# Hunters -- is it really fun to kill 1,000 doves a day? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 4, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424 "2006-01-04T17:46:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/41 "2006-01-05T11:18:14Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > Gah! I loathe unneccesary apostrophes! _Mea culpa._ > > **Duke of Rat** , I did the search and the only thread that came up was this one. 😃 And then you **Gaudere** d yourself to complain about it. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/42 "2006-01-05T13:31:23Z")
:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Debaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3da27b/32.png) [@Debaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debaser)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/43 "2006-01-05T14:38:11Z")
Great post, **GWVet**. (#36). But, c’mon, man. Fifty five posts in three years? Let’s pick it up a bit! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/44 "2006-01-05T15:16:41Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > You remind me of the people back in Central New York who used to complain around the crow hunts. Nevermind that you can’t shake a tree in Syracuse without a crow falling out. Nevermind that the crows’ pooped everywhere and posed a health and environmental risk. Are you from Syracuse too, Wolfian? I wonder how many cows die in slaughterhouses every day. It seems like **Sailboat** ’s problem is that some people manage to bring honest hunting to something like 1% as efficient as the meat processing industry. The dove population will be fine (likely it will even benefit), the meat will be eaten, the farmers will be relieved - would it make you any happier if the hunters were miserable while they carried out this task? People who are horrified by this kind of thing - or hunting at all, really - need to get a little fucking perspective, if you ask me. I don’t even have to bring the atrocities human beings are perpetrating on other human beings into it, because there are about a zillion worse things just on the list of what we’re doing to animals. Honestly, I find it disturbing in turn - all this awful shit is going down, and you’re on the case of the guy who goes into the woods and actually makes some kind of fucking connection with his (or some hungry person’s) food instead of heading down to the supermarket to pick up a nice, sterilized, plastic-wrapped package like civilized folks do? A package with a history so bloody and vile that if it could talk, all it would do is scream? What kind of creepy-ass world are you after exactly? I eat those packages. I don’t hunt, and I probably wouldn’t ever be able to develop the skill. I don’t pretend I’m eating from the magical meat tree, though, and I certainly don’t have any problem at all with those who make a respectable sport of doing what needs to be done anyway. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/45 "2006-01-05T15:51:22Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Great post, **GWVet**. No kidding. Yours too, Debaser, but GW’s did make me scroll up to see just who the author was. > [@GWVet](#): > > First of all, my reading of it is that 1000 doves a day is the bag limit, not the “quota”. I wasn’t clear earlier and for that I apologize but I’d no idea this was going to turn into a larger discussion. My understanding is that in fact there is no limit on the number of dove whatsoever. The numbers I cited in the referenced thread were simply those relayed to me from the broker setting up the trip, and maybe a mite conservative at that for a good hunter. From September to March there are so many dove that a hunter can concievably bag on average 500 to 1000 per day, depending on conditions and his or her skill level. In that thread someone mentions 1500 or so is the record, although undoubtably most achieve far less. The government, in recognition of the eared dove as a non-indigenous pest species, places no restriction on the limit you can shoot. In the mixed season (duck, partridge, dove), which actually is the winter and off season for dove, you can bag a legal limit of 20 ducks and 10 or so partridge but the dove are still unlimited. The restrictions on duck and partridge (I think they locally call them Partin or something similar) are indicative of the fact they are monitering the sustainability of those and other species. Your observations and conclusions though, **GWVet** , mentioned above, I think are spot on. ---
**Author:** ![Vegn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/49beb7/32.png) [@Vegn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vegn)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/46 "2006-01-05T16:00:24Z")
I saw a “Daily Show” episode in which the interview was with a guy who developed a tofu product that tastes like human flesh so that people who don’t want to eat human flesh can still see what it would be like. I wish I could remember the name of the product, it was really funny. But, I am just hoping it doesn’t discourage cannibalism. I mean, there are so many great tofu products there is no reason to eat animal flesh anymore, so I don’t. Hopefully cannibals won’t give up their meat. > [@Wolfian](#): > > Mmm, hobo. That’s good eatin’! > > **astro** , post #20. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Bruce\_Daddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Bruce\_Daddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bruce_Daddy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/47 "2006-01-05T16:11:24Z")
You guys are a bunch of pussies. I’ve been through 2 cases of 12 guage shells in a day and the starting signs of fatigue/shoulder pain were not to be found. [/internet male] ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/48 "2006-01-05T16:20:57Z")
> [@Bruce\_Daddy](#): > > You guys are a bunch of pussies. I’ve been through 2 cases of 12 guage shells in a day and the starting signs of fatigue/shoulder pain were not to be found. > > [/internet male] I always think “You must have built those big muscles jerking off all over teh intarnet” when I read fark comments for a laugh. ---
**Author:** ![GWVet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/65b543/32.png) [@GWVet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GWVet)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/49 "2006-01-05T17:19:16Z")
> [@Debaser](#): > > Great post, **GWVet**. (#36). But, c’mon, man. Fifty five posts in three years? Let’s pick it up a bit! 😉 What can I say - I only post when I have something to add 🙂 Seriously though, my membership lapsed for a bit, but it’s good to be back. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/50 "2006-01-05T17:25:58Z")
> [@cthiax](#): > > Are you from Syracuse too, Wolfian? Nah. I was raised in South Jersey and graduated from Syracuse back in May. Go Orange! ---
**Author:** ![Ensign\_Edison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ab992/32.png) [@Ensign\_Edison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ensign_Edison)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/51 "2006-01-05T17:34:03Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > Nah. I was raised in South Jersey and graduated from Syracuse back in May. Go Orange! Funny - I was raised in Syracuse and have lived in Jersey on and off for ten years. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![GWVet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/65b543/32.png) [@GWVet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GWVet)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/52 "2006-01-05T17:34:27Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > I wasn’t clear earlier and for that I apologize but I’d no idea this was going to turn into a larger discussion. My understanding is that in fact there is no limit on the number of dove whatsoever. The numbers I cited in the referenced thread were simply those relayed to me from the broker setting up the trip, and maybe a mite conservative at that for a good hunter. > > From September to March there are so many dove that a hunter can concievably bag on average 500 to 1000 per day, depending on conditions and his or her skill level. In that thread someone mentions 1500 or so is the record, although undoubtably most achieve far less. The government, in recognition of the eared dove as a non-indigenous pest species, places no restriction on the limit you can shoot. > > In the mixed season (duck, partridge, dove), which actually is the winter and off season for dove, you can bag a legal limit of 20 ducks and 10 or so partridge but the dove are still unlimited. The restrictions on duck and partridge (I think they locally call them Partin or something similar) are indicative of the fact they are monitering the sustainability of those and other species. Ah…I assumed that since you mentioned 20/10/200 vs 0/0/1000 that these were permits and not packages by the broker. Thanks for clearing it up. If anything, the fact that doves are unlimited and other species are limited reinforces my point about bag limits and emphasizes the fact that the Eared Dove is in fact a serious pest problem down there. If and when you go, please post a trip report 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/53 "2006-01-05T17:35:39Z")
\*\*Vegn \*\*(which I’m assuming is a disguise for “vegan”), you’re the sort of veggie who other vegetarians don’t want on their side. Sanctimonious, predatory screeching is no way to enlighten others. FWIW, I support hunting for all the reasons given in the OP (substinence, skill, challenge, spirituality, etc.), but I’m still a little bewhildered by the 1K Dove Hunt. Not because hunting is always (or even frequently) a bloodthirsty, savage, bad kind of thing, but simply because it sounds more like work than recreation. I don’t pay people to do their work for them. I like to sew, but I wouldn’t pay someone thousands of dollars to let me hem a thousand handkerchiefs for them, and I’d be a little confused by someone who did. I can’t know what the OPs intention was, flame-wise, but I could have written something very similar with no flame intended. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/54 "2006-01-05T17:49:31Z")
> [@GWVet](#): > > If and when you go, please post a trip report 😃 Oh I’m goin’ alright 😃 but will report back and confirm or deny the reservation often expressed above about whether or not the volume of shooting causes the sport to veer from skill enhancing over to something resembling actual work. The most I’ve ever shot on a hunt here because of limits was maybe 2 boxes a day, up to 4 on skeet houses. The norm for Argentina I was told was 45 to 55 boxes (25 shot) a day. Just… dayum. ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/55 "2006-01-05T17:53:22Z")
You know what pisses me off? Golf. Freaking golf. All those cute, innocent pieces of grass being harvested for their beauty and then senselessly murdered by spiked shoes and metal rods when uptight hacks chop away at white, pockmarked balls. Stupid rich white people. ---
**Author:** ![Vegn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/49beb7/32.png) [@Vegn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vegn)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/56 "2006-01-05T18:19:33Z")
Oh, what a relief, we have another meat eater who has appointed himself our spokesperson. But, seriously, I am only using sarcasm to point out how you pro-hunters are percieved by people who believe it is barbaric killing. However, in a way I perfer it to the people who just buy the plasitc wrapped dead animals and lie to themselves about the lifelong horror the factory farmed animal endured. And, “disguise”? I have no disguise, “Vegn” is cute, not a disguise. > [@WhyNot](#): > > \*\*Vegn \*\*(which I’m assuming is a disguise for “vegan”), you’re the sort of veggie who other vegetarians don’t want on their side. Sanctimonious, predatory screeching is no way to enlighten others. > > FWIW, I support hunting for all the reasons given in the OP (substinence, skill, challenge, spirituality, etc.), but I’m still a little bewhildered by the 1K Dove Hunt. Not because hunting is always (or even frequently) a bloodthirsty, savage, bad kind of thing, but simply because it sounds more like work than recreation. I don’t pay people to do their work for them. I like to sew, but I wouldn’t pay someone thousands of dollars to let me hem a thousand handkerchiefs for them, and I’d be a little confused by someone who did. > > I can’t know what the OPs intention was, flame-wise, but I could have written something very similar with no flame intended. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/57 "2006-01-05T20:13:39Z")
> [@](#): > > And, “disguise”? I have no disguise, “Vegn” is cute, not a disguise. No. No, it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Roboto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/76d3ee/32.png) [@Mr.Roboto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Roboto)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/58 "2006-01-06T02:11:16Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Eh, we’re talking about a non-native invasive pest species. Yeah, if you were killing thousands of native animals even if they were very abundant, then I’d question it, but thinning the population of non-native species allows the native ones a chance to survive. > > This hunt at least has the potential for preserving biodiversity, not reducing it. And if it wasn’t hunters practicing skeet shooting, it would be cropdusters spreading poison gas, or some other industrial method of killing the birds. > > Given that these birds are a non-native pest, given that the birds are going to be killed for agricultural reasons anyway, given that this way people can eat at least some of the birds, given that this means some tourism money for the local economy, it seems to me this isn’t such a big deal. > > Although I really have no idea why it would be fun to kill so many birds. I’ve got no problem with killing birds, I’ve killed plenty, but it wasn’t fun to do so, it was a chore. The Puget Sound is a beautiful area. It was once a respit for tired and hungry Eskimo Curlews during their northern migration until Hunters wiped them off the face of the earth. Must of been non-native migratory pests, Eh Lemur? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/59 "2006-01-06T02:31:35Z")
> [@Bruce\_Daddy](#): > > You guys are a bunch of pussies. I’ve been through 2 cases of 12 guage shells in a day and the starting signs of fatigue/shoulder pain were not to be found. > > [/internet male] That’s both funny and disturbing because it reminds me so much of high school. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424/60 "2006-01-06T02:39:52Z")
> [@Mr. Roboto](#): > > The Puget Sound is a beautiful area. It was once a respit for tired and hungry Eskimo Curlews during their northern migration until Hunters wiped them off the face of the earth. Must of been non-native migratory pests, Eh Lemur? I remember an ABC Afterschool Special (remember those?) about “The Last Curlew”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunters-is-it-really-fun-to-kill-1-000-doves-a-day/338424.md?page=4)