KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When a steady rain threatened to dampen the Missouri dove opener on Sept 1, Charlie Claassen came prepared.

As he climbed a muddy hill to a field at the James A. Reed Memorial Wildlife Area, he carried a large camouflage umbrella — an umbrella he had just improvised in anticipation of these conditions.

“This is my old golf umbrella,” Claassen, 71, said with a laugh. “When I looked at the weather forecasts and saw that it was going to be raining, I got out my camo paint and turned this into a hunting umbrella.

“We weren’t going to let the rain stop us. As long as it wasn’t pouring, we were going to be out here.”

Many other hunters apparently felt the same way.

When the line for field assignments formed outside the Department of Conservation headquarters at the Reed area, more than 100 hunters stood in the rain.

For area manager Rick Bredesen, that was just another indication of how popular dove hunting has become at the wildlife area located just outside of Lee’s Summit.

The tradition started in the 1950s, when the Department of Conservation began managing for doves and the hunters who pursue them. Today, Bredesen and his staff plant almost 20 fields in sunflowers, millet and wheat to attract flocks of the popular gamebirds.

The strategy works. The Reed area annually produces some of the best public hunting in Missouri, and it draws hundreds of hunters — even on days when the weather is less than appealing.

“We have a lot of die-hards out here today,” Bredesen said. “We had 125 hunters waiting in line when we got in at 8 this morning (four hours before the start of shooting hours at the Reed area).

“That shows how popular this dove hunting has gotten.”

Claassen, his son Chris and five friends were among that crowd. About an hour before the start of the 2010 season, they spread out in the cover rimming a cut sunflower field and waited in the mud and rain.

But there was little complaining. This group had seen worse.

“I think I’d take this over the heat, which is usually what you get on an opener out here,” Claassen said as he held his umbrella and scanned the sky for doves. “This isn’t bad.

“And when this rain stops, I think the doves will start flying. They’re probably sitting in a tree row someplace in this rain. But once it stops, they’ll be out flying.”

True to form, the doves appeared when the rain let up minutes before the start of the season.

Once noon arrived, those birds were greeted with a barrage of gunfire. “It sounds like a Roman candle going off,” Claassen said.

At first, most of those shots were being fired in neighboring fields. But it didn’t take long for the birds to find the sunflower field the Claassens and their party were using.

“Coming at you, dad,” Chris told his father as he spotted a dove flying toward his hiding place.

Charlie raised up, fired once and watched as the dove fell.

Moments later, it was Chris’ turn. As a dove darted through the gray sky, he squeezed the trigger and hit his target.

Soon, others spread out in the cover were getting similar action. By the time they left in late afternoon, the seven hunters had 52 birds and memories of another successful opener at the Reed area.

“This is a tradition for us,” Claassen said. “I’ve hunted the opener out here for at least 10 years now and we usually get together with this same group. We hunt pheasants together out in Kansas and we try to get together for other hunts. But this one is always special.

“It’s the start of the season.”

Charlie lives in Liberty, his son in Parkville. They and other Kansas City area friends always look forward to Sept. 1, when they can open the season within a short drive of the city.

“They do a great job managing this place,” Chris Claassen said. “We always see birds when we come out here.

“There are a lot of hunters, but there a lot of birds, too. We’ll usually have a real good hunt.”

This day was no exception. But other hunters found success, too.

By the time the opener was in the books, 489 hunters had shot 1,647 doves. Bredesen said Sept. 1 ranked as an average opener.

Most of the harvest at the Reed area takes place in the first two or three days of the season. But that doesn’t mean the opportunities end.

Bredesen has found some of his best hunting in October, when cold fronts push new birds into Missouri and the Reed area.

“Obviously, we get our biggest crowds the first couple days of the season,” he said. “But some of our hunters will follow the weather patterns and they know that we’ll get migrations of birds into the area all the way into October.”

The hunt for doves

—WHEN: The season opened Sept. 1 in Missouri and Kansas. It will continue through Nov. 9 in Missouri. In Kansas, the first segment will end Oct. 31. The second segment will be Nov. 6-14.

—LIMITS: 15 daily, 30 in possession in both states.

—HUNTING REPORT: Weather has played a big part in the early hunting. In central to southern Missouri, heavy rains put a damper on hunting. But excellent hunting was reported in parts of Kansas, with many limits being taken. Hunting was also fair to good at the James A. Reed Memorial Wildlife Area near Lee’s Summit.

—PUBLIC LANDS: Both Missouri and Kansas have many public hunting areas that are managed for doves. To find locations, go to the Missouri Department of Conservation’s website mdc.mo.gov or the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks site at www.kdwp.state.ks.us.

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