Hunted or not ?? I have read many a survey on this.

What's the thoughts of the bird hunters out there ?

Plenty of Doves here in DE and MD. Protected in NJ.

Not near the birds in my area that we saw 20 years ago.

South Central NE had a lot of doves. They were considered a migratory bird so you had to have a stamp to hunt them. There were always plenty around hemp patches.

I read a morning dove only lives two years. Our numbers seem to be down here, even where crops are grown to attract them.

Though Doves are migratory birds, they are considered game birds, not Waterfowl so you do not need a Federal "Duck" Stamp to hunt them. Most States do require a "Conservation Stamp" though :-)

I would bet 90+ % do not live to be a year old. Does every state require HIP registration?

Pennsylvania requires a Migratory Game Bird License in addition to your regular hunting license to hunt doves, woodcock also.

Most hunted game bird in the country. Always seems to be plenty around here.

The dove opener at the beginning of September has traditionally been a pretty big deal around here. I've hunted them most of my life.

If I understand your question correctly you are wondering if hunting effects the overall mortality rate of mourning doves? Probably not much, if at all. Due to high natural mortality, and rapid turnover of the population, most of the kill is compensatory mortality. Birds that would have died anyway.

Mourning doves are North America's most abundant game bird.
More doves than ever hereabouts.
I've watched them hatch out seven pairs of eggs in one summer.
If each pair was producing a dozen chicks each year and they didn't have high mortality, we'd soon be waist deep in dove poop.

70% I seen years ago on doves and squirrels have a higher rate then you would think.

We have plenty doves year around.

Not as many doves to hunt as there was 10 years ago

dropping like flys in AZ from the heat last month.

The hotter the summer the better our dove opener usually is

The week before the season opens here they gather up and most are gone by the opener most years.

Peace and wuv, make wuv to a dove.

-Elmer Fudd circus 1969

A fairly large amount of doves stay here all year. Large numbers of mourning doves eat the corn I put out to bait deer. They love ragweed seeds.

The largest numbers of doves show up at Winter wheat fields in July, as the wheat is harvested. It's before dove season starts, which is a shame because great numbers could be harvested.

Keith