JACKSON - All Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks conservation officers will be working with federal officers during Mississippi's dove seasons to ensure hunters are in compliance with state and federal hunting laws. Before hunting migratory game birds, hunters need to be sure their hunting license is current for the 2014-15 hunting seasons, complete with Harvest Information Program (HIP) certification. HIP certification is required for hunting all migratory game birds and is required for each state hunted. HIP certification is completed when, upon purchasing a license, hunters are asked questions about their migratory game bird harvest from the previous hunting season. The most frequent citation written in Mississippi has been no hunting license. This violation has a direct impact on conservation due to the loss of Federal Aid dollars to the state. Hunters should also be sure shotguns are not capable of holding more than three shells and should be aware of how their hunting field was prepared

Hunters are encouraged to have a safe and enjoyable hunt. The total bag limit for mourning and white-winged doves is 15 per day with no more than 45 in possession. On opening day, the possession limit is the same as the daily bag limit.

For more information regarding doves in Mississippi, visit our website at www.mdwfp.com/dove or call us at (601) 432-2199. Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mdwfp or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MDWFPonline.