Sound advice can help make dove hunting season memorable.
As many as 300,000 or more Texans will participate in the state’s 2018 dove hunting season, more than the number that will go afield in pursuit of any single game species except white-tailed deer.
Texans account for about 30 percent of the total number of dove hunters in the nation, and they annually generate as much as $350 million in economic impact through their dove-related activities.
So, yes, dove hunting is a big deal in Texas, socially, culturally and economically. And if you don’t believe that, show up in Uvalde or Hondo or Dilley or any of a number of modest-size towns near dove hunting hotspots in the state’s South Dove Zone next weekend and try to get a hotel room; most long ago were booked by wingshooters anticipating the Sept. 14 opening of the general dove season in that zone.
Texans take their dove hunting seriously. Some take it more seriously than others, using all the skills and tactics and behaviors they can muster to be successful at taking the state’s most popular game bird. Others are satisfied simply being afield in the company of friends and family, opting to forgo effectiveness for comfort; they are fine with sitting in lawn chairs in the shade beside their parked trucks, an ice chest at their side, even if that means they get fewer shots at passing birds than hunters who actually work at their recreation.
The aim of both camps is to have the best, most enjoyable and positive experience possible. To that end, here are some personal thoughts and suggestions from a half century of hunting doves across Texas mixed with insights gleaned from guides, outfitters and landowners who have rich experience with the birds and the Texans who hunt them.
Don’t abandon dove hunting after opening week.
Yes, the first few days of dove season are invariably the best. The population of resident doves is at its annual peak, boosted by the year’s nesting efforts. And those birds have been flying to and from feeding areas without being hassled. Hunt a “hot” field on opening day or opening weekend, and opportunities for good shooting are high.
But a week or so into the season – and sometimes just a couple of days into the season – bird numbers and hunting success dramatically decline. Predictably, so does hunter participation.
This situation changes a few weeks into the season, triggered by two events. As October arrives, the seeds of many native plants on which doves feed ripen. Those plants include pigweed and ragweed and a dozen types of grasses. But the most important for dove hunters and doves is croton. Dove weed.
Come October, fields of the low-growing croton can become dove magnets as the birds pile into the pastures to feast on the plant’s hard, nutrient-rich seeds. Dove weed, indeed.
And there are doves to feed on this abundance. While early-season hunting on Texas focuses almost exclusively on “resident” doves, late-season opportunities are for migrants, doves that move south from states to the north. Millions of migrant mourning doves, pushed south by instinct and the first cool fronts of the season, move into Texas beginning in late September, many settling here for the winter while some continue south to wintering areas in Mexico and Central America.
Serious dove hunters keep a close eye on crotonrich pastures over the coming weeks, and especially as October arrives. The combination of ripening croton and arrival of “northern” doves behind autumn cool fronts can create some of the best, most comfortable hunting of the season. And lateseason hunters often have such spots all to themselves. Get your Mojo working.
Battery-powered, spinning-wing dove decoys have proven incredibly effective at attracting doves and should be a piece of gear every dove hunter considers. These spinning-wing decoys have been around for almost two decades, with Mojo Outdoors “Voodoo Dove” being the first and still most popular model. They remain amazingly effective.
The flash of the spinning-wing decoys grabs the attention of cruising doves, with the bird seeing the motion as the flutter of the wings of fellow doves settling to feed or drink. It’s not unusual to have doves hover over and try to alight beside a spinningwing dove decoys, especially when set up on the bank of a stock tank or other water source doves frequent.
Dove hunters looking for an edge to improve their odds of success have other options in addition to spinningwing decoys.
One of the best edges is to use high-quality shotshells.
The most inexpensive shotshells invariably are no bargain. They are usually loaded with softer shot pellets, which deform easily from being slammed together upon the shell’s ignition and travel down the shotgun’s barrel. Those deformed pellets yield ragged patterns and resulting poor performance.
The harder pellets in best-quality shotshells pattern more evenly and result in better success.
Some dove hunters have switched from shells carrying lead shot to those with non-toxic “steel” payloads. The harder steel shot patterns much more evenly and for shots inside 30 yards is just as effective, if not more so than lead loads. Too, good quality steel “dove loads” cost the same or often less than the best-quality lead loads. Pick up those spent shotshells and other detritus of the hunt, and treat property with respect.
Dove hunters on a “hot” field can fire a lot of shells as they try to collect their 15-dove daily limit. Those spent shotshells are litter, their plastic tubes a blight on the landscape and, according to some landowners, a hazard to livestock that will ingest the spent shells and suffer serious, even fatal injury.
Almost to a person, guides, outfitters and landowners say hunters leaving shotshells and other litter – water bottles, drink cans, food wrappers, even carcasses of cleaned doves – is one of the most aggravating problems they face. Most cite instances where landowners have stopped leasing their fields for hunting because of abuse, especially rampant littering with spent shotshells but also damage to roads, fences, gates and other property.
Dove hunters should pack one of those small, plastic “T-shirt” grocery bags in their hunting vest or shell bag and use it as a receptacle for spent shells and other debris. It takes just a couple of minutes to police a hunting area. Doing so should be standard procedure for every hunter. It’s the responsible thing to do, and it could be the difference between being able to hunt that spot in the future or seeing it placed off-limits. Take care of the dog.
Early-season dove hunting usually occurs during warm – OK, hot – weather conditions. That can be tough on humans, but it’s even tougher on their canine companions. Retrievers, many of which haven’t had much, if any, conditioning work, are asked to make repeated retrieves in brutally hot temperatures. And they do it wearing a fur coat in 100 degree conditions.
Those dogs need plentyof shade and water to drink to avoid dehydration or worse. Each dove season sees instances of retrievers suffering heat stroke or other heat-related health emergencies, some of which prove fatal.
Hunters should keep a watchful eye on their dogs, make certain they have plenty of water, and let them cool off in a stock tank or irrigation canal, if safely possible. Watch for any signs of distress such as labored breathing, lethargy or stumbling. It could be a matter of life and death. Get legal.
The 2018-19 license year began Sept. 1, so all dove hunters need a new license. They also need a state migratory game bird endorsement on that license and must have HIP (Harvest Information Program) certification.
Hunters born on Sept. 2, 1971, and later also are required to have taken and passed a state-approved Hunter Education program and carry that certification while in the field. One of the most common violations for which Texas game wardens issue citations during dove season is for no hunter education certification.
The autumn general dove season in Texas’ North and Central zones opened Sept. 1 and runs through Nov. 4. The autumn general dove season in the South Zone opens Sept. 14 and runs through Oct. 30.