Photo by Mike Marsh.

Nothing is more humbling for a shotgunner than a good, old-fashioned dove shoot. It takes an average of five shots for each dove bagged, and some shooters do well to take three birds per box of 25 shells!

It's safe to say that more shots are fired at doves than at any other game bird. Just park near a dove field on opening day and listen for a while!

Pennsylvania's dove population, unlike those of most game species, has been increasing, while dove harvests have been dropping.

In 1990, it was estimated that Pennsylvania's hunters took more than 1 million doves. By 1997, that number had been cut in half, and it's been bouncing around that figure ever since.

One likely reason why dove harvests have not been greater is that access to private farmlands has been declining.

CONEMAUGH FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT
Fortunately, some good dove hunting can be found on public lands. Barry Zaffuto, the Pennsylvania Game Commission's Southwest Region Land Management Group supervisor suggested the Conemaugh Flood Control Project, which is north of Route 22 on Route 217. Take the next left and follow that road back through the property, which is managed by the PGC.

Zaffuto said this land, owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is leased to the Game Commission and is managed under state game lands rules. It lies a reasonably short drive east from Pittsburgh on state Route 22 in southern Indiana County.

"It's broken habitat with a farm component," Zaffuto said. "We allow some sharecroppers in there."

Habitat on this 7,000-acre area includes cultivated crops, hedgerows and woodlots. The managed land is the flood-plain area extending from the pool to the high-water mark. Typically, it's flooded just once every few years.

The land is surrounded by big corporate farms, Zaffuto noted. That surrounding farmland is a major influence on the dove-hunting potential in this area.

Of course, predicting where doves will be at any particular moment is difficult and depends upon food availability, weather patterns and the whims of the birds.

Local information is available through the Indiana County Tourist Bureau, Inc., Indiana Mall, 2334 Oakland Ave., Suite 7, Indiana, PA 15701. You can also call 1-877-746-3426, or visit the agency's Web site at www.indiana-co-pa-tourism.org.

STATE GAME LANDS NO. 202
Some of the better dove hunting in the Commonwealth is in the glaciated portion of the Northwest Region -- an agricultural area like the Southeast Region, but with considerably more public land available.

State Game Lands No. 202 is a relatively small and somewhat overlooked public tract in northern Crawford County. But take a scouting drive through this area the week before dove season, and you'll see birds on the wires, in the trees and flying over the fields.

SGL No. 202 covers just 507 acres in the rolling hills north from Canadohta Lake. The habitat is typical of overgrown farmland that has been managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Scattered about are small wetland pockets, ponds, patches of hardwoods, stands of quaking aspen and thick underbrush -- it's full of small game potential.

The surrounding land is agricultural, the type of land that attracts and holds doves year 'round.

SGL No. 202 lies west of state Route 8 between Titusville and Union City. Heading north past Tillotson, turn left onto Gamelands Road. Or if heading south from Union City, turn right after crossing into Crawford County. This road ends at a T-intersection with Lincolnville Road, still in SGL No. 202.

From Lincolnville Road, the lands drops away in both directions: to the west toward West Shreve Run and to the east toward East Shreve Run. From this higher vantage point along Lincolnville Road, hunters may be able to observe and plot dove flight patterns.

For maps and more information, contact the Crawford County Convention and Visitors Bureau, 211 Chestnut Street, Meadville, PA 16335. Call 1-800-332-2338, or log onto www.visitcrawford.org.