Dove season to open Sept. 1

By Melinda L. Lucas

Even amid the lingering COVID-19 pandemic and concerns about the effect of Winter Storm Uri, hunters are still gearing up for the fall hunting season, which is happening “no matter what.” 

Opening day of dove hunting in Texas is Wednesday, Sept. 1, and 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.

Owen Fitzsimmons, dove program leader for Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD), said that while the dove hunting outlook looks good overall, many hunters are wondering how the snowfall and below-freezing temperatures may have affected dove populations.

“Our spring dove surveys suggest that there may have been some impacts from the winter storm, particularly in the northern half of the state, but it’s difficult to know the extent since dove populations naturally fluctuate from year to year,” said Fitzsimmons, “The most evident impact seems to be in the North Zone, where white-wing estimates are below average overall.”

Fitzsimmons doesn’t anticipate any long-term impacts.  

“The good rainfall this spring and summer has resulted in good production, which will help offset any losses and allow a quick recovery,” he said.

One effect of the winter storm that hunters in every zone may notice is frostbite damage on doves they harvest. The frostbite damage, however, doesn’t appear to be impacting the overall health of the birds. 

Fitzsimmons says that it’s not unusual to find doves that migrate in from the northern states with missing toes or even the tips of their bills. 

He noted that Winter Storm Uri did take a toll on Texas birds though, especially white-winged doves.

“They are a sub-tropical species and not very cold-hardy, but they are pretty resilient,” Fitzsimmons said. “Despite their injuries, most of the ones we’ve encountered are otherwise healthy and in good condition.”

Fitzsimmons encouraged hunters to be ready for action-packed days in the field throughout October and even into the second half of the season.

According to local game warden Jacob Mort, however, hunters in Shackelford County may have to be patient this year.

“There are some local birds around but fewer than I had anticipated, especially with the sunflower crops we have around the county,” said Mort. “We haven’t had the cool fronts in the midwest to push the birds down yet, but that can happen anytime.”

He added that the mild summer and abundant rainfall has provided ample food, so dove may not be forced to conceentrate around fields and watering areas, scattering the birds around the county and making hunting a little more difficult. 

The best hunting is always “where the doves are,” according to experts, and that can change from one day to the next, often in coincidence with shifts in weather patterns. 

Dove Hunting Rules

The only regulatory change for the 2021-22 season is that there are six Special White-winged Dove Days instead of the usual four this year, but that applies only to the South Zone.

Dove season in the North Zone, which includes Shackelford County, is Sept. 1 to Nov. 12, and Dec. 17 to Jan. 2. Hunting hours are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset. 

There are at least eight different species of dove in Texas, and hunters need to know which species can be hunted, which can not be hunted, and which have varied bag limits. 

For example, 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. 

Information on various dove species is available at the TPWD website, tpwd.texas.gov/regulations.

Resident License

Hunters are reminded that licenses are currently on sale for the 2021-22 hunting seasons and can be purchased locally at Blanton-Caldwell Trading Co. on Main Street, Corso Firearms on Hwy. 351, and Higginbotham Brothers Co. on Railroad Street. 

Licenses may also be purchased online through the TPWD website or by phone at 800-895-4248.