Tracking rainfall can help hunters bag more doves

Nevada's mourning dove hunting season begins Sept. 1, and hunters should expect to see bird numbers similar to those from the 2009 season.

According to the 2010 population status report issued by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, "There was no evidence of a change in dove abundance in the WMU, or within any state in the WMU, during the last two years." The WMU, or Western Management Unit, comprises the seven western states -- Arizona, Utah, California, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Nevada.

If this abundance proves to be true, Nevada's sportsmen can expect to bag about 43,000 mourning doves during the monthlong season. That figure is based on harvest data gathered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife for the 2008 and 2009 hunting seasons, years in which hunters bagged an estimated 45,000 and 41,500 doves. Arizona hunters will collect nearly 800,000 doves and California hunters more than a million.

Harvest numbers are generated through the FWS's annual HIP survey, which is made possible through the Migratory Bird Harvest Information Program that requires sportsmen to obtain a HIP number each year before hunting migratory birds.

"Under HIP, states provide the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with the names and addresses of all licensed migratory bird hunters each year and then surveys are conducted to estimate harvest and hunter participation (total harvest, number of active hunters, total days afield and seasonal harvest per hunter) in each state," the status report said.

Based on the most recent HIP survey, the total national harvest estimate for the 2009 mourning dove season is about 17.3 million birds. They were taken by 974,000 hunters, who spent a total of 2.9 million days afield.

As I sat down to write this column, the clouds of a summer thunderstorm darkened the sky south of the Las Vegas Valley. If the monsoonal weather pattern that generated that storm continues, or even comes and goes between now and Opening Day, you might need to make a significant change in your hunting strategy.

For those of you who might be new to dove hunting, a traditional approach to bagging these acrobatic birds is to find a stand somewhere along a flight path between a food source and a water source, get comfortable and wait for the birds to fly by.

But if thunderstorms continue to pass through Southern Nevada, finding birds could be a challenge. Late summer rains will replenish the desert's natural water tanks or tenajas, dry lake beds, stock tanks and old water troughs.

Doves will water at any of these or even a shallow mud puddle. This will allow them to spread out over larger areas and make hunting difficult.

If the storm flow continues, monitor the weather reports and keep track of where rain is falling and where it isn't. Areas that remain fairly dry or receive spotty rains might be a good bet, especially if there is an existing water source in the area.

Several years ago, late summer storms filled some old stock tanks I know of that are surrounded by a small grove of mesquite trees. My wife's cousin and I still hunted through the trees in the middle of the day and nearly filled our legal bag. Every once in a while, if the rains come, I go back for more.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His "In the Outdoors" column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.