Dove numbers appear up in popular
Southern California hunting areas

By JIM MATTHEWS
Outdoor News Service

Field observations from Southern California desert areas point to generally good dove hunting season opener on September 1, with many popular locations holding more birds than at the same time last year.
“It’s looking awesome. There seems to have been an excellent hatch of birds this year,” said Richard Sprague, owner of Sprague’s Sports in Yuma, Ariz., which would be the epicenter of dove hunting if it were an earthquake.
While Sept. 1 is the only hunting opener shared by all 39 states that have a dove hunting season, the deserts of Southern California and Arizona probably attract more hunters than any other region of the country. It’s estimated that approximately 100,000 hunters flock to the deserts of these two states opening day, harvesting nearly two million doves over the course of the split season. Those numbers represent 10 percent of the nationwide total of both dove hunters and dove harvest.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service staff points out that the 20 million doves harvested each year by hunters are but a small bite out of the estimated nationwide population of a half-billion doves, and hunter take has no impact on the birds’ overall numbers, which have been almost unchanged over the past decade.
Hunters flock to Yuma from a five-state region because it holds so many birds each year for the opener. But there’s another reason too: Whitewings. While whitewing dove might migrate south out of desert areas further to the north, the fields around this desert community on the lower Colorado River generally hold whitewings throughout the first 15 days of the early season. It’s one of the few places where hunters can assure themselves a chance at these bigger doves.
The second most popular location is the Imperial Valley in California, which has nearly all of the attributes of Yuma – millions of mourning doves, lots of whitewings, generally accessible hunting areas – but one big drawback: the Imperial Valley has bigger crowds of hunters.
Leon Lesicka expects the public dove hunting areas in the north end of the Imperial Valley will probably attract over 4,000 hunters this year. Lesicka is the godfather of Desert Wildlife Unlimited (DWU), which leased and planted these fields with dove feed, working in cooperation with the Department of Fish and Game, Quail Unlimited, and other conservation groups.
Like last year, Lesicka said there were 32 fields planted, clustered in 17 locations in the Imperial Valley. All of these locations are on private land, but a cooperative effort with the landowner and the DWU has allowed for public hunting use. Maps of these fields are available throughout the region and hunters can download copies from the DWU web site (www.desertwildlifeunlimited.com, click on “things to know” and then “field map”).
“There are a lot of doves along the (East) Highline Canal like normal,” said Lesicka. “But there are doves on the other fields as well in good numbers this year. In fact, there are doves all over the valley this year. It looks really good.”
Ed Rister, a guide who hunts doves around his Niland duck and goose lease, was impressed with what he saw in scouting this week. “Man, there are doves just everywhere.”
Further up the Colorado River, hunting in the Blythe to Palo Verde region looks like it should also been pretty good this year.
“Dove use has been pretty high in the Palo Verde Valley,” said Conrad Jones, a Department of Fish and Game biologist in Blythe, “But the whitewings have already started to migrate out. I’d bet there’s just 20 percent of the big birds that were here two weeks ago, but we still have a really healthy population of mourning doves.”
Bilroy Phipps, a Blythe hunter, echoed what Jones said about dove numbers in the valley. “It seems like there are birds everywhere. The problem we have is not birds, but access.”
Phipps said that more and more of the farm fields in the valley are being posted, but there is enough public land in the area to provide good hunting spots for those who do a little scouting before the Saturday opening day.
Bill Seese, the refuge manager at the Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, said the Island Unit and the Farm Fields (both on the Arizona side of the river) were holding a lot of doves, especially whitewings.
“We’ve got a good population of doves and the crops to hold them as long as they want to be here,” said Seese.
Seese reminded hunters who hunt Cibola that non-toxic shot is required for all bird hunting on the refuge, not just for waterfowl.
Outside of these three main Southern California waterfowl hunting areas, the outlook for doves is far less bright.
The Indio region is almost totally posted, with hunting allowed only on Bureau of Land Management lands adjacent to farm fields and citrus groves, and doves, while showing up in good numbers, are mostly inaccessible.
The San Jacinto Wildlife Area in western Riverside County is predicted to be slow to fair by Scott Sewell, a DFG biologist at the wildlife area. Sewell said the winter grain fields planted this year did not come up at all because of the lack of rain, so there are few food plots to attract birds. The good news is that the entire area will be open to dove hunters for the first two days of the hunting season. This is a first and Sewell said he hopes to make this a tradition.
At Camp Cady, an unstaffed wildlife area along the Mojave River east of Barstow, equipment problems and drought mean no grain fields were planted for doves this year and the number of birds using the area is very minimal. “There are more vultures than doves,” said a Quail Unlimited volunteer who has been working at the area. Last year, Cady was a hotspot the first two days of the season with a lot of hunters shooting limits.
Dove numbers in the desert are also scanty this year in both the east and west Mojave. While Quail Unlimited volunteers reported seeing a few doves at desert springs and guzzlers, numbers have been declining daily for the past month as birds moved to areas with more water and feed. Camp Cady was holding a tremendous number of whitewings early this summer, but those birds moved out after the first thunderstorm in July.
“I’m very optimistic we’re going to have an excellent season – but it is still almost two weeks to the opener,” said Sprague of the Yuma region hunt.
It was if he was straining to see if he could hear thunder in the background while talking.
Lesicka echoed almost the same worry. “Mark my words: the day before the season opens a store will come through and all the birds --” then he started laughing.
Conventional wisdom says that monsoon rains in August are the trigger that moves the migratory doves south into Mexico for the winter. The good news is that it never moves all the doves south. The bad news is that whitewings can just about disappear almost overnight.
But if you’re hunting the Palo Verde Valley, Imperial Valley or Yuma region, the whitewing card is the only real gamble in the game.
CALIFORNIA SEASON: The dove hunting season in California is split, as usual, running from Sept. 1 through 15. It will then close and reopen Nov. 10 and run through Dec. 24. The limit is 10 doves per day, and whitewings may only be taken in San Bernardino, Riverside, and Imperial counties.
EURASIAN COLLARED DOVES: Hunters are again reminded that Eurasian collared doves are likely to be encountered on their hunts this year. The invasive, non-native birds will considered part of the 10-bird bag in California this year (and a feathered wing must be left attached), but in Arizona, the big, pigeon-like doves are now managed with a year-around season and no limit.
Last year it was California that had no limit or season on the birds while Arizona had a 25-bird limit. This year it’s California that has a season and limit on the Eurasians. Go figure.
CALIFORNIA AND ARIZONA HUNTING HOURS: Hunting hours in California are from one-half hour before sunrise to sunset, while Arizona cuts off its dove hunting at noon during the Sept. 1-15 early season. Arizona’s second season runs from Nov. 23 to January 6, and hunting hours are the same as California then.
ARIZONA, INDIAN LICENSES: Califonia hunters going to Arizona need to have an Arizona license. A three-day license is $61.25 this year and hunters need to have a dove stamp this year, which is an additional $4.50. A season non-resident license is $151.25 this year. The daily bag limit on doves is 10 birds in Arizona, of which no more than six can be whitewings. If you hunt in both California and Arizona, or on an Indian reservation, you can still not have more than 10 doves in your possession opening day. The possession limit after opening day is 20 doves.
Hunters must leave a feathered wing attached to their doves in California and Arizona.
Hunting is allowed on a number of Indian reservations along the Colorado River with the most popular being the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) Reservation between the I-40 bridge and Parker. A CRIT license is $75 annually this year, but there are no short-term licenses. Hunters who stay on CRIT lands in Arizona do not need an Arizona state license.
CRIT licenses are available at the YellowMart in Blythe, according to Mary Bradley, who runs the sporting goods section of the store, and she said there are a lot of wheat fields on the reservation this year, which should make for excellent hunting.
Bradley said the store is also carrying steel shot for hunters going to Cibola.
BIG BREAST CONTEST: Sprague’s Sports in Yuma will be hosting it’s 19th Annual Big Breast Contest and open house Sept. 1 and 2. Each year, there is a fun competition among hunters to weigh in the biggest dove breast. The event is usually won by a whitewing dove, and Richard Sprague said Eurasian collared doves were not eligible in the contest this year. More information at www.spragues.com.
The Yuma Rod and Gun Club will be having its opening day barbecue and raffle starting at noon Saturday, Sept. 1 at the American Legion Post 19 hall in Yuma. The event is $10 and features a huge raffle.
Sprague’s also will be selling tickets for the annual 100-gun dove opener raffle, held Sept. 3 and sponsored by the Yuma Catholic High School (proceeds benefit the school’s athletic programs). The tickets are $20 a pop.

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