Why can't we hunt mourning doves in Maine?

Maine bans mourning dove hunting because the birds aren’t listed as a legal migratory game species in the state’s regulations. Although mourning doves are protected nationally under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the framework allows states to set hunting seasons and bag limits. The article notes that 41 states have dove seasons, but Maine does not. It says Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife lists three huntable migratory bird families—Anatidae, Rallidae and Scolopacidae—while mourning doves belong to the Columbidae family, which isn’t included. The piece contrasts this with Texas, where 300,000 to 350,000 hunters pursue doves annually.