—pose no threat to crops, homes or anything of value to people.

No one has even suggested that doves are overpopulated.

Mourning doves have significant economic value as live songbirds and are an important part of the multi-million dollar bird-watching and feeding industry. The mourning dove is the second most-frequently reported bird at feeders.

More people participate in wildlife-watching and spend more money doing it than in all forms of hunting combined.

Doves are not a viable human food source. Even if shot properly, doves have very little edible flesh on them. During hunting seasons, doves are actually at their lightest body weight for the entire year.

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 because doves are known to still be nesting during many states' hunting seasons. Doves mate for life because both parents are required to raise their young. When one parent is killed, the chicks can die of starvation.

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

Shooting doves produces mistaken identity kills, including American kestrels, sharp-shinned hawks and several other federally protected species that look similar to doves.

Dove hunting contributes to the discharge of enormous amounts of toxic lead shot in the environment. For every dove bagged, hunters discharge an average of eight shots, according to a long-term study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Cumulative lead deposits pose a significant risk to ground-feeding doves and other wildlife.

Take Action
If you live in Minnesota, please take action for doves by encouraging your legislators to pass S.F. 2329 and H.F. 2501.

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Dove Hunting

Related Links

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