Living out of state, I don’t hear much about the pressing issues in Iowa anymore — such as opening a season for mourning doves.

Four years ago, I moved from Ames to South Carolina. One of the most peculiar pastimes (to me) I found here was the hunting of mourning doves.

Why on Earth would anyone want to shoot these little tweety birds?

The answer, which seems to be the answer to almost every question about the South, is “tradition.”

This tradition sprang from hardship. It seems that during and after the Civil War, people were pretty damned hungry around here.

Anything larger than a robin was considered good eatin’.

While a guest at a friend’s family’s plantation, I was served a meat of feathered origin that they called timber doodle.

After a little investigation, I found out that timber doodle is a local name for that most dangerous game, the American woodcock. The piece of meat that comes from this beast is about the size of a silver dollar.

These tweety birds do taste just fine, but who can be bothered? I’ve met Carolinians who do travel to Iowa to go pheasant hunting.

I doubt they’d go out of their way for a silver dollar-sized hunk of meat, though.

Don’t open a season on these little critters.

You wouldn’t even have the excuse of tradition.

Rich Scharf

S.C. Dept. of Natural Resources

Columbia, S.C.