Dove hunting season kicks off in yuma Opening Day

Here in Yuma, September evokes a sigh of relief. Not only does the month signify cooler weather is trailing not-so-far behind the dog days of desert summers, but it also heralds the opening of dove season – a tradition that traces back an estimated 100 years.

“It’s been part of the Yuma community for a long time,” said Chris Bedinger, public affairs liaison for the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD)’s Yuma Region IV office. “We hear stories about celebrities visiting Yuma in the early 1920s to hunt dove. We consider Yuma the dove hunting capital of the United States because of where we are in the Pacific Flyway with the Colorado River and our agricultural community. It’s the perfect place for dove (hunting).”

According to Bedinger, Tuesday’s opening day of

the 2020 dove season attracted a “typical” turnout for a weekday opener, and more hunters are expected to arrive this weekend, though it’s unclear how many.

“All you really need to hunt dove is an Arizona hunting license and a federal migratory bird stamp, so we really have no way of counting how many people are here,” he said. “A good portion of our dove hunters come from California ... so when it opens during the week, we think – in ballpark figures – that about half the people show up on Tuesday and the other half will come on the weekends.”

A more accurate way to garner a count, he said, is to talk with local retailers and hoteliers to see how the current season compares to the last one.

According to John Courtis, outgoing executive director of the Yuma County Chamber of Commerce, “business is booming” for hoteliers.

“It’s almost psychological when the ‘Welcome Dove Hunters’ banners go up on Fourth Avenue,” he said. “Many of the hotels are sold out. There may be fewer people in the crowds in the restaurants, but I know the hoteliers have been saying good things. Everyone is really happy and everybody’s being smart about face coverings and things like that.”

While COVID-19 did have some bearing on this year’s dove season in that several community events were postponed until next year for “social distancing reasons,” there was no question whether the season could commence.

“(Per) the governor’s executive order, outdoor recreation was an essential activity,” said Bedinger. “Dove hunting in Yuma is a family tradition. As long as you come here and everyone is safe and respectful of everybody else, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have a great time.”

According to Bedinger, as the white-winged dove migrates from Mexico every season and generally stays until the monsoons begin, dove hunting in Yuma is “particularly special.”

“The mourning dove that you see in Yuma are nationwide, in every state,” he said. “But the white-winged (dove) are pretty specific to this part of the country, including southern Arizona and Texas.”

For Visit Yuma’s Executive Director Linda Morgan, who comes from a family of dove hunters, there’s more to the experience than “just hunting.”

“There’s a lot of education and family time and experiences – fun, family bonding experiences – that go along with it,” she said. “We know that there’s fourth- and fifth-generation hunting families coming here. It used to be dad and grandpa and son, and now it’s great-grandpa and grandpa and dad and son and his son.”

And as the weather has remained mild in terms of wind and rainfall, Morgan said hunters should have something to show for their time in the fields when the season ends.

“We’ve really had the kind of weather that keeps the birds here longer,” said Morgan. “Usually, if we have a lot of wind or rain, it moves them out sooner. So the hunters that are here can expect a pretty good hunt.”

Yuma’s dove hunting season will conclude at sunset Sept. 15, followed by a clean-up on Sept. 19. A collaborative project between Visit Yuma and AZGFD, the clean-up brings together employees, wildlife officers and volunteers to forage the fields for any shotgun shells that may have been left behind as a way of expressing gratitude to local farmers for opening their land.

“Most hunters do clean up after themselves, but we’d like to just say ‘thank-you’ to the agricultural partners and farmers in the community that leave their land open for people to hunt, because without that, people wouldn’t be able to hunt in Yuma,” Bedinger said.

For more information on dove hunting in Yuma, including laws, regulations and species, visit yumadovehunting.com.

Slideshow @ .com buy these photos at yumasun.com pHOtOs by randy HOeFt/ YUMA SUN HUNTERS CAN BE SEEN GATHERED ALONGSIDE a field in the area of County 18th Street and Avenue1E Tuesday morning.

MANUEL SANDOVAL, FROM CORONA, CALIF., SHOOTS at a passing dove in the area of County 18th Street and Avenue 2E early Tuesday morning, the first day of the 2020 early dove hunting season in Arizona. The season, for white wing and mourning dove, officially opened a half hour before sunrise Tuesday, and will run through sundown on Sept. 15.

CINDY PONCE DE LEON, FROM HEMET, CALIF., waits patiently for doves to pass overhead while standing in a recently cut alfalfa field in the area of County 18th Street and Avenue 1E early Tuesday morning.

HUNTERS IN THE AREA OF COUNTY 18TH STREET and Avenue 2E shoot at passing doves early Tuesday morning.

LEFT: Kevin Clark, from San Diego, shoots at a dove while standing at the edge of a date grove in the area of County 18th Street and Avenue1E Tuesday morning, the first day of the 2020 early dove hunting season in Arizona.

HOTOS BY RANDY HOEFT/ YUMA SUN Buy these photos at YumaSun.com P ABOVE: A hunter sits in a field in the area of County 18th Street and Avenue 1E waiting for doves to fly overhead Tuesday morning.