Outdoors column: Slim pickings again for dove season

Another Labor Day weekend is approaching, and with it comes another mourning dove season of slim pickings for dove hunters in the Grand Strand area who hunt on public fields.

The final holdout among public dove fields in Horry and Georgetown counties - Samworth Wildlife Management Area in Georgetown County - fell victim to staff and budget cuts within the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and will be closed for the 2010-11 dove season.

The Waccamaw River Heritage Preserve located near Wortham's Ferry and the Brooksville community in Horry County was closed last year for the 2009-10 dove season and remains closed, leaving no public dove fields open in Horry or Georgetown county.

"It's a direct result of lack of staff," said Sam Chappelear, S.C. DNR Wildlife Regional Coordinator for Region 4 (coastal South Carolina). "These staff [members] have more duties than planting dove fields. Unfortunately there is nothing this year in Horry or Georgetown. We will reopen [Samworth] as soon as we get the staff, and the budget is going to dictate that. Hopefully we can get some funding and go back to planting them. Our intent is to do so when we get staff back on board."

Dove hunters in the two-county area who use public fields have no choice but to travel to hunt this season, which opens Sept. 4. The mourning dove season dates in South Carolina are Sept. 4-6 (noon until sunset); Sept. 7-Oct. 9; Nov. 20-27 and Dec. 21-Jan. 15. Legal hunting hours, except for Sept. 4-6, are from 30 minutes before sunrise until sunset. The daily bag limit remains at 15 birds per day.

The details of the closest public dove fields to the Grand Strand follow:

Florence | Santee Cooper-Pee Dee Station Site Wildlife Management Area, 60 acres. Field is located in Kingsburg 4.7 miles north of U.S. 378 off State Road 57. Field is on left (33°56'22.691/2 -79°29'45.371/2). 1st, 2nd and 3rd Seasons;

Saturdays only. Dove hunting only. Call 843-661-4768 for more information.

Darlington | DeWitt Property, 50 acres. From Interstate 20 (Exit 137) go south on S.C. 340 (toward Timmonsville) 2.1 miles to Meander Road. Take a right on Meander Road and go 1.7 miles to Lake Swamp Road. Take a right on Lake Swamp Road and go 0.5 miles to Oak Stump Road. Bear left on Oak Stump Road, and the field is 1 mile on the left. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Seasons - Wednesdays. Dove hunting only. Call 843-661-4768 for more information.

Berkeley | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Canal WMA (Above Powerhouse), 60 acres. From St. Stephen take S.C. 45 west for 1.5 miles or continue to County Road 35. Go left about 0.3 miles. Sept 4, 18; Oct. 2; Nov. 20. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Canal WMA (Below Powerhouse), 40 acres. From St. Stephen take S.C. 45 East for 2.5 miles. Turn Left on first paved road, (Arrowhead Landing Road). Sept 4, 18; Oct. 2; Nov. 20. Dove hunting only. Call 843-825-3387 for more information.

Hunters participating in public dove hunts on DNR Wildlife Management Area dove fields should be aware of special regulations in place on these fields. No entry is allowed on public fields before noon. Hunters will be restricted to 50 shells per hunt on all Wildlife Management Area public dove fields, and shooting hours will end at 6 p.m. on all public fields during the first segment of the South Carolina dove season (Sept. 4-Oct. 9).

Individuals who plan to hunt on public dove fields will need a South Carolina hunting license and a Wildlife Management Area permit. Also, all persons hunting migratory birds (including doves) are required to have a migratory bird permit. Migratory bird permits can be obtained free of charge at all hunting and fishing license vendors.

Two years ago, there were 51 public dove fields open across the state, but that number has dwindled to 42 fields for the 2010-11 season. For a county-by-county listing of public dove fields in the state, visit www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/dove/pdf/dovefields1011.pdf.

Dove Banding | The S.C. DNR Wildlife Section has been involved in a multistate banding project on mourning doves to improve information on dove life history since 2003.

Over 30 states are participating in the project, which has resulted in over 230,000 doves being banded since the study's inception. Biologists use survival rates, harvest rates, recruitment rates and population trends to help guide harvest management decisions and banding is one of the most important tools used to obtain this information.

Doves are captured and banded at more than 35 sites across South Carolina each year. Captured birds are marked with a metal leg band containing a unique number and the 1-800-327-BAND telephone number, which hunters can use to report the band. Since 2003, personnel from DNR, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies have banded more than 13,500 doves across the Palmetto State.

Hunters are a critical link in the success of the banding study. By reporting any banded doves harvested, hunters add valuable information that will assist in the management of this important migratory bird resource. Hunters who harvest a banded mourning dove should call 1-800-327-BAND (1-800-327-2263) to report the band number. Banded birds may also be reported online at www.reportband.gov. Hunters can keep the bands and will be provided a certificate identifying the age and sex of the bird, as well as the date and location the bird was banded.

Mourning doves are among the most abundant birds in South Carolina and are second only to deer in hunting popularity in the state. Each year in South Carolina, about 45,000 dove hunters harvest around 900,000 doves. The estimated continental population of mourning doves is more than 375 million birds.

For more information on the dove banding project, call the S.C. Department of Natural Resources Small Game Project in Columbia at 803-734-3609 or visit DNR's Mourning Dove Research and Management page at www.dnr.sc.gov/wildlife/dove/index.html.