Pennsylvania's mourning dove population will provide excellent hunting opportunities this fall, and hunters can expect a season structure similar to the three-season split of recent years.

Bag limits will be at least as liberal as in years past, with a possible increase on the horizon.

"Unlike the trend nationally, dove populations in Pennsylvania are steadily on the increase," said Bill Palmer, Pennsylvania Game Commission wildlife biologist "There are about 8 million doves in Pennsylvania and about 40 million nationally."

Banding studies conducted in recent years indicate most of the doves harvested in Pennsylvania are from Pennsylvania. This shouldn't be interpreted to mean doves aren't migratory; rather, it's an indicator of when the majority of doves are bagged.

Hunters can expect to enjoy a liberal 70-odd-day dove season along the lines of recent years, though the majority of the hunter attention takes place during the early days.

"For years, we've had the three-segment split season, with the traditional early season opener on Sept. 1," said Palmer. "Then there's a middle portion in November and a short late hunt after Christmas. I don't expect that to change."

While the split season isn't a departure from the norm of recent years, Palmer did report that hunters might be allowed to bag more birds.

"One change that might take place, perhaps not this season but likely the next, is an increase in the bag limit from 12 to 15 birds," said Palmer. "Biologists are finding, from surveys such as we've done in Pennsylvania, that upping the bag limit will have little effect on dove populations.

"Research has shown doves don't live a long time, but it's not because of hunting. Hunting only accounts for about 5 percent of dove mortality. Doves are pretty productive, and we don't have to worry about them as much as we do some birds," he added.

In terms of harvest per square mile rates, Palmer reported for the 2006 dove season, the latest season for which numbers have been processed, WMUs 5A, 5B, and 5C had 18, 19 and 20 birds taken per square mile, respectively. 1A and 5D were at 15 birds, followed by 1B, 2B, 2D, 4A, 4B, and 4C at about 10 birds.

The remaining management units, primarily from the southwestern corner up through the mountains into the north central and across to the northeast part of the state, were all below 5 birds per square mile. About 40,000 hunters participated in dove hunts, bagging about 400,000 doves.

Scattered within non-traditional areas, one can often find pockets of habitat that hold huntable numbers of doves. And in areas where overall numbers are lower, hunting pressure can be non-existent — which means you won't have much, if any, competition for the available birds.

"It's a lot like grouse hunting," said Palmer. "Regionally, there's a big difference. But, still, about anywhere in the state you'll find pockets of decent grouse hunting. I think dove hunting is quite the same. It's like the management unit I live in, 5D, doesn't have a very high harvest rate. But there's some good dove shooting available around here."

Recently, the Game Commission added the locations of its farm game and forest game cooperators to its website, which is a wonderful resource for those pursuing farm species like mourning doves.

Visit www.pgc.state.pa.us, for more information.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.