Year-round dove season

[earlmck]

I don't know if this is a good deal or not...

Dove season opens in Oregon on Sept.1. By Sept 2 about 95% of our mourning doves have headed south (I may exaggerate a little, but that is at least close to the truth).

A couple of years ago we had some doves overwinter here; they would come into our back yard and eat the seeds I throw out for the quail. These doves are larger than the regular mourning dove and I didn't know what they were.

By this summer the entire dove population (at least of the town area here) consists of these new doves. Not a mourning dove to be found in our neighborhood (the wife and I frequently sit for a while in the evening on the front porch and watch the bird activity. These new doves have a different "coo" than the mourning dove and so I have noticed that although I might have trouble telling the doves apart when they are flying, there is no longer a "whoo oo whoo whoo whoo" to be heard; just this "whoo whooee whoo" of the new dove.

Friend Reinard dropped by for a visit last week and I mentioned this dove deal to him. He tells me this new dove is the "Eurasian collared dove" which has newly invaded the U.S. over the past 30 years or less. It has reached Oregon so recently that it is not covered in the game regs and you can shoot 'em anytime, any amount (though I'm pretty sure I'd get in trouble if I opened up on the local neighborhood doves).

I did a little "Yahoo" search (I shun google) and found quite a lot about this bird, that got here via an escape from a pet shop in Bermuda in the 80's. Seems like most folks figure this new dove is occupying a new niche and is just adding to the total dove population. But at least in this part of the world the new dove is totally displacing the mourning dove we used to have in abundance this time of year. I'll be interested to hear from our Arizona contingent whether this "bird takeover" is beginning to impact the quantity of doves that drop into the Salt River Valley in the fall after we chase 'em out of this north country with a little frost and a "bang" or two...

I'm thinking of gathering up a granddaughter who is showing a bloodthirsty bent and staking out a stock pond I know of and seeing if we can't whack a few of these "invaders".

[pwl44m]

Earl, while I'm not in Az but Nor Cal We have 2 of those larger Doves that have taken up residence here. I have wondered about them being so large and maybe Ur post clarifies that. I haven't noticed any absence since first sighting (as in setting on eggs) nor any new Squabs. I never noticed any difference in Their Coo but they do sound nice.
Perry

[Shasta]

These Eurasian doves are considered an invasive species in California. During dove season, they do not count toward the ten bird daily bag limit and you can shoot as many of them as you want. Around my home in the far north of California, the Eurasian doves are slowly pushing out the smaller Mourning doves that are native.

SHASTA

[86er]

There are quite a lot of them in Texas and in Oklahoma. In Texas, there is no season on them and they are often shot along with pigeons over grain fields in the Spring. In OK the game laws specify they are covered under the regular dove season. While they don't seem to take over the local mourning dove population these doves don't migrate much. When a lot of our mourning doves head North the "ringneck doves" stick around. They are bigger, slower and have more white on them than mourning doves. Since most of our mourning doves migrate in, and the whitewings are concentrated these "new" doves don't bother me at the moment. If anything it gives us a few more shots during a dove hunt.

[Batman1939]

Those eurasian collared doves have been in the central part of Montana for at least the past few years where they seem to becoming more prevalent. So, they are really spreading throughout the country.

A cousin of mine who regularly hunts doves in Southern California says they make up the major part of the dove harvest in his area.

Bonus: they are considerably larger than mourning doves so table fare works out well.

Con: they are likely having an adverse impact upon the native doves-though I'm not aware of their interactions with white-wings.

[harry]

Yep we got'em here in north east Wyoming,
"Dove hunters should be aware that Eurasian collared doves are being seen with increasing frequency in Wyoming especially around towns and farmsteads in the eastern part of the state. Eurasian doves are an exotic species and are larger than mourning doves and can be identified by a black band on the neck and a squared tail. Since Eurasian doves are not listed as a Wyoming game bird, there is no closed season, no bag limit, and no license is required."

[ollogger]

My wife feeds both Doves here, more all the time, they seem to get along well together
I don't dare try one for table fare but a bud of mine says there good
Funny thing in the winter they don't show up ( collared bird) Seems they head for town
or where theres more trees


ollogger

[765x53]

I've seen them for several years now. They don't seem to be proliferating too rapidly.
So far mourning doves don't seem to be affected.
Here is what the MDC says about them. http://mdc.mo.gov/field-guide-0/eurasian-collared-dove

[earlmck]

Interesting that they don't seem to be taking over from the mourning dove in most places from these reports. Here in Central Oregon they have definitely displaced/replaced the mourning dove in at least some areas. Friend Butch has a place with a couple acres of planted pine trees which have always been a big roosting attraction for doves. He tells me he has less doves this year and they are nearly all the new guys.

They fly more like a pigeon than a dove: I think they'll be easier to hit!

[InTheWoods]

We have a bunch of them in Missouri. They usually seem to be town birds here, with a few hanging around larger farm complexes. We only kill a few in the dove fields. Could get a mess of them in town with a pellet gun, though.

[JerryB]

Here in north Arkansaw the ringneck doves are becoming more plentiful each year since we first started seeing them around the house feeding with the other doves and birds. Several years ago we had one pair, this last winter the flock was close to a dozen birds. I reckon this fall some may wind up in the 'ol black iron skillet.

[John in MS]

Does anyone know how they are, as table fare?

Bigger, easy to hit, no limits... hmmmmm...

[Buck Elliott]

Haven't had opportunity to sample the invading doves as table fare, but they are considerably larger than mourning doves, and have nearly supplanted the smaller birds in settled areas and towns of NW Wyoming..

As Harry said, Wyoming requires no license to hunt them, and they may be taken with any weapon, at any time, where such shooting is legal and prudent..

In Cody, they seem to congregate along power/phone lines, and roost in the many cottonwoods in town..

Their cooing is louder and more continuous than the soft call of mourning doves, and can border on being obnoxious, at times.. Mourning doves still seem to outnumber the Eurasians, out in the sparsely populated areas of this corner of the world..

I have a wrist rocket, with plenty of ammo, and a few "bird" arrows for my recurve.....

We'll see...

[wfo]

We're getting more and more of these ring neck dove here in the Texas panhandle too, and seeing less Mourning Dove. I hardly ever see White Wing Dove any more.

[Nath]

Its been a while but they are good eating. A clean bird so to speak.

N.