News

House Vote for Dove Hunting
Comes Down to Politics, Cash

Published November 6, 2003. By Neil Munro. The Oakland Press
House Vote for Dove Hunting Comes Down to Politics,Cash

Why should a decision on whether to hunt mourning doves turn out to be pretty much a partisan party-line vote? What is it about approving such a measure that appeals much more to Republicans than Democrats?

One senses behind-the-scenes pressures from lobbyists and the involvement of extraneous issues, plus promises of money and other support - or the lack of - at election time. In other words, "Sacrifice the dove deal - who really cares anyway? - to gain something you really want later."

This isn't so much about whether doves are meaty enough to justify killing or that they'd be fun targets for kids and the disabled. It is about party store, bar, motel and gas station businesses in the boondocks. Here's the real argument for dove hunting: It's tough to make a go of it in vacation country, so any additional reason for folks to spend time there is a good thing.

You've seen the advocates begin to admit it.

The vote in the Michigan House was overwhelmingly in favor of targeting the mourning dove. But it will go before the Senate eventually, where the count should be closer and a couple of GOP defections from the party line could stop the hunt.

Oakland County Republican Reps. Ruth Johnson of Holly and John Pappageorge of Troy voted against it, but they were in a small minority. Just so you know, they're the sort who are bright, energetic and conscience-driven - among the 20 percent of lawmakers in Lansing who earn their pay. It is not an accident, for example, that Johnson was the one to tackle the intermediate school district mess, single-handedly for all practical purposes.

Backers of the dove-hunting bill, no doubt, are anxious for a vote in the Senate, though Majority Leader Ken Sikkema says money bills and budget problems will come first.

We'll see.

The dove issue is the sort that begins to smell as it hangs around. More and more people come to realize the essentially unsavory aspect of the economic argument. And the sporting justification increasingly is unmasked as little more than the claim that doves are fun to shoot, that they fly erratically and make good targets. When people think about it, a lot of them conclude that killing anything for fun seems strange.

There apparently is a scent of desperation in Lansing. An amendment adds spending for "hunter education" to the bill. That would make it immune to a voter-initiated statewide referendum if it were to pass. That's just a cynical ploy and unbecoming to the earnest shooters who truly believe their cause is good.

Opponents of dove hunting are not necessarily opposing hunting or guns. To go after doves is to go after a target only because it is living, not for the meat, bone and hide that have been the quest of hunters since time immemorial. Sure, doves can be eaten, but only if one wants go to a lot of trouble for a couple of bites.

It's time for Lansing to just say no to the lobbyists and special interest groups. They represent narrow interests, not people in general.

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