Photo by Mike Marsh.

Break out the coolers, dust off your shotgun and shoot a few clay targets, because Illinois’ dove hunting season is near. It’s time once again to bruise those shoulders while being out-maneuvered by a speeding gray blur in the sky. Oh, but what fun it is!

Dove season is always highly anticipated here in the Prairie State. Unfortunately, not everyone takes advantage of the great opportunities we have here to challenge this grand fall speedster. Most dove hunters expend most of their efforts right at the start of the season, and then participation rapidly tapers off after just a few days. However, by scouting smart and following bird movements throughout Illinois, there is much more hunting out there to be had.

Mourning doves are Illinois’ most widely distributed and abundant game bird. They are a migratory bird, but increasingly, they are overwintering within this state’s boundaries. However, they do still migrate and move a great deal throughout the season. Hunters who keep up with this movement can stay successful.

Illinois has good numbers of doves every year. The numbers remain stable and are actually documented to be slowly increasing over time, according to data from the breeding-bird surveys and spring mourning dove call counts. Harvest figures also show doves and dove hunting to be in great shape in the Prairie State.

Accurate kill estimates go back as far as the mid-1950s. The mourning dove harvest in Illinois generally averages around 1.5 million birds per year, with totals exceeding 2 million from 1969 through 1973. In those years, dove hunter numbers ranged between 108,000 and 130,000, while they are currently between 70,000 and 80,000. Dove hunters generally average about five trips per season and kill around 20 birds per year.

Migrating doves will usually begin arriving in Illinois in February, according to Illinois Department of Natural Resources upland wildlife biologist John Cole. Cole said the birds typically nest three times per year, with about two eggs per nest. In a good year, nesting birds will produce around four or five fledgling young during the breeding season.

Doves will begin establishing flocks throughout July and August. Bird migration will generally begin when nighttime temperatures start dropping below 50 degrees. However, Cole said their migration is not as striking or abrupt as other species. They will generally only move about 10 to 20 miles per day.

Northern Illinois hunters are at the greatest disadvantage because doves will typically begin moving out of the area by mid-September. With opening day being Sept. 1, this only gives hunters in the northern part of the state about one or two weeks with plenty of doves in the area. Federal regulations prevent the opening date being moved up before Sept. 1.

Another factor that contributes to dove movement is crop and grain harvest.

“In August and September, birds tend to be concentrated around early ripening crops planted for hunting like sunflower and millet,” Cole said. “But when corn and soybean harvest begins, doves disperse over the countryside and feed in harvested grain fields. This usually puts an end to the heavy concentrations of birds around the sunflower fields.”

Mourning doves make use of many different habitats and food sources. They inhabit both urban and rural areas. In rural areas, they nest in shrubby pastures, fencerows, wood lots and farmsteads. In towns, they make extensive use of landscape plantings.

They also feed on many types of waste grains and weed seeds. Spilled grains from row-crop fields are a primary draw for doves. When the fall harvest begins, doves scatter out and can be hard to pattern in large numbers. Although cooling weather moves doves out of northern Illinois, they tend to stay longer in the middle and southern parts of the state, with some even staying throughout the winter. But they can be tough to hunt after the crops are harvested, even if the temperatures remain mild.