Road hunting doves? South Dakota lawmakers look to expand vehicle-based bird bagging
Critics, safety advocates say mourning doves should remain illegal to shoot from public roadways
A divided South Dakota Senate OK’d mourning dove hunting on public roads, reigniting a conflict between hunters and farmers concerned about safety.
The Senate passed Senate Bill 115 on a 19–15 vote after floor debate that focused on whether expanding road hunting would worsen conflicts between hunters, farm equipment operators and rural landowners.
The bill removes mourning doves from a list of small game birds prohibited from being hunted on highways and public rights-of-way. Current law allows hunters to pursue pheasants, ducks and geese in those areas while mourning doves remain excluded.
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