Finally some cooperation in the Iowa Legislature!

NEWS FLASH: The Iowa Legislature has agreed one something. It has passed a bill that is sure to improve the standard of living of every man, woman and child in this state...or maybe not. Did this group suddenly find a way to solve this state's financial crisis? No. Did it find a way to continue funding for public education and allocate money for preschool education? No. Did it come up with a way to even the playing field for commercial property owners to cut their property tax bill? No. Did legislators at least develop a plan for bringing new business to our state? No.

I said the legislature did something to improve life for all of us. Actually, it will improve the sporting life of a very few hunters and it does nothing for the future of a certain winged species that had, up until now, been a protected species. You see, dear readers, our legislators decided it was time to jump on the bandwagon and join 41 other states and answer the clamor of six or eight sharpshooters in this state. Yes, it will apparently soon be legal to hunt mourning doves in Iowa! Let the fun begin! Get ready to blast away!

Let me say right here that I am not against hunting. I've lived in small town Iowa for many years and I understand that hunting for game such as pheasants and deer is a huge industry and many feel is a great sport. I don't hunt, but whenever I hear of someone taking a deer, I figure that's one less critter to find the hood of my van when I'm out driving.

Proponents of this legislation say that doves are considered a delicacy. They point out that all states surrounding Iowa allow dove hunting. They also claim that allowing for dove hunting in Iowa will bring vast riches to the state in fees to the state and money spent by the flock of hunters who will come here to fill up their gas tanks, buy lunch and ammo and maybe even stay overnight to hunt the best area. After all, since Iowa has not allowed dove hunting up to this point, surely the word has gone out to the dove population that Iowa is a sanctuary and they have apparently flown by the hundreds from the surrounding states to lead a peaceful life in the Hawkeye state.

Opponents of this legislation quote Bible passages and acquaint doves to peace.

I really don't have any big opposition to the institution of a dove hunting season in this state. We have a bird feeder outside of our patio door and we have five or six mourning doves who fatten themselves at our feeding station on a daily basis. They don't seem to leave a mess and don't make much noise. In fact, they sometimes intimidate the pesky squirrel that thinks bird seed is the next best thing to walnuts.

My main gripe is, why is our legislature messing with this stuff when we have so many more pressing matters to decide? It seems that legislators think if they don't have an answer to some of the major problems I cited earlier, they'll pass a bill allowing dove hunting. "Hey look voters! We agreed on something!"

It seems like some of the more wacky ideas come from the Iowa House. Fortunately, many of these schemes are knocked down by the Senate before they have a chance to reach the governor. Some, however, slip through and gain just enough votes by both houses to give something for our governor to sign. It was reported that the dove hunting bill was approved when one body of the legislature substituted "mourning doves" for "raccoons." I don't know what the original bill said, but I can guarantee that more of our sweet corn will be eaten by raccoons this summer than mourning doves.

I guess we all need a diversion. If you are facing foreclosure on your home, if you are unemployed, at least if you can find the cash to buy a box of ammo and a hunting license, you can feed your family on your mourning dove harvest. In the meantime, we'll keep feeding the mourning doves who make it to our feeder. They still have at least one sanctuary in a Davenport back yard!