Mourning Dove Hunting in New York

Background:
NewYorkdoesnothaveahuntingseasonformourningdovesbecauseduringtheearly
1900sNY,inadditiontomanymidwesternandnortheasternstates,bannedmourning
dovehunting.

Sincethen,themajorityofthosestateshavereinstatedmourningdovehunting
seasons.Today,theycanbehuntedineverystateandPuertoRicoexcept:NewYork,
Michigan,NewJersey,Maine,Vermont,NewHampshire,Massachusetts,Connecticut,
andAlaska(*).

(*)RegardlessofwhenAlaskabecameastatethesituationisdifferent,becausecurrentlymourningdoves
onlyoccurinAlaskaasanaccidentalspeciesandarethereforeuncommonthere.

Michiganistheonlyotherstateoutsideofthenortheastthatstilldoesnotallowdove
hunting.Michigandidreinstateitsdovehuntingseasonin2004onlytohavethat
seasonrepealedtwoshortyearslaterin2006.TheHumaneSocietyoftheUnited
StatescontractedwithPCIConsultants,Inc.towinapublicopinionbattlewhich
resultedinthefateofMichigansdovehuntingseasonbeingdecidedonina
referendumballotinthegeneralelection.69%ofMichiganvoters(2,534,680)voted
againstdovehuntingand31%(1,137,379)votedinfavorofit.(Rememberwith
any
referencetovotersthatmostpeopledonotvote).TheHumaneSocietyoftheUSalso
madeasimilareffortwhichfailedtwiceinRhodeIslandin2007andthenagainin2009.

SeveralmidwesternstatesincludingSouthDakotaandOhiohavehadreinstateddove
seasonstemporarilyreversed,becauseinthosestates,aselsewhere,huntingseasons
canonlybesetwithlegislativeapproval.Duringthe1970sand1980sthe
commissionersofwildlifeagenciesinseveralmidweststateshadinappropriately
oversteppedtheirauthority,bypassedthelegislativeprocess,anddeclareddove
huntingseasons.Thiswasfirstdiscovered,inofallplaces,SouthDakota,andinthe
1970s,noless.Accordingtorecords,oneelderlywomanquestionedtheauthorityofthe
CommissionerofSDGame,FishandParkstodeclareahuntingseason.Shehiredan
attorneywhotookthecasetocourtanditturnedoutshewascorrect.However,asmall
groupofdedicatedsportsmendrovelegislationandproperlyreinstateddovehunting
withinaveryshorttimeframe.ButthatwasinSDanditwasthe1970s.

Yearslater,awareofthiscourtprecedentrecordedinSouthDakotalawyersworking
fortheHumaneSocietyoftheUSconductedlegalresearchacrossthenation,

developedtheirStrategyforaNationWideBanonMourningDoveHuntingand
antihuntershaveenjoyedanearly50yearlongsuccessstreakatbothrepealing
existingdoveseasonsandblockingneworreinstateddoveseasons.Ohioandother
midweststateswerediscoveredtohavedonethesamethingasSouthDakotaandin
the1980sOhiosreinstateddoveseasonwasrepealedandthatbanwasnotlifteduntil
1994.Othermidweststateshadthesamethinghappenandendureddifficultopposition
which,withtheexceptionofSD,tookyearstodefeat.

TheNYsituationisnotcomparabletoanyofthemidweststates.NorisNYoneofthe
approximately20statesthatusereferendumballotsasdoesMaine,Michigan,and
RhodeIsland.

NorhasanyCommissioneroftheDECattemptedtobypassthelegislature.Tothe
contrary,therehavebeenanumberofdovebillsinNY.However,eachtimeonlythe
antihuntersweighedin,whichexplainswhylawmakersallowednumerousdovebillsto
expirewithouthearings,debates,orvotingonthem.

ThiscycleofexpiredbillswillcontinueuntiltheNYhuntingcommunityvoicesastrong
supportfordovehuntingbylobbyinglawmakers,theGovernor,andtheDEC.

NYDoveHuntinginaction
*
:
NYDoveHuntinghaslaunchedanumberofinitiativestogeneratetheorganizedpublic
supportthatisessentialtoreinstatingdovehuntinginNY:

NetworkingStrategicPlan
Petitions
Surveys
NationalHuntingandFishingDayStrategicPlan
Facebook
NYDHshirts
NYDHfreetarget
s
AdvertisingNYHuntingandTrappingRegulationGuide
AdvertisingFacebook
Advertisingprintedmaterial
Forrecipesandhowtocookdovesgoto
CookingDoves&OtherGamebirds
webpage
,
VideoCookbook
and
Facebookpage
.

*
pleasecheck
www.NYDoveHunting.weebly.com
forlinkstoplans,surveys,petitions,
etc.
Toinformpeople:
Websites
Blog
Videos(YouTube)
Newsletter
Forums
Facebook
Pamphletsandbrochures

Toorganizepeople:
Petitions
Facebook
Twitter
GooglePlus
DiscussionforumsandFacebook
groups
#NYDoveHunting

Togatherideas:
Surveys
Opinionpolls
Pastresearch,surveys,polls,etc.

THEPOSSIBILITYOFHUNTINGMOURNINGDOVESINNEWYORK

Onlyninestatesdonotallowmourningdovehunting.NewYorkisone.
MourningDovehuntingwasbannedinmanystatesintheearly1900smainlyin
thenorthernUSstates.Overthelast30years,thosebanshavebeenreversedin
allbutninestates.Thesereversalsareinpartduetotheexpandeddistributionof
mourningdoveswhichunlikemostspeciesdowellinhabitatsalteredbypeople.
Buildingandindustrialfarmingfavormourningdoveshoweversodoes
permaculture,reducedtillagriculture,andrestorationofriparianhabitats.Allof
which,bothgoodandbadareontheriseandheretostay.
Everystatewhichsucceededinrepealingthebanandreinstatingamourning
dovehuntingseasonenduredadifficultbattlewagedbyanimalrights
organizations.
ThestateofNYhashadseveraldovebillsintroducedintothelegislatureover
theyearshowevernotonetimehavethebillsbeenmovedforwardforavote
amongthelawmakers.

WHATARETHEBENEFITSOFDOVEHUNTINGINNEWYORK?

Dovehuntingispopularwhereitisallowed.
Dovehuntingwillboostconservationfunding.
Dovehuntingwillboostgeneraleconomicactivity.

 Dovehuntinghasculturalvalueandprovidesfoodandrecreation.
Dovehuntingcanprovidehuntingopportunitiesforthosewhocannotreadily
participateinotherformsofhuntingduetoawidevarietyofreasons.Other
benefitstoprovidinghuntingopportunitiestoabroaderpublicincludebetter
publicacceptanceofhuntingmoreconservationfundingandslowingthe
attritionallossofhunters.
WHATARETHEOBSTACLESTODOVEHUNTINGINNEWYORK?

IntheStateofNYthemourningdoveisdesignatedafullyprotectedbird.The
DECdoesnothavetheauthoritytosetahuntingseasonforfullyprotected
wildlife.
Legislativeapprovalrequiredtoreclassifythemourningdoveasagamespecies
andreinstateahuntingseason.
Approvalordenialbythelegislatureisinfluencedbyinputreceivedfromthe
publicandtherecommendationsoftheDEC.
AntihuntershaveweighedinmorethanhuntersondovebillsinNY.
TheDEChasnotendorseddovehuntingandhasnotbeenproactiveinseeking
therequiredlegislativechangewhichwouldallowthemsetahuntingseason.

Discussion:

Theinstitutionof(any)huntingseasonisnotpredicatedbythelevelof
participationnorrevenueitgenerates.
Itmakessensetorestrictahuntingseasonbecauseof
excessivehunting
butit
doesnotmakesensetoimposeabanbecauseof
underhunting.
Unlesshuntersbegintoweighinondovehuntingand/ortheDECunequivocally
endorsesdovehuntingNYwillremainanonhuntingstate.
Dovehuntingcanprovidehuntingopportunitiesforthosewhocannotreadily
participateinotherformsofhuntingduetoawidevarietyofreasons.Discuss
thosereasons.
Mourningdovesareafecundspeciesthathasexpandeditsrangedramatically.
Thereisnoconservationconcernforthisspecies.
Youmightbeconcernedaboutthebudgetofstatewildlifeagencies.Dove
huntingwillboostconservationfunding.Theamountoffundingopportunitythat
hasbeenalreadylostamongvariousstatesovermanyyears,becauseof
ideologiesthatopposedovehunting,(andSundayhuntingbans)issubstantial.
Goingforwardintothefuture,giventhestabilityofmourningdovepopulations
continuingtoignore,rationalize,ortrivializethislostconservationfunding

opportunityisirresponsible.Forhowlongshouldanideologycontinueto
compromiseconservationfundingwithoutanybiologicaljustification?
TheDECbureauofwildlifeisbyitsowngoalstoprovidesustainable
recreationaluseofwildlifefortheenjoymentofall.Dovehuntingisconsistent
withthatgoalbecauseofthesustainabilityofdovepopulationsandthehunting
opportunityitwouldprovidetoabroaderpublic,suchascompromisedor
nontraditionalhunters.

TheFuture:
TheNYsportingcommunityhasspeculatedthatdownstatelawmakershaveimpeded
dovelegislation.However,ifthatwasthebiggestfactororonewhichcannotbe
overcome,virtuallynoprohuntingbillswouldeverpass.

Thefundamentalproblemissimplythatantihuntershaveplacedoppositiontodove
huntingatthetopoftheiragendawhilelegalizingdovehuntinghasbeenatthebottom
ofthehuntingcommunitysagenda.

Unlesshuntersbegintoweighinondovehuntingand/ortheDECunequivocally
endorsesdovehuntingNYwillremainanonhuntingstate.

NYDoveHuntingWebsite:

www.NYDoveHunting.weebly.com