Dove season has arrived! Here's what to know for the annual hunting season
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department sent out a release last week detailing where doves may be concentrated as the season begins, and the advice was simple — hunt as close to water as you can get.
Much of Texas has been in some stage of drought over the past year, including some areas in extreme drought. That includes West Texas.
Even with recent rains in some parts of the state, hunters likely will have to converge near water for their hunts.
“Rains will and can scatter birds and more water available on the landscape will push birds around,” said Owen Fitzsimmons, the TPWD webless migratory game bird program leader. “But at the same time, we have near-record drought in a lot of places and (rain) was not necessarily a huge impact in those areas and water is going to be key in some of those areas that didn’t get flooded.”
Fitzsimmons said reports about populations across the state are varied as the season gets ready to begin in the North Zone on Thursday and on Sept. 16 in the South Zone.
He said the South Texas area has had some good numbers and has been strong the past several years and added hunting could be better in the Panhandle.
As for the Abilene area, James Cummings of TP&W asked the question other are asking: "Who knows right now?"
Rain could change things, he said, and after back-to-back triple-digit days over the weekend, rain came to the area beginning Monday along with cooler temperatures.
There aren't many birds in the area, he noted, but that could change with weather changes.
For now, all he can go with is state data.
To him, that means a "fair" year for hunters and not "doom and gloom" some are predicting.
“Doves tend to do better in dryer climates,” Fitzsimmons said. “On a dry year like this, you don’t get the spring storms that come through and come in peak nesting season where they blow a lot of the nests out of trees at the wrong time. We didn’t see that this year. When it’s drier, more food is available for them and they have to get to the ground and scratch around and find those seeds.
"In a really wet year, vegetation is so thick, there is a lot of food they can’t get to.”
Dove season key dates and info
North Zone regular dove season — Sept. 1-Nov. 13 and Dec. 17-Jan. 1, 2023
Central Zone regular dove season — Sept. 1-Oct. 30 and Dec. 17-Jan. 15, 2023
South Zone regular dove season — Sept. 14-Oct. 30 and Dec. 17-Jan. 22, 2023
Special White-Winged Dove Days — Sept. 2-4 and Sept. 9-11
Note from TPWD: During the regular season in the South Zone, the aggregate bag limit is 15 with no more than two white-tipped doves. During the Special White-winged Dove Days in the South Zone, hunting is allowed only from noon to sunset and the daily bag limit is 15 birds, to include not more than two mourning doves and two white-tipped doves.
Protect from the heat
TPWD officials reminded hunters to prepare for the extreme heat by staying hydrated and staying cool in shaded areas, and doing the same for the dogs they bring along on the hunt.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Here's what to know for annual dove hunting season
