Hunters who plan to spend opening day and the first weekend of the 2013 mourning dove season hunting at the Overton Wildlife Management Area (OWMA) have until July 10 to submit their reservation applications.

Reservations for hunting doves at the OWMA have long been required for opening day and the first weekend, but this is just the second year hunters are required to submit a paper application in order to schedule those reservations. Applications must be received at the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) Headquarters Office in Reno no later than 5 p.m., July 10, and must be delivered only through a postal service.

A public drawing will be conducted at 10 a.m., July 31at the agency's Kietzke Road office, 4600 Kietzke Lane, Suite C-128, also in Reno. Successful applicants will receive their confirmation by return mail.

Hunters can find and print the reservation application form online at ndow.org. The file is located in the Applications section under the Hunting tab on the main page. Just click on "Applications" and scroll down the page to the section entitled 2013 Dove Hunt. Paper applications will also be available at the NDOW offices in Las Vegas and Henderson. The addresses are 4747 Vegas Drive and 744 Racetrack Road respectively.

NDOW implemented a limited reservation system at the Overton WMA in an effort to reduce overcrowding and provide a quality hunting experience. The maximum capacity during the opening day and first weekend of the dove season is 60 hunters. Opening day of the 2013 dove season is Sunday, Sept. 1 and the opening weekend is Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 7-8.

The reservation only dove hunt zone is described in regulation as the Moapa Valley Portion of the Wildlife Management Area. Only those hunters with a valid hunt reservation will be allowed to hunt this area. Any vacancies will be filled by stand-by hunters on a first-come, first-served basis.