Michigan's Proposal 3 - Vote Yes

Continuing with the proposals:

PROPOSAL 06-3
A REFERENDUM ON PUBLIC ACT 160 OF 2004 – AN ACT TO ALLOW
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A HUNTING SEASON FOR MOURNING
DOVES
Public Act 160 of 2004 would:
• Authorize the Natural Resources Commission to establish a hunting season for
mourning doves.
• Require a mourning dove hunter to have a small game license and a $2.00
mourning dove stamp.
• Stipulate that revenue from the stamp must be split evenly between the Game
and Fish Protection Fund and the Fish and Wildlife Trust Fund.
• Require the Department of Natural Resources to address responsible mourning
dove hunting; management practices for the propagation of mourning doves;
and participation in mourning dove hunting by youth, the elderly and the
disabled in the Department’s annual hunting guide.

A YES vote is warranted on this proposal.

I'm not a hunter, but I have bo objections to people hunting doves in Michigan. The dove is a prolific bird and studies have shown that hunting them does not place their population in any danger. Apparently doves are a hard and unpredictable bird to shoot and dove meat is also tasty.

Dove hunting is legal in 39 states, including our neighboring states of Ohio, Illinois and Indiana. See this Detroit News Article for a map showing the extent of dove hunting and how it is Michigan that is the abberation in not allwing such a hunt. Given that Michigan is in its very own 1-state recession, we need all the tourist and hunting money we can get from out-of-staters, and we should try to keep more such money in Michigan rather than requiring hunters to travel out of state.

The side opposing the hunt seems to be beased purely on emotion and falsehoods, claiming that hunters will be shooting doves off of powerlines and people's birdfeeders. This is false. You cannot hunt that close to another persons residence in Michigan and no responsible hunter would do so.

Vote YES on Proposal 3.