College football, (slightly) cooler temperatures, and the opening of hunting season make Labor Day weekend one of the most anticipated holidays of the year.
This year, as usual, things kick off with six Special White-Winged Dove Days in the Rio Grande Valley from Sept. 2 to 4 and Sept. 9 to 11. The regular dove season opens Sept. 14.
“Unless conditions change drastically over the next few weeks, hunting near water will be key for opening day this year,” said Owen Fitzsimmons, TPWD dove program leader. “Hunters will likely see larger concentrations of birds at watering holes and food sources than they have in the past due to limited resources.”
“Agriculture production has been hit hard by drought so birds may be more reliant on native foods this September,” he added. “Look for stands of common sunflower, croton, and other native annual forbs and grasses.”
Fitzsimmons said surveys showed a decrease in breeding abundance, which is a carry-over from poor hatch-year production last year.
“However, doves kick reproduction into high gear in dry years like this, and we’re seeing a lot of young birds this summer, based on our banding efforts,” he said.
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.
Like in all hunting endeavors with guns, safety and compliance with state game laws are issues.
Calvin Atkinson, a Texas Game Warden stationed in the Rio Grande Valley, said the most common violation wardens come across is the Hunter Education certificate required for all who hunt in Texas and were born after Sept. 2, 1971.
“Sometimes they kind of stretch the rule of being within voice contact of the individual that either is already certified in hunter ed or they were born before the Sept. 2, 1971, mark, “ he said. “Basically kind of like a dad and a son are hunting together and the son is a little too far, so we want people to be cognizant of that.”
Atkinson said the most common error they see safety-wise in dove season is being careless with muzzle control, a regular happening when game wardens roll up next to a dove field.
“’Oh, shoot, here’s a game warden,’ and then they swing their guns over to us and we’re like ‘Whoa!” Atkinson said.
Atkinson said his routine is to announce himself, and then ask everybody to point the muzzle of their shotgun in a safe direction while he checks licenses and whether the shotgun is plugged to only hold three shells.
“Most of the time people are cognizant of that,” he said. “What I always tell people is to get your gun unloaded. When I leave, you can load it back up.”
“I understand, I’ve been there myself,” he added. “You’re excited, you’re hunting … Sometimes people want to load up right away, and you’re checking their buddy four feet away and they’re blasting away. So what I tell people is just wait until we’re out of your hair and we’ll continue down the field and that way there’s no issue with safety with us getting possibly shot or blowing our ears away.”
Atkinson also said wardens want to caution hunters against excessive alcohol use while handling firearms.
“Yes, it’s OK to do that, it’s not against the law, but we want you to be safe about it,” he said. “Don’t drink excessively and then start hunting. Also, a lot of people don’t hunt at their house so they have to drive off, and we want people to be aware DUI is in full effect, this weekend especially, being Labor Day, and there’s lot more law enforcement agencies stepping up patrols.”
The regular dove season in the South Zone begins Sept. 14 and ends Oct. 30. It re-starts on Dec. 17 and continues until Jan. 22, 2023.
A Migratory Game Bird Endorsement and Harvest Information Program certification are also required to hunt doves in Texas. HIP certification involves a brief survey of previous year’s migratory bird hunting success and is conducted at the time licenses are purchased.
