Veteran doves hunters aren't surprised when newcomers to the sport become addicted. Successful dove shooting requires fast reflexes and a sharp eye. Most opportunities come unexpectedly, and fast-moving birds leave little time for anything resembling a well-aimed shot.

Dove hunting is similar to shooting skeet, except that the gunner never knows where these targets will come from or where they're going!

A HARD ROAD
The history of dove hunting in Ohio has been anything but smooth sailing. Several years ago, political haggling and prolonged court battles created quite a stir, and we almost lost our right to hunt doves.

In the early 1960s, attempts were made in the Ohio State Legislature to classify mourning doves as game birds. In 1975, outdoorsmen helped achieve that goal, and the first dove-hunting season in 80 years was approved.

That victory was short-lived.

Two years later, the Ohio Division of Wildlife was subject to a court order that closed the season, pending further litigation.

City folks tend to view mourning doves as being a little on the slow side. When foraging around backyard bird feeders, doves are the last to spook and have the surprisingly tendency to fly into closed glass windows. Opening-day shooters, however, know that rural mourning doves are cautious to a fault and easily spooked.

A political battle ensued that pitted the ODOW and sportsman's organizations including Ohioans for Wildlife Conservation against anti-hunting groups like Save the Doves, which maintained that dove hunting would quickly put the species on the endangered list.

Meanwhile, sportsmen feared that losing the right to hunt doves would be the first step toward eliminating hunting in the Buckeye State.

In 1994, House Bill 287 settled the matter -- at least temporarily. Four years later, over 100,000 signatures compiled by Save the Doves put on the ballet an initiative that would have outlawed dove hunting.

This time, hunters prevailed.

As a result of the battle, present-day dove hunters enjoy one of the state's finest fall pastimes.

According to Nathan Stricker, the Ohio Division of Wildlife's dove biologist, millions of doves will be available on opening day.

"The ratio of harvested juvenile doves to adults has been about 3-to-1, which indicates how healthy the dove population is in Ohio," said Stricker.

Just how many of our doves are hatched in the Buckeye State? That's anyone's guess, Stricker noted.

Without question, some doves migrate. A few years ago, in fact, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiated a study to understand mourning doves' national migrations.

As is the case in most states, Ohio's dove season occurs prior to any significant migrations. Most of the banded birds that are harvested originated right here at home. Later in the year, Ohio-raised birds will turn up in several states, and vice versa.

But the numbers of doves that migrate in and out of the state, and when they do so, have not been settled.

"We do have a population of resident birds that prefer to stay close to home," said Stricker. "And we know that when the opener arrives, that resident dove population will have swelled into the millions."

Here's a look at where to find some great dove hunts this season on public