Category: Dove Hunting

We all know that lead shot is a bad deal for waterfowl when it’s left on the landscape, so what about for doves? Findings released by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) suggests that there is no difference in effectiveness between lead and steel shot when used for dove hunting. It’s been decades since steel shot was banned for ducks and geese, so I’m more than a little surprised that it’s taken this long to look at upland game birds.

Based on a recent news release, TPWD is not currently suggesting any regulation change with regards to a steel shot only dove hunting season. However, I’d be all for a regulation change that did just that. Let’s face it, lead is a bad deal for just about every living thing. And we all know there is a lot of spent lead shot lying around the properties that we hunt. More than we’d like to admit. More missed shots than we’d like to remember.

Shot pellets are about the same size as the hard-coated seeds that doves and quail typically eat. The term “feed them lead” takes on a whole new meaning, but now it’s not nearly as exciting as shouted while hunting doves on a warm Texas afternoon. Instead the birds merely get sick and die a miserable death—and this happens year-round. That means less doves come breeding and hunting season. The mourning dove population has not been thriving. There are definitely fewer quail.

“Our findings address the efficiency of lead and non-toxic shot on mourning dove,” said Corey Mason, a TPWD wildlife biologist and one of the authors of the report. “There continues to be a spirited national discussion on the use of lead and other types of shot and these results help inform one aspect of the conversation.”

I’d rather have more birds available to shoot at during the dove hunting season. And maybe even some quail, too. Obviously, switching to steel shot for all bird hunting is not a cure-all for anything habitat related, but it sure won’t hurt the birds that are out there.

Source: “We absolutely believe in hunter choice and we also want hunters to be as informed as possible on matters affecting their outdoor pursuits,” said Carter Smith, TPWD Executive Director. “Dove are a shared international resource, and the question about whether or not lead shot should be banned for dove hunting is not something Texas is prepared to make independent of other jurisdictions and based solely on the findings of this study. This research offers an important data point in the larger discussion, but there are many other factors to consider.”

An internationally recognized shotgun ballistics expert, who has authored more than a dozen similar studies involving waterfowl and upland game birds, designed the study. The study examined three, 12-gauge, 2 ¾-inch loads designed and manufactured to mirror loads that are used most often by dove hunters. The different load types included: 1 ⅛ ounce of No. 7 ½ lead shot, 1 ounce of No. 6 steel shot, and 1 ounce of No. 7 steel shot.

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The 2014 dove hunting season will soon be upon Texas, and I for one am looking to make the Central Zone and South Zone openers. Dove hunters will have more opportunity later in the season with dates and bag limits finalized by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) this last week. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has approved the 2014-2015 Texas dove season, including a 70-day season and 15-bird daily bag statewide.

The traditional September 1 dove season opening day in the North and Central Zones of Texas remains; this year falling on Labor Day Monday. However, the first segment in those zones will be shorter than last season, closing on Monday, Oct. 20. The hunting season will reopen Friday, Dec. 19 and run through Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2015 in the North and Central Zones.

In the South Zone and Special White-winged Dove Area, the first segment will be shortened by five days compared to last year, and those days would be added to the end of the second segment. The South Zone opens Friday, Sept. 19 and runs through Monday, Oct. 20. The second segment will run Friday, Dec. 19 through Sunday, Jan. 25, 2015.

The daily bag limit for doves statewide is 15 and the possession limit is 45.

The Special White-winged Dove Area will be restricted to afternoon only (noon to sunset) hunting the first two full September weekends on Sept. 6-7 and 13-14. Dove hunting in this area will reopen Friday, Sept. 19 and continue through Monday, Oct. 20, and then reopen Friday, Dec. 19 through Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015. During the early two weekends, the daily bag limit is 15 birds, to include not more than two mourning doves and two white-tipped doves. Once the general season opens, the aggregate bag limit will be 15 with no more than two white-tipped doves.

Most reports indicate that the Texas dove hunting season opened up with a bang in the North Zone on September 1. Good hunts were reported all throughout Central and North-Central Texas based on outfitter reports. Harvested corn and milo fields proved successful in the blackland prairies around Elgin and Taylor for both mourning and white-winged doves according to Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) biologist and game wardens.

“A lot of hunters were limiting out in the morning, and anyone who really wanted to got their limit Sunday if they hunted morning and evening,” reported Lt. Mike Mitchell, the TPWD’s Law Enforcement Division’s technology and special projects officer. Mitchell spent Sunday riding with a game warden and reported their law enforcement activities real-time via Twitter. The wardens contacted scores of hunters, and Mitchell used a department smart phone to send 36 tweets, many accompanied by photographs and links to further information.

Federal migratory bird regulations prohibit hunting mourning and whitewing doves over bait, but doves can be attracted both effectively and legally in throughout the state using managed fields. Fields managed as wildlife food plots or where normal agricultural practices have occurred are perfectly legal for dove hunting as long as there is no bait is placed out for birds.

Baiting includes placing grains, salt or other attractants in an area used for bird hunting.

Generally the most productive dove fields have sunflowers, but wheat, millet and even native plant fields can yield quick limits for hunters willing to make the most of what they’ve got.
Dove field preparation is relatively simple, although weather, agricultural practices or other food plots for doves in the surrounding area will influence whether doves will use the field. Careful management and a little luck can lead to some really hot dove hunting, and I’m not just talking about the weather.

It’s mid-August and thoughts of the upcoming Texas dove hunting season are already dancing in my head. There is nothing more fun that some fast-paced wingshooting on a warm Texas evening by a receding stock tank with a couple of your buddies. I grew up hunting doves with my dad and it, along with rabbit hunting, was really my gateway to the hunting word. The September dove opener always marks the beginning of another fall of hunting. The seem to get here faster and faster every year.

Texas dove hunters should see plenty of opportunity this fall as conditions are shaping up for an above average season, according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). Dove season kicks off Sunday, September 1 across most of the state. Texas dove hunters number upwards of 250,000 and collectively bag between 5-6 million doves during the 70-day season. Thanks to new rules approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) this year, hunters can possess up to 45 birds — three times the daily bag limit. Previously, the possession limit was twice the daily bag. Daily bag limits still apply.

The USFWS also approved for this year an expanded Special White-wing Dove Area (SWWDA) in South Texas. The SWWDA will now extend eastward along its current boundary and continue south along Interstate 37 from San Antonio to Corpus Christi, effectively doubling its current size.

“For the last two decades, white-winged dove populations have steadily expanded both their numbers and their geographical extent,” said Dave Morrison, Small Game Program Director with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “We believe, and the Service agrees, an expansion is appropriate to take advantage of additional dove hunting opportunities.”

To take advantage of the earliest possible opening dates for the special area, the season will run Sunday, September 1 through Labor Day, Monday, September 2, and then reopen Saturday, September 7 and Sunday, September 8. The daily bag limit during the combined four-day season is 15 doves in the aggregate to include no more than two mourning doves and two white-tipped doves and hunting during the early dove season in the SWWDA is permitted only from noon to sunset.

Dove season in the North and Central zones will run concurrent from September 1-October 23 and December 20-January 5. The South Zone dove season is set for September 20-October 27 and December 20-January 20, with the regular season in the SWWDA September 20-October 23 and December 20-January 20.

According to Shaun Oldenburger, TPWD’s Dove Program Leader, hunters can expect to see an increase from last year in dove numbers. “It appears that breeding dove numbers have increased from last year in many regions of the state,” he said. “Increased precipitation helped improve dove production and generate ample food supplies. It should be a good dove hunting season.”

It’s hot outside but that won’t stop me from thinking about the upcoming dove hunting season that is now only a month and half away. And it looks like there will be plenty of bird hunting action to go around. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has once again approved for Texas this year a 15 bird daily dove bag limit and increased possession limits for all migratory game birds. The SWWDA will now extend eastward along its current boundary and continue south along Interstate 37 from San Antonio to Corpus Christi, effectively doubling its current size.

“For the last two decades, white-winged dove populations have steadily expanded both their numbers and their geographical extent,” said Dave Morrison, Small Game Program Director with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “We believe, and the Service agrees, an expansion is appropriate to take advantage of additional dove hunting opportunities.”

To take advantage of the earliest possible opening dates for the special area, the season will run Sunday, September 1 through Labor Day, Monday, September 2, and then reopen Saturday, September 7 and Sunday, September 8. The bag limit during the four-day season is 15 doves in the aggregate to include no more than two mourning doves and two white-tipped doves and hunting is permitted only from noon to sunset.

Dove season in the North and Central zones will run concurrent from September 1-October 20 and December 20-January 8. The South Zone dove season is set for September 20-October 27 and December 20-January 20, with the season in the SWWDA September 20-October 23 and December 20-January 20.

Under new rules, the possession limit for all migratory game birds, including mourning and white-winged dove, is three times the daily bag. That’s great news for Texas dove hunters because that means they can hunt longer and bring home more birds. Hey, I love dove hunting not only for the great wing-shooting, but also because those suckers are downright tasty when sandwiched between a jalepeno and an onion, then wrapped in bacon and grilled!

White-winged and mourning dove hunting is the most popular form of hunting in Texas. More hunters shoot doves than any other game species. Mourning dove populations occur from southern Canada to northern Mexico. Texas produces millions of new birds thanks to dove nesting activity, but millions more doves migrate south every winter to avoid cold temps and to find food. They usually leave their northern range and travel south from September through February and return to their breeding grounds from March through August. Migration, fortunately for hunters, corresponds with dove hunting season in Texas.

Texas has a large resident population of mourning doves, which is well-supplemented by northern migrants that over winter here. Most of our migrant mourning doves come from the north central states. However, research surveys have shown that over 80% of the doves harvested in Texas are resident birds. This means dove hunting targets primarily locally produced birds, meaning nesting habitat and breeding is important. In Texas, the breeding season usually peaks in late spring and early summer. Nests are usually about 15 feet from the ground and are often along field and pasture edges or adjacent to other open areas.

Two eggs are laid in the nest and incubation begins immediately after both eggs are laid. Eggs hatch in 14 days and the young are fed pigeon milk (a milky substance produced in the dove’s crop) and partially digested seeds by both parents until they are ready to leave the nest. The young doves, or squabs, develop rapidly and can fly at around 12 days old. Soon after the young leave the nest the adults begin preparation for a second brood, often using the same nest.

In Texas, three to seven broods may be produced each year. The life span of wild mourning doves may exceed 5 years but the annual natural mortality in the continental population is 70% whether there is hunting or not. Much of the population data about doves is collected when hunters report dove bands. Each year in Texas, thousands of mounring and white-winged doves are banded for the purposes of getting more information about these important game species.

Habitat Preferences of Mourning Doves

Mourning doves primarily feed on various seeds including waste grain, native and cultivated grasses and occasionally feed on small traces of insect matter. Large open cultivated fields of millet, sunflower, corn, wheat, soybeans and peanuts often attract large numbers of birds. Harvested ag fields, as hunters know, offer good dove hunting in the early fall. In addition to crops, Carolina cranesbill, dove weed (woolly croton), morning glory, pokeberry, ragweed, spiny pigweed, bristle grass are some native foods doves highly prefer. Doves rarely scratch the ground for food and seeds must be on open ground where they can easily be seen. Mourning doves will often sit on power lines, trees, or snags prior to flying down in to a field.

Mourning doves must have grit (sand and gravel) in their gizzard to help grind food. Often doves are seen in dirt roads or along the edge of paved roads picking up grit. Doves also require water daily and prefer to get water from ponds, streams and puddles that have clear banks and edges with a gentle slope to the water. Dove hunters also take advantage of this, dove hunting around stock tanks in the afternoon until shooting time ends.

The dove hunting season may have opening up North of IH-10 this weekend, but dove hunters are not to blame for the dead doves found out in West Texas. State and federal wildlife officials are investigating a series of active dove mortality events in and around the West Texas communities of Midland, Odessa and Big Spring. The cause of the dove die-off has yet to be determined, but poisoning has not been ruled out by officials just yet. At this time, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) simply desires to provide hunters information on this localized event.

Samples from the dead white-winged doves have been submitted to the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, WI, where initial necropsy findings revealed no conclusive cause of death, according to Dr. LeAnn White, a wildlife disease specialist. Additional disease screening and toxicology test results are pending.

Although there are no known human or animal risks associated with the mortality events at this time, Dr. White recommends precautions should be taken. One Midland resident reported his dog died shortly after consuming several dead doves, but no autopsy was performed and cause of death was not determined. Conversely, several residents have reported dogs and cats consuming dead doves with no ill effects.

Reports of dead doves and sparrows first surfaced in late July and have been sporadic but ongoing, although the total number of birds impacted so far is believed to be less than 250, mostly Eurasian collared dove and white-winged dove.

“Our biggest concern right now is the timing of these events heading into the opening day of dove hunting season this Saturday,” said Clayton Wolf, TPWD Wildlife Division Director. “We want hunters to be aware of this, but until we know the cause of death, there’s not much we can tell those hunters other than to use the standard common sense precautions that should be applied to the harvest of all game animals.”

Hunters should avoid shooting at birds exhibiting odd behavior or picking up birds not shot by them or someone in their hunting group. Hunters should never consume any game that appears infected or diseased. All dove killed still count toward a hunter’s bag limit. However, dove that appear infected or diseased are not required to be retained or kept in edible condition.

Birds exhibiting a healthy disposition prior to harvest should not pose a concern. As with all wild game, hunters should properly clean and prepare dove. Officials anticipate additional test results in the next few days. Updates on the investigation, including lab test results, will be posted online. Reproduction had been great this year, so dove hunting around tanks out in West Texas should have been excellent.

Texas is blessed with some great dove hunting that includes both mourning and white-winged doves. Mourning doves are primarily country birds whereas most white-winged doves will be found in and around suburban and metropolitan areas, where they roost. Whitewings will often fly to surrounding farm fields to feed, and this is where dove hunters can take advantage of Texas’ healthy whitewing population. This is especially easy if you own hunting land, but Texans also have another option.

For hunters looking for dove hunting< opportunities on Texas public lands, check out Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s (TPWD) Public Hunting Program. TPWD offers affordable access to quality hunting experiences with the purchase of a $48 Annual Public Hunting (APH) Permit. From my experience, many of these leases are great properties that do offer good dove hunting opportunities. If you want to go dove hunting but lack a place to go, buy the APH permit and get out there.

 

APH permit hunters have access to more than 100 hunting units leased from private landowners specifically for dove and small game. TPWD has also made it easier than ever to check these places out. An online map of all of the hunting leases allows for “virtual scouting” of these areas. By clicking on the locator points, you can follow links to detailed aerial maps with highlighted boundaries and links to information pages from the APH information map booklet. Check out the maps here.

Also, for tech-savvy hunters, a downloadable Google Earth file (.kml) is also available that contains all the boundary information along with links to the corresponding APH map booklet pages. This way you can put this information right onto your computer screen and have the ability to really check out the dove hunting leases up close and personal.

Hunters should be aware that in addition to a valid Texas hunting license, a state Migratory Game Bird Stamp, and certification in the Harvest Information Program (HIP) is required. HIP certification is offered when you buy your license and involves responding to a few simple questions about your migratory game bird harvest during the previous season. The often forget to ask these questions or will simply ignore them will they pop up. Make sure you are HIP certified when you buy your license if you plan on duck, goose or dove hunting this season.

It’s almost August so that means the Texas dove season is just around the corner! September always means good times, warm temps and usually some decent dove hunting action. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Service Regulations Committee (SRC) has approved the 2012-2013 Texas early migratory game bird seasons, including a 70-day season and 15-bird daily bag statewide for mourning, white-winged and white-tipped doves.

This year, the Texas dove season in the North and Central Dove Zones will run from Saturday, September 1 through Wednesday, October 24 and reopen Saturday, December 22 through Sunday, January 6, with a 15-bird daily bag and not more than two white-tipped doves. Sounds like it’s time to grab my shotgun and break a little clay until September rolls around.

The South Zone dove season will run Friday, September 21 through Sunday, October 28, reopening Saturday, December 22 through Tuesday, January 22 with a 15-bird daily bag and not more than two white-tipped doves. Good dove hunting can typically be found across Texas on any year, but the rains received this year should have dove production at a multi-year high. Expect good shoots over dove fields and around stock tanks.

The Special White-winged Dove Area will be restricted to afternoon-only (noon to sunset) hunting the first two full weekends in September running from September 1-2 and 8-9 and reopen when the regular South Zone season begins on Friday, September 21 through Sunday, October 28 and again from Saturday, December 22 through Friday, January 18. The Special White-winged Dove Area season takes four of the allowable 70 days, so when the regular season opens, this area must close four days earlier than the rest of the South Zone. Make sure to look for banded doves, as well as know your dove species before heading into the field.

During the early two weekends, the daily bag limit is 15 birds, to include not more than four mourning doves and 2 white-tipped doves. Once the general season opens, the aggregate bag limit will be 15 with no more than 2 white-tipped doves. The Texas dove season usually starts off the fall hunting seasons with a bang, and I expect this year will be no exception. Looking forward to it already!

Hunters look forward to dove hunting season each fall because it signifies that it’s finally time to head back into the field. In Texas, almost every hunter kicks off September with a truck full of fellow dove hunting buddies looking for some fast-paced wing shooting. Since many hunters neglect their shotguns over the summer, it’s almost unfair that dove season is the first hunting season. But then again, there is no better wake up call than having the opportunity to air out a few shotgun shells to get “back on.”

Dove hunters provide economic boosts to small, rural hunting towns annually. Wildlife officials are also hoping that hunters can boost their knowledge about dove hunting. An upcoming survey will ask dove hunters from across the U.S. to share their experiences and opinions about dove hunting. Topics will include time spent dove hunting, demographics, constraints to hunting, and thoughts about potential effects of spent lead from hunting ammunition on mourning doves and other wildlife.

The dove hunting survey is a cooperative effort by the state fish and wildlife agencies, all four flyway councils, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and includes Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “We are conducting this survey because hunter opinions and preferences are important and should be taken into account whenever possible,” says Dr. Ken Richkus of the USFWS’ Population and Habitat Assessment Branch. “The USFWS and the states want to make sure we use the best science-based information for wildlife management and conservation of our migratory bird resources.”

There are more than 1 million dove hunters nationally, with seasons in 40 states. “We’re surveying dove hunters in every state that has a dove season so they can give us their opinions on a variety of topics,” Richkus says. “This approach will give us an excellent picture of mourning dove hunter thoughts and needs by state, region, and nationwide.” The National Dove Hunter Survey is scheduled to begin in late June 2012, and will be completed by the end of the year.

“We really hope each dove hunter who receives a survey takes the time to complete and return it in the postage-paid envelope provided,” Richkus added. “Their answers are very important, and we appreciate their efforts to tell us what they think.” Without sound wildlife management practices in place there will be no dove hunting or any other kind of hunting in the future. If you are selected for the dove survey make sure to send in your response – hunters just like you are counting on it.