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ALL of our links work, so I don't know what the error message is all about from this site. Type or paste the link into your browser - ALL our links are working! FYI: Always scroll all the way to the bottom on our website to see everything on the page. http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/legalizing-dove-hunting-and-keeping-it-legal.html

During the most radical changes in New York for deer management, which were proposed in 2015... Read the complete article: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/evaluating-the-new-york-hunting-communitys-response.html

Actually, the past year some of the 11 states have modified Sunday bans. However, we believe in Sunday hunting for all, not just bow hunters and/or private land owners. In addition to our dove effort in NY, we also are engaged in reforming Sunday, public land, firearm hunting bans. We ask persons who buy New Jersey non-resident as well as resident hunting licenses to sign our petition. If you are a non resident, include in the comments that you buy a NJ non-resident hunting licence. And, as always, inform others in your personal network about this petition and the website NJ Sunday Hunting For All. Here is the link to this petition: http://newjerseysundayhuntingforall.weebly.com/sign-the-petition-to-allow-sunday-firearm-hunting.html

Last year the DEC opened its revised mute swan plan for public comment. Little or none of the actions set forth in this plan required legislative approval. The public comment period was open for 45 days and the DEC received over 8,000 comments, mostly from animal rights advocates. NY Dove Hunting submitted comment, wrote the Legislature, the DEC, and the Governor. Before the public comment period was completed, Senator Avella and Assemblyman Cybrowitz put pressure on the DEC by introducing legislation which would prevent the DEC from implementing its mute swan strategies. Defying all common sense, this bill passed with only 25 legislators voting against it - all from the assembly; which means the entire republican majority senate also voted anti DEC. NY Dove Hunting than created a petition which was signed by about 350 persons. We submitted the petition to the governor, along with video evidence of the impacts of mute swans. In December 2015, Governor Cuomo did indeed VETO the legislation. However Avella and Cybrowitz were not willing to take no for an answer. They reintroduced the bill, with minor modifications (* see below), and it passed again. We are in the process of verifying the vote, to determine how many legislators changed their vote the second time around. We believe (ONE) senator (may) have voted against the bill the second time.Check our websites at a latter date for this information. The second bill was also VETOED by Cuomo earlier this week. Cuomo's veto message for the second bill was: "The circumstances that necessitated my disapproval have not changed". (*) 1. Prioritize non-lethal methods when dealing with mute swans 2. DEC must hold a MINIMUM of two public hearings before taking any action.

http://thebirdhuntingsociety.weebly.com/ring-necked-pheasant-ndash-invasive-species-or-valuable-gamebird.html

If you had a chance - To block a measure that would… Be harmful to native wildlife Be harmful to wetland habitats Be harmful to the conservation fund Blocks new hunting opportunity Allows Animal Rights Organizations to over-rule the DEC Emboldens animal rights organizations and sets new precedents on policy decisions Would you act on that chance? Here is your opportunity. Sign this petition and ask others to do the same! http://www.thepetitionsite.com/832/485/616/veto-s-065889-a-and-a-08790-a/

We all heard about Maine's "Question 1" which sought to ban the use of bait, hounds and foot snares to take bears... This was not the only hunting-related referendum that was up for grabs during the November 2014 general election across the US. A complete link to the story below. The most interesting and most significant IMO is Michigan Proposal 2: Proposal 2, Michigan Natural Resources Commission Referendum Michigan voters rejected two proposals on November 4 regarding hunting. Proposal 1 would .... Proposal 2 would have allowed the Natural Resources Commission to directly designate game species and determine hunting seasons, rather than game animals being designated through legislation. Remember: Michigan was the state that the HSUS ran TV ads to gather petition signatures which enabled them to allow Michigan to put the fate of dove hunting up for vote in 2006. The majority vote was to ban Michigan's newly created (two year old) dove season. What if whitetail deer hunting was put on a referendum, would the outcome differ? Read more here: http://wildlife.org/wildlife-management-issues-on-the-ballot-last-week/

NYDH Quarterly Newsletter October/November 2014 Although we do not intend to be involved with elections, we have sent out more emails than intended due to the primary and general elections. In two years, depending on what we accomplish, we might become involved with electing supportive candidates, as it is pretty apparent that if we had worked at it we could have seriously impacted the reelection of Senator Avella and Senator Grisanti. We will see how arrogant these two are in the next two years following the election, that is provided Grisanti is even reelected, which he very likely will not be. Another diversion, and reason for frequent contacts, is our attempt to petition the governor to veto the mute swan bill which passed both houses. We urge you to sign the petition and to in turn urge others to sign it. Furthermore the sporting community MUST begin to accept Electronic Petitions and stop being wary of them. After the elections and after we close the mute swan petition, we will be launching a mourning dove petition. The lack of participation with the mute swan petition is concerning, however. We urge you to also sign and forward the upcoming mourning dove petition as well! Since we are still pushing the mute swan petition; and other similar legislation is pending - for example the monk parakeet protection act, we are sending an extra newsletter that should help everyone connect the dots about how the antis are tying invasive species management and convoluting invasive biology and how it is likely to create ANOTHER obstacle to establishing a hunting season for native mourning doves. Since this invasive-themed newsletter is an extra, we again will be mailing more frequently because we have a lot of other stuff we want to get out there which is more directly related to the mourning dove hunting issue. Unless the HSUS pulls some stunt to close down the DEC pheasant farm and banning pheasant hunting in NY (again), we should be back on a regular schedule and mailing less often. However, follow our website and social media sites as we will update things weekly or even more often. Here are some articles we have published on our website since last newsletter: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/ldquowhat-is-going-on-with-getting-a-dove-season-in-nyrdquo.html http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/hunting-related-legislation.html http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/atlantic-flyway-council.html http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/eurasian-collared-dove-regulations-throughout-the-us.html http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/eurasian-collared-dove-hunting-ndash-endless-opportunity.html http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/the-common-denominator.html

We want to close our mute swan petition this month and ask for more people to help out by signing it and encouraging others to sign it. We will be launching a petition to legalize dove hunting in the near future and certainly hope the response is much better than we have had with the mute swan issue. For those of you think we are a lone wolf in this hunt, read the first link below from Maryland DNR. This has been brewing in the Atlantic Flyway for some time, including a supreme court decision in our favor. However, in NY, the legislature sided with animal rights organizations over the DEC, FWS, Atlantic Flyway Council, Universities, and large conservation organizations. The second link below is to the petition. You can read the signatures and see if you know anyone. Rick McGovern and Tom P, from this site who run the Crossbow Coalition have signed it. Rick is also on our face book page, by the way. The president of the NY Trappers Association has signed, So have many others you all know. Please also sign and share right away. Refer to this: http://www.dnr.state.md.us/dnrnews/infocus/comments.html Please sign this petition to allow NY's state wildlife agency to continue to make management decisions about mute swans that are consistent with the rest of the Atlantic Flyway Council. In addition to the importance of eradicating this deleterious introduced species; interference with policy regarding mute swans can set a precedent for politics to guide policy regarding other alien species and ultimately, all native species as well. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/832/485/616/veto-s-065889-a-and-a-08790-a/

But the game isn't over yet.... Can we at least equal the number of lawmakers whose decision we are protesting? That would be ONE more signature.... Can we equal the total number of lawmakers? That would be 26 more signatures.... Sign on at the link below and share it among hunters! http://www.thepetitionsite.com/832/485/616/veto-s-065889-a-and-a-08790-a/

If you have not signed and shared our NY Dove Hunting's Petition, please do so! The petition allows comments, but it is not at all necessary to add additional comments. We will be publishing talking points once or twice a week that could be used as comments or for individual letters to politicians and/or newspapers. Here is the first Talking Point. Talking Points on Mute Swans I) The plan of the US Fish and Wildlife Service and states within the Atlantic Flyway Council which includes NY; was to eradicate mute swans, not “manage” them. Legislation passed in June of 2014 by the NY Senate and Assembly prevent the DEC from eradicating mute swans and mandates mute swan populations are to be sustained and management efforts are to give preference to non-lethal methods. The ten year revision of mute swan strategies among the FWS and the Atlantic Flyway Council focused on addressing a failure in controlling the size and distribution of mute swan populations under current strategies. The new strategies proposed were based on Best Available Science and Best Management Practices. These strategies are not only the most effective, but less costly. New legislation forces the DEC to default to more expensive and less effective strategies. The long term costs of managing and sustaining a mute swan population will compromise conservation funds available for at-risk species, non-game species, game species and wildlife habitat. The long term costs of not using Best Available Science and Best Management Practices will compromise conservation funds available for at-risk species, non-game species, game species and their habitats. The cost of remediating mute swan impacts will compromise conservation funds available for at-risk species, non-game species, game species and their habitats. The DEC is legally mandated to remediate impacts to native wildlife and their habitats – “doing nothing” is not an option; therefore an impact to conservation funds is inevitable. http://www.thepetitionsite.com/832/485/616/veto-s-065889-a-and-a-08790-a/

I just signed the petition: "VETO S-065889-A and A-08790-A" Will you join me in supporting this issue? http://www.thepetitionsite.com/832/485/616/veto-s-065889-a-and-a-08790-a/

Sign the petition: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/832/485/616/veto-s-065889-a-and-a-08790-a/ To see more issues associated with the mute swan see NY Dove Hunting at: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/mute-swans.html

NY Dove Hunting Quarterly Newsletter July 2014 Our petition to the Governor of NY about mute swans continues until the senate delivers the bill to him. Learn more and sign the petition at: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/mute-swans.html Forty-five NY sportsmen’s organizations wrote letters of support for a dove season in 2011. Learn which clubs and read the story at: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/list-of-ny-hunting-clubs-that-support-dove-hunting.html How many mourning doves are found throughout NY and how good would the hunting be? You asked and this article answers the question: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/mourning-dove-hunting-activity--harvest-around-new-york--2012-2013-for-ontario-can.html Read about some of the mourning dove milestones that occurred across North America: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/mourning-dove-hunting-milestones.html

Post them up. Probably best to leave out the auto-replies though...

NY Dove Hunting has a new website. We launched a website to go along with our face book page. Please take a look, tell others about it and also like out face book page. Here is the link: http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/

In September, 2013, we announced that Ontario, Canada, set a mourning dove hunting season. Scott Petrie, who is a member of our page and Executive Director of Long Point Waterfowl, was active in establishing the policy. Long Point Waterfowl is a migratory bird research organization. Here is a link to the report he compiled in support of dove hunting in Ontario. http://longpointwaterfowl.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/CWS-ON-MODO-Popn-Assessment-Sept-2011.pdf

Pheasant Controversy is Growing As awareness about the negative impacts of invasive species is increasing, anti-hunters are using this legitimate issue to invalidate conservation efforts as well as stocking of game birds that are not native, yet not deemed a deleterious invasive species. Far from invasive, their populations are actually contracting like the native non game they share habitat niches with. That is why the criticized conservation efforts are stepped up. And the same conservation projects that help ring-necked pheasant, gray partridge, and chukar partridge, also help other grassland or early successional species, a few examples being: bluebirds, song sparrows, field sparrows, goldfinches, red-winged black birds, common yellow throat, eastern meadowlark, grasshopper sparrow, bobolink, savannah sparrow, and Henslow’s sparrow. First let’s discuss conservation. In NY the Wild Pheasant Focus Area; which is slightly smaller than Pennsylvania’s Wild Pheasant Recovery Area; consists of 150,000 acres and spans 13 counties. For reference New York City is 195,000 acres. Not only do a variety of species benefit from the 150,000 acres of somewhat contiguous habitat of the Wild Pheasant Focus Area; but the DEC also maintains early successional habitat on state wildlife management areas elsewhere in the state, including over 120 sites used for the state pheasant stocking program. Maintenance of habitat diversity is not restricted to pheasant release sites, however pheasant hunting provides both funding and political support for many projects and it is arguable that without pheasant hunters the state would have less early successional habitat. Keep in mind the word ‘maintenance’ is operant. To maintain early successional habitat it must be disked, mowed, or burned every three to four years. It is actually desirable to mow every year in the late summer, generally after wildlife have reared their young. Not only does this facilitate hunters and their dogs, but by removing the browning cool season grasses it stimulates warm season grasses and bee-loving flowers. Maintenance is not free and though critics of hunting continue to claim that conservation revenues generated by hunting are insignificant, the fact is that they are vital to conservation funding. The vast pool of knowledge about wildlife and habitat we have would never have been obtained in the first place if it was not for hunter’s dollars, a sadly overlooked fact. Note: It would be impossible for any alien species not to compete at all with native species. Almost no impact has been suggested for chukar and gray partridge. Pheasant roosters have been known to harass Prairie Chickens when on their leks and hen pheasants known to lay their eggs in Prairie Chicken nests. This will be an issue anti-hunters will grand-stand on, because recently (April 2014) the Lesser Prairie Chicken became a federally listed species. However, the issue with Prairie Chickens has always been habitat. Conversion of native grasslands (prairie) into range land and crop land did not have as much effect on the ring-necked pheasant or the prairie chicken’s cousin; the sharp-tailed grouse. Other factors have entered recently as well. In 2013 the amount of land enrolled in the conservation reserve program shrunk from the size of the state of NY to the size of the state of Delaware. A lot of this had to do with the demand for corn for ethanol production, but also uncertainty with the Farm Bill status. At the same time another major landscape change occurred with the expansion of the natural gas and oil industry which fragmented the little remaining native grassland prairie chickens require. The moral of the story is that ring-necked pheasants may have impacted prairie chickens, but other factors surfaced with much bigger impacts. Also refer to the following links for information about the Federal Injurious Species List and the Lacey Act: http://www.fws.gov/injuriouswildlife/ http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ans/current_listed_iw.pdf http://www.fws.gov/fisheries/ans/pdf_files/Current_Listed_IW.pdf

What You Should Know By Now Engaging the Outdoor Writers Association and the NY Outdoor Writers Association is essential to building what the DEC describes as “political support for dove hunting”. However, keep in mind only hunters read what is published by outdoor writers and that is probably a good thing because they are not always politically or biologically correct. The outdoor writers can sell the sporting community on the idea that dove hunting is great recreation, but that is the extent of their usefulness. What is foremost is that to engage the outdoor writers requires sponsoring quality guided hunts for them to sample dove hunting. In other words, either take them hunting out of state or send them on a guided hunt that we pay for. Notice the word ‘quality hunt’ is operant. The absolute necessity to foster broad-based public support for dove hunting. As stated above, only hunters read the outdoor writer’s junk. The public majority is who will decide if dove hunting occurs in NY; not the sporting minority, nor the anti-hunting community. Outreach must also be aimed at the public at large and that requires different writing styles and content than the hunting rags. While we are doing this, the anti-hunters will also be trying to influence public opinion, however they will be better funded and more organized. Awareness of the negative impact on broad-based support and influence on public opinion caused by certain hunter behaviors, political stances, attitudes, beliefs, statements, photographs, and videos. How anti-hunters use newspapers to influence public opinion and politicians. When to write to newspapers and when NOT to write to newspapers. How to search the internet for newspaper editorials relevant to dove hunting. Rebuttals to the anti-dove hunting rhetoric of the HSUS, which is the Humane Society of the United States, the world’s largest and heavily funded anti-hunting organization which is very active in the state of NY and the major player in blocking dove hunting in many states for over 40 years. What a DEC Plan is… What a public comment period is… Some DEC regulations require a legislative change or approval and others do not. A legislative change requires a bill… What a bill is… What a bill hearing is and how your communication with the state senate and assembly members can be used in hearings. What the two environmental conservation committees are, who are the chairpersons and the other members, and their contact information.

If you convince a senator or assemblyman the facts are important they will ask the bill sponsors some tough questions and try to persuade other lawmakers ... This is why we should write politicians with factual statements.... Its not just numbers and when you don't have the numbers you must have the facts... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c8uOvlIEyc

Timeline 1970’s NY declares the mute swan a migratory game bird, but no hunting season is established. Early 1990s: USFWS creates a mute swan strategy in concert with states in the Atlantic Flyway including NY. During the decade of 1990 NY adopts a mute swan management plan. 2014 NY creates a revised mute swan management plan and opens the plan to public comment through February 21, 2014. In early February around the time public comment was first solicited, various media sources began airing or publishing unfavorably biased messages about the plan throughout the state. Numerous online petitions and letter writing campaigns opposing the DEC’s plan were launched. Local newspapers and the Dec’s face book page were bombarded by letters and posts criticizing the DEC’s plan. On February 19, 2014, even before the comment period ended, and certainly before the plan was finalized and adopted, two legislative bills were introduced which would impose a moratorium on the DEC’s plan. On February 28, 2014, the DEC announced that there will be a revision of the draft plan and another public comment period on the revised mute swan plan, and that because of the comment received on the first draft, the revision will contain non-lethal strategies. This could mean the state is abandoning the goal set among the Atlantic Flyway Council to eliminate the state’s population. Action we took: (What we’ve done = What we want you do) We summarized the process from the start and as it evolved; and made those reports available to our network. We recommended ‘Talking Points’ and created several form letters. We tracked newspaper articles and responded to them in writing with factual information. We participated in the public comment phase by submitting written comment. We all must do this again with the upcoming revised draft and in response to any future mourning dove proposals. In other words, make it a habit… How this ties in with establishing a mourning dove hunting season in NY: Expect a similar response from the non-hunting public to any Dove legislation and/or Mourning Dove Management Plans. Perhaps the emotion will be even stronger for doves, but certainly anti-hunters have gained experience, confidence, and increased the size of their networks during the public opinion battle about mute swan management. Review the timeline and expect things to evolve the same way, perhaps with even more opposition. In the 2014 mute swan management plan, the DEC announced only seven days after the end of the comment period, that they were revising their plan to accommodate those opposed to lethal control. Which we believe might mean the whole plan is undermined, as the goal was to eliminate free ranging mute swans, not “control” the populations. One can argue that sterilization will eventually lead to extirpation, but until we see the revised plan we remain skeptical. Without an organized and coordinated response we will continue to lose these public opinion battles. What could we and/or the DEC do differently? Part of the DEC’s plan included an outreach strategy. However, the outreach must be done before a plan is presented for public comment, not as a strategy of the plan. The first step must be substantial education campaigns directed at the public and lawmakers. By the time the public and lawmakers review a management plan, they have already been exposed to unscientific propaganda. They must get their information about mute swans and mourning doves from sources other than newspapers and animal rights organizations. Each individual sportsman who invests in a little learning can be that other source of information. It is also important to engage other sportsmen in these issues. Inform them about the negative impacts of mute swans and tell them about the thrills of hunting and eating mourning doves. However, rest assured; it will be the public at large, not the sporting community, who decides whether or not the hunting of doves will occur in NY. The DEC's first draft mute swan plan, although there was some divide, had the backing of large conservation/bird watching organizations. Yet animal-rights activists succeeded in exerting enough political pressure to persuade the DEC to not only modify their plan, but likely also to abandon the underlining goal of eliminating mute swans in the state of NY, a goal agreed upon by the Atlantic Flyway Council and followed by other states in the flyway jurisdiction.

Just saw this: In response to the outpouring of public interest in the Draft Mute Swan Management Plan, the plan will be revised and opened up for a second round of comments. DEC is still reviewing the 1500+ comments, but hopes to have the revised draft for public comment available in the spring. A summary of our response to the many questions, concerns and ideas expressed by the people of New York State is being prepared and will be posted on DEC's website. See today's press release: http://www.dec.ny.gov/press/95792.html

Tony Avela: See other Post about him. And the following: Bookmark this link: http://votesmart.org/interest-group/2018/rating/5887%20-%20.UxC4MHmA3IU#.UxDDwnmA3IV Brian Curran Supports preventing the DEC from managing mute swans as per personal communication, via email. Voted For the SAFE Act Narrowly elected last election and will again be opposed by: http://www.friedmanforassembly.com/ FYI https://trackbill.com/legislator/NY/2013/3363/brian-curran http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/Brian-Curran/sponsor/ Note: Link directly above does not indicate Curran is a cosponsor of A-8790; however Brian Curran told us via email that he is requesting to be a cosponsor. http://ballotpedia.org/Brian_Curran_(New_York) https://www.facebook.com/AssemblymanBrianCurran http://votesmart.org/candidate/127875/brian-curran#.UxCwt3mA3IV https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/127875/brian-curran/5/animal-rights-and-wildlife-issues#.UxCwuXmA3IV Fred Thiele http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Thiele http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/Fred-W-Thiele-Jr/bio/ http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/4279/fred-thiele-jr#.UxC3NHmA3IU http://votesmart.org/interest-group/2018/rating/5887#.UxC4MHmA3IU FYI Supports TNT and maintenance of feral cat colonies Endorsed by Goose Watch NYC along with Assemblyman Steve Englebright Introduced legislation to allow local governments and counties to ban or regulate trapping Joseph Saladino http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Saladino http://votesmart.org/candidate/44187/joseph-saladino#.UxC9c3mA3IU http://lohv-ny.org/events/LegBreak2011/2011LegBreak.report.htm Steve Cymbrowitz http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Cymbrowitz https://votesmart.org/candidate/key-votes/55177/steven-cymbrowitz#.UxDBLnmA3IU Kenneth Lavalle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_LaValle https://votesmart.org/candidate/4238/kenneth-lavalle?categoryId=5&filter=['V', 'S', 'R', 'E', 'F', 'P']#.UxDCyXmA3IU https://www.facebook.com/kenlavalle

This is the dude who opposes the Holley squirrel hunt and the DEC's Mute Swan Plan. He is endorsed by the HSUS and is known to be anti-hunting, worse yet he is on the senate environmental conservation committee. http://politicker.co...ella-challenge/ http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/swan-eradication-plan-birds-state-sen-tony-avella-article-1.1614658 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Avella

This is the dude who opposes the Holley squirrel hunt and the DEC's Mute Swan Plan. He is endorsed by the HSUS and is known to be anti-hunting, worse yet he is on the senate environmental conservation committee. http://politicker.com/2014/02/democrats-already-mulling-tony-avella-challenge/