If you’re out in the field tomorrow, 30 minutes before sunrise, then you know what’s up.
For those of you who don’t quite get that time reference, tomorrow is for hunters what Opening Day is to baseball fans, and what next Thursday night will be to those of us who are NFL fans.
September 1st is hunting’s version of Opening Day, and in particular, the first day of Dove Season in the many states around the country that allow dove hunting. That’s because back in 1918 the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was passed to reverse the massive decline of many birds in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It established September 1st as the earliest day you could begin hunting migratory birds, including mourning and white-winged dove.
Not only is the hunting of dove limited to a September 1st start date, but in order to hunt dove a Migratory Bird Stamp ($5) is also required, along with your state’s hunting license, of course.
Here in Arizona, dove season is no joke. And it definitely puts the ‘business’ in serious business.
The Grand Canyon State will see more hunters in the field tomorrow than at any other time during this hunting season. That’s because dove hunters are the second largest number of hunters in Arizona behind deer hunters. But that particular race has been tightening.
In speaking with Jonathan O’Dell, Migratory Game Bird Coordinator for the Arizona Game & Fish Department (AZGFD) and member of the National Dove Task Force, he explained that dove hunting it tracking upwards in Arizona and may one day overtake deer hunting for the top spot.
AZGFD recently sent out a press release on this season’s outlook, noting that, “all signs indicate that there will be birds aplenty,” which was certainly welcome news to the tens of thousands of avid dove hunters in and traveling to Arizona for opening day.
In fact, O’Dell is projecting over 60,000 Migratory Bird Stamps will be sold this season. But what’s really fascinating about that number is that up to a third of those will be for hunters headed to Yuma, Arizona.
Yuma holds a special place in all of dove hunting as the premier dove hunting destination in the nation. Or, as the city of Yuma like’s to be known, ‘The Dove Hunting Capital of the United States.’
According to O’Dell it’s the biodiversity of the Yuma region that makes it the ideal location for explosive dove numbers, both mourning and white-winged dove. Yuma has the water thanks to the Colorado and Gila rivers, agricultural fields aplenty growing small-grain crops, and citrus orchards for roosting.
Because of this, and Arizona’s climate, dove will nest five to six times a season producing up to 12 offspring. Yuma is also the only place you find colony breeding of white-winged dove.
The number of dove that hunters will see in Yuma tomorrow will be staggering. But so too is the number of hunters, not just from Arizona but from across the country. There could be 15 to 20 states, or more, represented on opening day, with a number flying into Yuma International Airport via private jet.
Dove hunting hits the Yuma economy hard. Yuma hotels are booked a year out as hunters that left after last season made their reservations for this season, and will do the same when they depart Yuma after this opening weekend. Many of these hunters aren’t simply avid dove hunters, but generational hunters whose family members have been hunting Yuma for decades, and quite possibly as far back as the early 1900s.
And with that tradition of dove hunting comes an annual economic impact spike. It is expected that Yuma will see $6 to $8 million pumped into the local economy during Arizona’s September 1–15 early dove season.
Dove hunting is even part of Yuma’s marketing plan to bring in visiting hunters. VisitYuma.com offers a list of the ‘Top 9 Things To Do In Yuma Opening Weekend’ and of course there is YumaDoveHunting.com which is probably bookmarked by every dove hunter visiting or thinking about visiting Yuma.
Nobody understands the importance of dove hunting to Yuma better than Richard Sprague of Sprague’s Sports. Sprague’s is quite literally Yuma’s dove hunting headquarters, and the host of the Big Breast Contest, which is the dove hunter version of the Big Deer Contest.
“A lot of people will gather in Yuma for the dove opener and it is a very big deal. In our store we will take care of more people in a short period of time than any other time of the year,” Sprague said regarding the rush of customers he’ll see from August 31 through September 6.
While Richard Sprague’s business, which is one of the major independent retailers in the firearms industry, has evolved over the years, it is not lost on him, or his 30 or so employees, how important their role is as outdoor ambassadors.
“The opening day of dove season is a gathering of old friends, and the meeting of new ones. We take our role very seriously because we feel like we’re the host of a big party.”
And all those old and new friends crossing the threshold of Sprague’s Sports will do so with money in hand. The biggest mover will of course be shotshells, and ammo overall, but there will also be additional sales on other products like optics, new and used guns, and accessories, naturally. Sprague even noted that, “We’ll sell upwards of 700 Big Breast t-shirts during this period.”
Michael Halleron, VP of Sales and Marketing for Fiocchi USA, agrees with Sprague on the importance of the dove opener. “Dove season is a very important market for Fiocchi and we have seen 10% growth in dove loads annually, but because the ammo market is so hot right now we remain oversold. This makes it increasingly difficult to forecast,” noted Halleron.
With shotshells shipping out of Fiocchi’s warehouse as soon as they are packaged, finding flats of shells at retail can be a challenge, so grab one – or two – whenever you can, because at a national average of five shots per bird taken your shotshells may not last long during dove season…or through opening day if you shoot like I do.
Here in Arizona dove hunting has been going on for over 100 years, and well before Arizona gained statehood in 1912. If, like me, dove hunting is ‘your jam’ then experiencing an opening day in the Grand Canyon State, and particularly in Yuma, needs to be on your bucket list – just don’t wait to the last minute to plan your trip.
As for me, I’ll be out in the fields early tomorrow morning, and a couple more times during dove season. Wish me luck…not that I hit birds but that I don’t run out of shotshells. As the kids say, ‘The struggle is real.’
Read the original article at theoutdoorwire.com.
