Monsoonal rain and winds scatter doves ahead of opener

August 26, 2026

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DOVE ON A WIRE- — DOVE ON A WIRE - This pair of mourning dove seem pretty content. Dove hunters should try and check out flyways this year, due to all the monsoonal activity, to help increase the number of birds harvested. This photo was taken during A pre-season opener near Cibola. JIM NIEMIEC FILE PHOTO

BY JIM NIEMIEC

NILAND – Western Outdoor News sources filed late dove reports for the southern part

of the state. The consensus was that monsoonal thunder shower activity and winds have pretty much scattered mourning dove, likely moved some of the white wing dove south of the border, but the hot summer weather didn’t appear to have much effect on locally hatched Eurasian collared dove numbers.

For dove hunters heading down to the Imperial Valley to hunt dove, the following update was passed on by Cris Crecelius, Wildlife Habitat Supervisor II, at Wister.