Tuesday is opening day for one of Missouri’s most popular hunting seasons.
The dove season will kick off one-half hour before sunrise on that day and will continue through Nov. 29.
Hunters can take doves until sunset each day.
If this year is typical of most others (I can’t believe even I said that), thousands of hunters from across the state will converge on the flatlands of Butler County and east into the Bootheel for a chance to take some doves. The hunting pressure is generally pretty intense for the first day or two, but it almost always drops off dramatically after that.
The daily limit is 15, which can be a mix of mourning, collared and white-winged species.
Unfortunately, habitat conditions aren’t looking too great leading up to the season.
“Conditions don’t look great right now,” said Stoddard County Conservation Agent Michael Collins, who noted a lot of the county’s corn fields still are green.
“Between the Bernie and Essex area, there are several fields that may get harvested, but as of right now, I don’t know of anything that has been,” Collins said. “I was hoping things would change, but now with this hurricane coming in, I don’t think they’re going to.”
Dunklin County Conservation Agent Eric Heuring agreed, though the situation there isn’t quite as bad.
“It’s going to be a rough one,” Heuring said of the opener. “We do have a few fields that are being harvested and several more ready, but with this rain, I doubt they get them out.”
Heuring suspects the first portion of the season in his county is “going to be strictly a watermelon field hunt. The guys in and around the watermelon fields should do pretty good.”
The northern potion of Dunklin County, Heuring said, also has some pea fields, which could produce well.
Birds numbers, Heuring said, are above average leading up to the season, though he cautions the incoming storm will move them around some.
“We do have a ton of birds in the area. This hot and dry weather we’ve had has attracted a lot of birds, and it’s higher than what is normal as far as number of birds,” he said.
Wherever you hunt, be sure to secure permission from the landowner before stepping foot in their fields.
There are three important things hunters need to keep in mind when hunting doves, and they are safety, having a plugged shotgun and keeping your birds separated.
Especially in the opening days of the season, dove hunting tends to be a group affair, with a lot of hunters in fields keeping the birds stirred up. That also means you need to be extra careful about your target and what is beyond it, so you don’t pepper somebody else with pellets.
Also, it’s a good idea to wear some kind of safety glasses in case a stray pellet comes your way.
Having a plugged shotgun to limit its capacity to three shells is the law when hunting any migratory bird species, and I can tell you one thing for certain — every year, the Department of Conservation pulls staff from across the state to work the Bootheel area for the dove opener, and one of the first things the agents look for is a plugged shotgun.
Another common violation is not keeping your birds separated from your buddy’s. If you can’t prove which doves are yours and which are his or hers, you’re probably going to come home with some expensive paperwork.
The Current River Smallmouth Association held a club tournament out of Doniphan Saturday, with 20 teams taking part.
At the end of the day, the top weights were especially close.
Caringer and Kram earned the top spot with 10.47 pounds, followed closely by McAfee and Rutledge with 10.39 pounds.
Jack Rutledge also had the day’s biggest bass, which tipped the scales at 3.51 pounds.
Taking the third spot was Nicholson and Nicholson with 10.13 pounds, and fourth place went to Henderson and Henderson with 9.61 pounds.
Rounding out the tip five spots was the team of Dalton and York with 9.32 pounds.
The club’s next tournament will be held Sept. 12, based out of Van Buren.
The Wappapello Bass Circuit will host a tournament Saturday, based out of the Redman Creek ramp.
The take-off is slated for 6:30 a.m., with fishing concluding at 2 p.m.
As is usual for the circuit, a pre-event meeting to determine boat numbers will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at the Wappapello VFW off Highway D, north of the dam.
If you have questions, give Justin Buchanan a call at 573-429-6312.