About 40 years ago( I can't believe it has been that long) there was a good population of doves in my area. You could easily go through two or three boxes of shells in an evening. Now there are birds but not enough to interest hunters. A few might go out the first day just to see if the doves have returned but that's it.
Our Game Commission sells us a stamp to hunt them. The money was supposed to find how to improve dove numbers. That program began as the bird numbers dwindled and no one has ever heard a thing about what that study discovered. We still have the stamp though.
I think I know why the doves disappeared around here. The state instituted a program to reclaim all the old strip mine lands and coke ash dumps. These areas were overgrown with goldenrod, foxtail grass, and nettle weed. There were plenty of water puddles too. These were the places I found doves. I burned up a good many 20 gauge shells on them.
Last edited by liverwort; 08/16/22 09:37 PM.
