Several hunting seasons set to open Sept. 1

A mourning dove atop it’s favorite food, sunflowers.

Photo courtesy of Missouri Dept. of Conservation

It’s hard to believe that in less than a month many hunting seasons will open, starting with dove, rail and snipe on Sept. 1.

Gun season will start off with a big bang, opening Labor Day Weekend. Of course, squirrel season has been open since May 27, but most hunting doesn’t get going until dove season each Sept. 1.

The dove season will continue through Nov. 29 with a daily limit of 15 birds and possession limit of 45. Along with the mourning dove there are two other doves that are legal game. The less popular and, much smaller in numbers are the white-winged and Eurasian collared dove — which counts in the daily and possession limit should a hunter encounter them.

Jack Gardner, a veteran dove hunter of more than 40 seasons, loved to hunt doves and also loved to fish. Gardner recently told me, “I can’t believe it’s less than a month before the dove season will be open. Schools will be starting and the Kansas City Chiefs will be playing. I still have a lot of fishing I want to do before the hunting starts.”

Gardner is like a lot of outdoorsmen who combine fishing with dove hunting. Last year he took limits of bass, crappie and dove on the same trip.

“When September gets here, I take my shotgun along when I fish some of my favorite farm ponds,” said Gardner. “There have been too many times when I didn’t have a gun and the doves were everywhere. There have also been times when I have just took my gun to hunt doves and have some friends at the pond catching fish.”

Gardner continued: “I have a place in the Ozarks where I can fish from the bank, catch bluegill, bass and maybe a catfish while watching the sky for doves. Last year it worked out fine for me.”

All indications point to a good season for the thousands of Missouri dove hunters this year.

Along with the opening day of the dove season is the start of rail and snipe season. Most hunters pass up the rail season because of all the trouble with mosquitos, weeds in the shallow water where the rails are usually found and, the usual heat of an early September day.

With a daily limit of 25 and possession limit of 75 birds, there could be plenty of action when a hunter finds the rails moving through the state. However, it would take a limit of these small birds to make a meal. These slow-flying birds can confuse a hunter who has been hunting dove; because about the time a hunter pulls the trigger, the rail has already dropped into the marsh.

By contrast to the rails, snipe are a different bird. They fly a lot like a dove, darting and swirling at fast speeds. Many people don’t believe there is such a bird as a snipe.

Yes, there is such a bird called snipe and yes, hunters do shoot them with a shotgun and never use a gunnysack to catch them, in spite of what you may have heard.

The snipe is such a bird that migrated through Missouri and, they not only make a challenge to the hunter, they are also good table fare. The snipe season opens on Sept. 1 and continues through December 16 with a daily limit of eight birds and a possession limit of 24.

Next comes teal season, running from Sept. 9 through Sept. 24. The daily limit is six teal and a possession limit of 18. Both blue and green-wing teal are legal as is the cinnamon-teal which is rare in Missouri. The blue-wing teal is the second most numerous duck in North America, following the popular mallard; the earliest duck to migrate through the state.

A field of sunflowers set to attract doves, as opening day of the hunting season is slated for Friday, Sept. 1.

Ken White | Special to the Daily Mail

Word from the breeding grounds up north show that we should have another good teal season this year, as both food and water conditions are expected to be good as the season starts.

With all the heat this summer, hunting has been a distant thought. However, it is less than a month away when hunters will be taking to the fields. Meanwhile, there is a lot of good fishing to be had, including some top-water fishing for bass and casting-to-surfacing white bass early and late in the day.

Last week Hugh and Fred Andrews were fishing for crappie when the cove they were in exploded with feeding whites hot on the trail of shad. They quickly put on silver spoons and caught 25 whites before the action stopped.

“When those whites are hitting on top, you can’t get any more action,” said Hugh Andrews.

Hunting will still take a backseat for awhile because there is a lot of good fishing time remaining, but it won’t be long before the unofficial start of the hunting season.