By Staff
Michigan hunters survived nearly 100 years without the ability to hunt doves.
We see no reason that should change.
Most Michigan residents consider mourning doves songbirds, just like robins or cardinals.
Their trademark coo can be as soothing a sound as one will find in nature.
The mourning dove is so beloved in Michigan, that it has earned the status as the state's official bird of peace.
Proposal 3 would establish a hunting season for mourning doves.
The debate over this topic has raged on for years in Michigan.
Finally, in 2004, after 99 years without a dove hunting season, the governor signed into law, following narrow passage in the legislature, Bill 5029.
Bill 5029 established a three-year trial dove hunting season in six counties along our southern border.
After one year, opponents of the bill forced the state to put it on this year's ballot.
The first and only hunting season didn't draw much attention.
There were just an estimated 3,000 hunters who participated, who killed more than 28,000 doves.
There is no need to manage the mourning dove population in Michigan.
There is no over population of these birds.
They do not destroy or damage crops or the habitat of any other creature.
That leaves only one reason that hunters would want to gun down these lovely songbirds -and that's for the thrill of the kill.
What's next? Robins and cardinals?
Let's put an end to hunting of mourning doves in Michigan.
Enough is enough.
Vote NO on Proposal 3 when you go to the polls on Nov. 7.