Dove season to open Saturday
Opening day of dove hunting in Texas is Saturday, Sept. 1, and for the third year in a row, hunters across the Lone Star State, including those in the Albany area, will have a 90-day hunting season and 15-bird daily bag limits.
According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) dove program leader Owen Fitzsimmons, dove numbers are good across most of the state due to a mild winter and good rains in February and March.
However, in much of Shackelford County, the concentration of the migratory birds could be down a little from recent years, according to local game warden Jacob Mort.
“There are dove around, but maybe not as many as normal,” Mort said. “It just has to do with where the food is. Sunflower production in our area was down because of the decreased rainfall.”
Mort said that although early moisture helped sunflowers sprout, a lack of normal rainfall during the growing season reduced seed production.
“Overall dove numbers aren’t down, but being a migratory bird, they move to where the food is,” he said. “Northern Texas counties, especially up toward the Red River, are hurting even more (than we are).”
Mort is still expecting dove to migrate through the area, but he doesn’t think they will linger either.
“I don’t think we’ve had a big enough Norther to push the dove down here yet,” the game warden said. “But even when we do, I don’t think that they will stay around here long because of the decreased food supply. They will move to where the good fields and food sources are located.”
Dove typically move to areas with moisture, according to Fitzsimmons.
Mort urged hunters to be especially careful if they are hunting near town.
“The main safety issue we typically see with dove hunters is guys who forget to watch where their shot pattern goes, and the pellets hit residential houses,” said Mort. “Another big safety problem is when someone leans their gun against a pickup or some other support, and a bird dog or a careless person bumps into it. Sometimes that jar will cause the gun to fall down and go off.”
Land owners have been calling and letting him know that they have hunters coming, said the local game warden.
“I attended a district TPWD meeting last week, and the other game wardens said that Shackelford County is the one everyone wants to be like,” Mort said. “Our land owners and the TPWD work together so well.”
Dove Hunting Rules
Dove season in the North Zone, which includes Shackelford County, is Sept. 1 to Nov. 4, and Dec. 21 to Jan. 14. Hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset.
In the North Zone, the daily limit for dove is 15 birds per day, with up to a total of three times the daily bag limit in their possession. Bag limits vary for different species of doves and hunters can not harvest more than two white-tip dove per day, while protected dove species can not be hunted at all.
Resident License
Hunters are reminded that licenses went on sale Aug. 15 for the 2018-19 hunting seasons and can be purchased through the TPWD’s 28 law enforcement field offices, at more than 50 state parks, and from over 1,700 retailers across the state.
Albany stores that sell hunting licenses are Blanton-Caldwell Trading Co. on Main Street and Higginbotham Brothers Co. on Railroad Street.
Licenses may also be purchased online through the TPWD website or by phone at 800-895-4248.
Call center hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and there is a required $5 administrative fee for each phone or online transaction. The online transaction system is available 24/7.
The typical cost for a Texas resident hunting license is $25, while a senior resident hunting license (for Texas residents 65 years of age and older) is $7.
Packages that combine hunting and fishing licenses and lifetime licenses are also available.
Disabled veterans and active military may be eligible for a free hunting license.
Hunters 17 years of age or older must have a driver’s license or personal identification certificate (issued by the Department of Public Safety) on their person while hunting. Non-residents must have similar documents issued by the agency in the state or country of which the person is a resident.
Youth License
Non-residents under 17 years of age are designated as residents and may hunt with a resident license. Youth (those under 17 years of age at the date of license purchase) hunting license cost $7, and do not need a migratory bird endorsement.
Endorsement
A person 17 years of age or older must possess a migratory game bird endorsement receipt to hunt any migratory game bird in this state, including mourning doves.
The costs for a Texas migratory game bird endorsement is $7.
When purchasing a hunting license, buyers must indicate to the license clerk that they intend to hunt migratory game birds and need to be HIP certified by answering a few simple questions.
HIP Certification
No person can hunt migratory game birds in this state unless that person is certified in the Harvest Information Program (HIP) in Texas.
“The HIP is the one thing that quite a few hunters seem to forget about,” said Mort.
HIP certification involves a brief survey of the hunter’s previous year’s migratory bird hunting success and is conducted at the time licenses are purchased. There is no charge for the HIP certificate, but hunters need to make sure that the license vendor asks them the HIP questions and provides them with the certification.
The letters “HIP” should appear on the license to indicate that the buyer has been HIP certified.
Hunter Education
In addition to a hunting license, anyone born after Sept. 1, 1971, must successfully complete a hunter education training course. Those under 17 and those 17 and older who purchase a one-time deferral license may hunt legally in Texas if accompanied by a licensed hunter 17 years or older who has passed hunter education or who is otherwise exempt.
Minimum age of certification is nine years.
Single-day in-person course cost is $15.
Persons 17 years of age and older have the option of taking the course in person or online.
The TPWD Hunter Education certification is valid for life and is honored in all other states and provinces.
Regulations
Guns used by dove hunters must be incapable of holding more than three shells. If the gun is designed to hold more than three shells, the hunter must plug the pump or autoloading shotgun for a three shot capacity: one in the chamber and two in the magazine.
“Air rifles will not be allowed on dove,” said Mort.
Hunters are also reminded that it is illegal to hunt from a vehicle and that includes sitting in a chair in the back of a pickup or on a tailgate.
