Area public sites have a stunningly slow opener for doves

Dove hunting opened Sunday in Illinois. At Chicago-area sites and at other select state sites, harvest was low, lowest opening-day numbers for the Chicago area I remember. Iroquois County State Fish and Wildlife Area did have one limit and three with 14 doves, but averaged only 4.2 doves per hunter. That Jim Edgar-Panther Creek SFWA, normally a top site, averaged 1 dph is unbelievable.

Here are opening day totals for select sites:

Site: Hunters, doves harvested, dph

Morrison-Rockwood SP: 26, 244, 9.4

Snakeden Hollow SFWA: 38, 322, 8.5

Matthiessen SP: 90, 575, 6.4

Green River SWA: 107, 480, 4.9

Iroquois County SWA: 40, 167, 4.2

Johnson-Sauk Trail SRA: 52, 161, 3.1

Shabbona Lake SRA: 60, 182, 3.0

Big Bend SFWA: 60, 156, 2.6

Kankakee SP: 35, 81, 2.3

Jim Edgar-Panther Creek SFWA (odd fields): 160, 167, 1

Des Plaines SFWA: 60, 52, 0.9

Silver Springs SFWA: 80, 38, 0.5

Chain O’Lakes SP: 8, 0, 0