GEESE!!!

[AaronBlaine]

I would love to do a dove hunt I wonder if they are any good eating?

[landtracdeerhunter]

Nice pics Lawdwaz. I know that power line well.

[Lawdwaz]

I would love to do a dove hunt I wonder if they are any good eating?

Absolutely terrific to eat. I'd gladly trade a truck load of honkers for a half dozen dove.

[Avibitt]

I heard doves are delicious. Goose is pretty damn good to. I wish NY had dove hunting. However as a state the magority doesn't care. We have to go to PA. All in all I love hunting geese and other avery types.

[mike rossi]

I heard doves are delicious. Goose is pretty damn good to. I wish NY had dove hunting. However as a state the magority doesn't care. We have to go to PA. All in all I love hunting geese and other avery types.

 

Read about why the "majority" doesn't mean squat... Articles on this website  continues until you hit the Tweet / Twitter button on the bottom.

 

http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/is-lack-of-interest-credible.html

Edited September 29, 2014 by mike rossi

[Pygmy]

Nice pictures, Larry !!

I love hunting geese and I haven't even got my stamp yet..Go figure.. I'll start watching for feeding fields for the next season. In the places I hunt I often get some duck shooting too.

I love to shoot geese, but I prefer to EAT ducks..

I have two dozen shells and access to two dozen more.. (hint, hint)..

You'll have to take someone along who can shoot next time so poor Jenny will have more birds to fetch.. <<grin>>....

[Avibitt]

Ok I stand corrected. Good article.

[The_Real_TCIII]

Read about why the "majority" doesn't mean squat... Articles on this website continues until you hit the Tweet / Twitter button on the bottom.

http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/is-lack-of-interest-credible.html

So what's next?

[mike rossi]

So what's next?

Not sure I understand your question. Whats next you ask... Answer:  a new law so that falconers can use peregrine falcons instead of the several other birds currently legal to use and possess for falconry...

 

But some might find it interesting that several states have made new laws for falconers who want to use one particular bird of prey (peregrine falcon). It wasn't good enough to use a variety of other raptors, they want to use the peregrine. The laws governing falconry take into account whether the bird is native and/or its conservation status. The peregrine is a native and its status is threatened or endangered , I am not sure which or if its a federal or state listing. As a result, falconry regulations traditionally have not allowed keeping peregrines and/or using them to hunt with. 

 

Only 3,000 people nationwide participate in falconry - some states report only 3 permit holders.... I think NY told us they have 250 (but they also told us they have 10,000 trappers, lol...) A number of states passed new laws to allow the use of peregrines. What about New York? NY has legislation pending right now which will probably pass, yet they wont bother to look at dove hunting proposals....

 

What makes this even more egregious is that mourning doves are within the top ten most numerous birds in North America. By contrast, the peregrine is a listed species. People are objecting to hunting of doves, but don't flinch at allowing people to kidnap fledgling peregrines from the wild, even though they have other species they can use, they want to use the peregrine much as other hunters want to use a crossbow, muzzleloader, or what have you... When the states started doing this, they had to first get the authorization from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Obviously federal and state biologist believe this can be done without much impact, however look at the irony here: its ok to take birds considered imperiled; but not ok to take the mourning dove, considered a " species of least conservation concern", one of the most abundant, and resilient to harvest... All along NY hunters are told over and over how busy the lawmakers are, the DEC is busy, and interest in doves is low - yet they pass laws for like two people who want to use a falcon instead of a red tail hawk or any number of other birds currently legal to possess and use with a permit...

 

I am going to backtrack: Chenango Dave or someone might reply that taking a few fledgling peregrines would not effect populations because of natural deaths. I have heard falconers or biologists advocating for falconry argue this. I understand the concept of "compensatory losses to the population". However, that concept is applied to species with high reproductive rates and healthy populations -  such as mourning doves. Never before has a biologist suggested compensatory loss to justify taking a rare species and/or one with challenges such as habitat loss, poisoning, low reproductive rate, loss of genetic diversity - all plaguing peregrine falcons.

 

So you guys tell me why. How do a fraction of 3,000 people nationwide or one or two in a state out of 50 or so suggest enough "political support"  to drive a peregrine bill into law? its pretty obvious that those desiring a dove season in NY, NJ, Michigan, Connecticut, Mass, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine have been treated like second class citizens...

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Mike, It is a little disingenuous to use the work "take" in both cases. Very different results in my book. I am not that familiar with Falconry but They don't make it sound like the chicks are snatched form the nests

 

Master – the highest-level falconer license issued by DEC. To become a Master Falconer a General Falconer must serve at least five years as a General Falconer, be recommended for advancement by three Master Falconers and by the New York State Falconry Advisory Board. A Master Falconer may maintain up to three raptors for hunting, including captive-bred Peregrine falcons.

[The_Real_TCIII]

I was referring to getting a dove season, as in what are the next steps? is there a movement in place to get one?

[mike rossi]

Mike, It is a little disingenuous to use the work "take" in both cases. Very different results in my book. I am not that familiar with Falconry but They don't make it sound like the chicks are snatched form the nests

 

Master – the highest-level falconer license issued by DEC. To become a Master Falconer a General Falconer must serve at least five years as a General Falconer, be recommended for advancement by three Master Falconers and by the New York State Falconry Advisory Board. A Master Falconer may maintain up to three raptors for hunting, including captive-bred Peregrine falcons.

 

LOOK UP Senate Bill 02039

Directs the commissioner of DEC to remove peregrine falcons from the endangered species list and to promulgate regulations for their use in falconry.

 

(Several states have took great effort to allow use of peregrines and other states have pending legislation to allow it and/or broaden it, as does NY right now senate bill 02039)

 

Preamble:

I am not well-informed about falconry, but at some point it does require taking birds from the wild. Some parts within the falconry regulations make stipulations about actually the trapping of the birds. If you are implying that raising birds in captivity makes this different, I disagree. Keeping captive wildlife that is endangered or threatened is considered by most wildlife professionals to be a bad idea, except in the most dire of cases such as when populations are extremely small. Peregrines have recovered somewhat and people keeping them for hunting are not the same as conservation programs employing captive breeding for release into the wild.

 

The administration of  falconry  also requires that a disportionate amount of DEC resources, one example being facility inspections. If there are 250 falconers, and (assuming) everybody gets inspected only one time, that's 250 days - an entire years worth of salary for a conservation officer or biologist  Although falconers may be charged for a permit, they do not buy items subject to Pitman Robertson tax. The DEC bends over backwards for 250 falconers and I subsidize it. The FWS and 49 state wildlife agencies bend over backwards for 3,000 falconers and I subsidize that. And as a result, it may reduce my opportunity to see peregrine falcons in the wild... Furthermore, falconry is an esoteric activity which very, very few people have the money and other resources needed to participate.

 

Although I agree falconry is interesting and can understand why people are in to it, the intention is to debunk the widespread arguments about the lack of interest in dove hunting, the lack of money the DEC has, that its all about a show of hands, and the legislature has all these big priorities they cant find time to look at dove proposals. Furthermore captive peregrine falcons do not make biological sense yet the DEC and other agencies have still made exception, possibly an exception to the Federal Endangered Species Act - a bad precedent, for a small number of people. We also need to consider the responsibility of the DEC, in theory and to some extent by legal mandate to manage the resources in a way that distributes them as equally as possible to all people. Falconry just isn't an option for 99.9999999% of people....

Edited October 1, 2014 by mike rossi

[Dove Huntress]

I was referring to getting a dove season, as in what are the next steps? is there a movement in place to get one?

 

In 2010, 45 hunting clubs drafted separate letters in support of dove hunting and as a result the NYS Conservation Council, which is a hunting organization, built up of the individual clubs passed a resolution to pursue a dove season.  The Conservation Fund Advisory Board (CFAB) also indicated that they are pursuing a dove hunting season; however their role as a board, rather than individual sportsmen is unclear. 

                The DEC stated that if sportsmen show enough unified strength about the mourning dove issue, they would do their best to support the effort.

What NY Dove Hunting is doing: 

                First step is educational outreach. This is the same first step a wildlife agency such as DEC would take to educate public on what they want to launch.  The DEC is not involved in this educational outreach but NY Dove Hunting is.

What is NY Dove Hunting?

                NY Dove Hunting is an organization established in 2012 whose mission is to inform policy makers, build political support for dove hunting with sportsmen and the general public, engage & organize aspiring dove hunters and encourage ethical hunting attitudes and behaviors.    

NY Dove Hunting is growing and currently has a website, Facebook page, Google+ page, YouTube channel, and Twitter account.

What you can do? 

Sharing, tweeting, referring and re-posting from NY Dove Hunting website, Facebook page, Google+ page, YouTube channel, and Twitter account maximizes exposure and speeds up the unified strength and political support for dove hunting needed to establish a dove hunting season in NY.  To make a direct impact you can contact your local sporting club, talk to the DEC about your interest in a dove hunting season, and contact the state legislature and governor and voice your support for a dove season. Let them know that you want a dove hunting season.  Don’t think someone else can take care of it; everyone needs to do their part to get a dove hunting season in NY.

[Dove Huntress]

In my personal experience, geese and doves are delicious.  Geese, to me taste like roast beef -the way I make them.  Doves are so good and that I created a special spot on the NY Dove Hunting website just for the recipes.  Although a friend of mine insist on leaving the skin on and rubbing them with olive oil and adding a dash of salt and pepper, I like to create all sorts of dishes.

 

http://nydovehunting.weebly.com/dove-are-delicious.html

[mike rossi]

I was referring to getting a dove season, as in what are the next steps? is there a movement in place to get one?

 

In addition to what Dove Huntress posted; the importance of  electronic petitions should also be stressed. Once a suitable base of people are organized (5,000?) they will be asked to sign a web-based petition. We have one going right now about mute swan management and the participation indicates we are a long way away from launching a mourning dove petition. Hunters are skeptical about e-petitions for a variety of reasons, but it is essential that we grow away from that. This is going to require hunters to tell other hunters to indeed sign these petitions. Without use of this tool the dove movement will be much slower.

 

Another factor is participation in the public review phase. Even if legislative approval is granted and signed into law by the governor, the DEC will open up a proposal for a new hunting season to public review. This does NOT require physically attending meetings. It is essential that more hunters become engaged in public review periods and learn what to communicate in them. Expect a very large response by anti-hunters during a public review phase of a mourning dove hunting proposal. Hunters must meet that the best they can in numbers, but equally important is in making factual, relevant science-based public comment. Even outnumbered, better comments will add weight. Same goes for letters to newspapers. We do not advise writing the media unless dove hunting is attacked, then address that attack. This is not an issue to be on the offense with, few , if any, hunting issues are... The antis will do this to get others to make a public comment resonating with their arguments. They will also do this to intimidate legislators by producing the illusion that so many voters in the media's readership area are anti-dove hunting. It is a public opinion battle tactic they have used successfully for many decades so take it seriously and get involved.

Edited October 2, 2014 by mike rossi