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Show Dove Season Underway In Utah; Ends September 30 Mourning dove season in Utah began the upland game hunting for 1976 with opening day Wednesday. Legal shooting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. (See proclamation for specific times each day.) Dove season is open through September 30. Bag and possession limits are 10 and 20 respectively. The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently reported that mounrlng dove populations have risen slightly in the " western two thirds of the United States. It also indicates that the mourning dove is one of the few native species which has increased in number since the arrival of the white man. Utah Wildlife Resources Upland Game Supervisor, Darrell Nish said that breeding density indexes established on call-count surveys tend to indicate that Utah's population of 'doves is the same or perhaps slightly higher than last year. The 1975 dove hunting was an all-time record with 420,308 birds harvested. "Last year's late spring weather caused late nesting activities and consequently more birds were in Utah during the hunt. We have experienced very favorable weather conditions this year and therefore expect good nesting results and good numbers of doves for the hunt," said Nish. Although the peak dove population is evident in Utah a little before the season opens (peak numbers are usually apparent in early to middle August), the September 1 opening date corresponds with the earliest possible opening date provided for in the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act Utah's most productive dove hunting is found in the West desert areas usually centering around watering holes. Migrating doves fly into watering holes in early morning and evening hours. The mourning dove has been classified by the Fish and Wildlife Service as the single most important game bird in the United States (In terms of harvest). The average autumn population nationwide is about 500 million birds, almost as numerous as blackbirds and starlings which peak at about 600 million. By comparison, waterfowl ducks and geese usually number about 100 million birds during fall migration. |