In March, a Circuit Court overturned a lower court injunction barring the start of a mourning dove season in Wisconsin scheduled to begin on September 1. The Wisconsin State Supreme Court recently agreed to review that ruling, however.
Wisconsin Citizens Concerned for Cranes and Doves is also moving to obtain an injunction preventing the mourning dove hunt from going forward in the mean time. The group’s co-founder John Wienke told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that otherwise the hunt is likely to take place before the Supreme Court could schedule oral arguments in the case.
Of special interest beyond this issue is that Wisconsin voters approved a constitutional amendment in March 2003 guaranteeing the right to hunting, fishing and trapping. In agreeing to hear the case, the Wisconsin Supreme Court directed lawyers to address the ramifications of the new constitutional amendment on the mourning dove hunt issue.
Source:
Court will review dove hunting; Constitutional amendment may play into decision. Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 17, 2003.