2020 Dove Preview

This coronavirus pandemic has made for a trying year that everyone had just as soon forget. Hopefully, Texas’ 300,000-plus dove hunters are about to find a little respite.

The 2020-21 dove season gets underway on Sept. 1 in the North and Central zones; Sept. 14 in the South Zone. If this season turns out like most, it should be a good one statewide. Even in a bad year, Texas dove hunting is better than most.

Don’t sweat it if weekday obligations force you to sit out the opening act that begins 30 minutes before sunrise on the first Tuesday of September. Texas has a 90-day dove season divided in two splits.

If you can’t shake loose until the upcoming Labor Day weekend, just roll with it and play like the first day in the field is opening day. A late start could add up to some better shoots, anyway. There will likely be more hunters in the field over the long weekend to help keep the birds stirring.

Dove hunting is a fat cash cow in Texas. The last economic impact survey related to Texas dove hunting dates back to 2005-2006. That survey indicated a $300 million boost to the state’s economy, a figure some experts now believe could be laughably low.

Bottomline: Texans love their dove hunting about as much as doves love Texas. The allure is built around an abundance of birds that are challenging to hit and a wealth of places to hunt them at an affordable price.

There may not be a more enjoyable way for close friends to social distance than spreading out around a croton field or good watering hole and joining in a tradition ushers in another long line of fall hunting seasons.

DOVES GALORE

Texas hunters may bump into as many as six dove species, but only four of them are legal to shoot—mourning doves, white-winged doves, white-tipped doves and Eurasian collared doves.

Inca doves, identifiable by a scaly-looking feather pattern and tiny body, and the smallish common ground dove, are both protected.

The state’s resident breeding mourning dove population is a massive one estimated at around 20-30 million birds with a long-term average of 23.6 million, which is roughly 13% of the national population. Add in the 20-30 million northern migrants that pass through the state en route to Mexico and Central America each fall and the number can easily swell beyond 50 million.

Mourning doves are easily identifiable by their brown plumage, black-spotted wings and long, pointed tails. On the fly, the birds are just as prone to dip and dive as they are to zig and zag.

Bigger, blockier whitewings aren’t as plentiful as speedy mourning doves, but their numbers and range are growing. Prior to the early 1980s, the gregarious birds were seldom seen very far north of the Rio Grande. Major freeze events from the 1950s-80s repeatedly killed off region’s citrus crops, destroying much of their preferred nesting habitat, according to Owen Fitzsimmons, head of webless migratory bird program with the Texas Park Wildlife Department.

Not all the birds left, but some did. While the Valley still maintains high numbers, whitewings have steadily expanded their range northward. Along the way they have adapted to the city life and free groceries that come with it.

"The lack of nesting habitat in the Rio Grande Valley prompted birds to begin taking advantage of the rapid urbanization in south Texas in the 80s and 90s, and they have expanded into urban areas throughout the state over the past 30 years," Fitzsimmons said. "Urban and residential areas often provide large, mature live oak, ash and pecan trees for nesting and roosting, and plenty of backyard food and water resources throughout the year."

In the late 1990s, Texas had a white-winged dove breeding population of around 1.5 million. The number has since climbed to 10-12 million, which is likely higher than the rest of the U.S. combined. Some of the heaviest concentrations are found in counties west of San Antonio (Bexar, Atascosa, Medina, Frio, Uvalde), south of Houston (Wharton, Matagorda) and around Rio Grande Valley (Hidalgo, Cameron, Starr.)

Fitzsimmons says the most recent estimates show around 80% of Texas’ whitewings occupy urban areas, and their numbers continue to expand.

"Whitewings are now breeding in Oklahoma, and they are ranging across the continental U.S. with sightings all the way into southern Canada,” he said.

So named for a white chevron visible on both wings, whitewings are classy-looking birds with dark lines on their cheeks and crimson eyes framed in baby blue. The square-tailed doves are noticeably larger than mourning doves, yet smaller than palish Eurasians that are frequently found on the same turf.

Another distinguishing trait is the way the birds fly. Whitewings follow a more predictable flight path than mourning doves with significantly less zip. This makes them easier to peg with a scattergun.

"Mourning doves have been clocked at 55 miles per hour, and I would imagine that whitewings might be able to approach that with a really stiff tailwind,” Fitzsimmons said. “Otherwise they probably average around 30-35 mph."

Eurasian collared doves fly slower and look more like pigeons than doves. They have a white square tail under side with a black collar on the nape of the neck.

TPWD estimates the Eurasian dove population at around 2-5 million.  Hunters should note that Eurasians are exotics with no state or federal protection. Shoot a collared dove during dove season and it doesn’t count towards the daily limit of 15 birds.

Fitzsimmons says the department has no reliable population data on white-tipped doves, mainly because they live a recluse lifestyle isolated mostly to deep South Texas border counties. Most whitetips are shot incidentally by mourning and white-winged dove hunters.

BIG NUMBERS BAGGED

No other state has as many doves or dove hunters as Texas, and nobody shoots more doves. Texas mourning dove hunters make up about 1/3 of the national total, and they typically account for about 33% of the national harvest on mourning doves and 90% of the whitewing total.

Last year, 292,000 Texas hunters spent a combined 1.2 million days in the field and shot nearly 7 million doves, including 4.5 million mourning doves, 1.9 million whitewings, 300,000 Eurasian collared and 113,000 whitetips.

CHEAP THRILLS

Dove hunting represents what is arguably the highest quality, low-cost hunting experience available to Texas hunters. There are dozens of outfitters around the state that offer “day hunts” for around $75-$150 per day. Others offer all-inclusive package hunts that may include multiple hunts, lodging, food, dogs, field transportation, bird cleaning and other amenities at a much steeper price.

Either way, the best hunting is always where the doves are, and that can change from one day to the next, often in coincidence with shifts in weather patterns. Places with abundant forage like harvested grain fields, sunflowers or goat weed patches are magnets for doves, as are watering spots like tanks or ponds with plenty of bare ground along the edge.

Hunting in areas of the state with rich histories of holding lots of birds is sure to boost the odds of enjoying a good shoot. Brown, Throckmorton, Coleman, Taylor, Medina, Bexar, Uvalde, Williamson, Bell, Karnes, Live Oak, Starr, Hidalgo, Cameron, Atacosa and Matagorda are among the top dove hunting counties.

Even less costly are the private lands dove and small game leases that are part of TPWD’s public hunting program, which includes nearly 1 million additional acres of public hunting land.

TPWD has 101 private lands leases totaling more than 41,000 acres available this year, according to Kelly Edmiston, TPWD public hunts coordinator. The leases, which range in size from 13 to 2,000 acres,  are situated in areas with good dove habitat.

Season long access requires a $48 Annual Public Hunting Permit available where licenses are sold. Hunters are required to register when entering or leaving these hunt areas using the My Texas Hunt Harvest mobile app on the department website, tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/hunt-harvest-app/dove. 

Edmiston says 23 of the dove leases are within a short drive Dallas/Fort Worth, seven near Houston/Beaumont, 28 in the San Antonio/Corpus Christi region and 36 in the vicinity of Austin/Waco. Detailed maps are available at tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/public/.

SEASON OUTLOOK

TPWD’s late spring/early summer breeding dove surveys didn’t happen this year due to safety and social distancing protocols associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Fitzsimmons looked to field staff and dove banding metrics to get a feel for what the upcoming season might be like.

“I’m not seeing or hearing anything extremely good or bad out of any one particular area,” he said. “Mourning dove production seems to be up in areas of the Panhandle and Central Texas. Most of the state had an average spring in terms of precipitation, and habitat conditions looked pretty good coming into the summer months.”

Fitzsimmons believes stage is set for a good season. The missing links at this point are cold fronts.

“Last year we had the hottest September on record and no real cold front until mid-October, and it was pretty obvious that hunting in many parts of the Central and North zones just got really stagnant after opening weekend,” he said. “If we can get some cold fronts throughout September, it should really turn things on for dove hunting.”

HUNTING & CORONA

Time will tell if the coronavirus pandemic has any impact on hunter participation this fall. I recently contacted several day hunt operations and none reported a decline in bookings compared to previous seasons. 

Mark Roberts, a veteran outfitter and sunflower farmer from Uvalde, says his phone has been ringing throughout August. Roberts said he has enough property to accommodate 150-200 hunters.

“I’ve got a lot folks coming for the Sept. 1 opener and Labor Day weekend, about half and half,” Roberts said. “I’ll be splitting them up and keeping them separated. We normally have a big welcoming barbecue before opening day, but we canceled it this year to avoid putting too many people in one spot.”

In Fannin County, Tanner Spencer with Swamp Nasty Outfitters said he has been fielding a steady stream of phone calls and is expecting full house of day hunters through the Labor Day weekend. 

“Right now we’re about par for where we usually are with bookings,” Spencer said. “We usually have about 100 hunters on opening day, but right now, about 75% are wanting to hunt Labor Day weekend and about 25% on opening day.”

Fitzsimmons is predicting an uptick in dove hunters statewide this season.

“Honestly, I think we’ll see more dove hunters in the field this year than we have in last few years,” he said. “People are itching to get to get outdoors do something. Dove hunting is a great family activity.”

2020-21 Dove Seasons

• North Zone: Sept. 1-Nov. 12 and Dec. 18-Jan. 3
• Central Zone: Sept. 1-Nov. 1 and Dec. 18-Jan. 14
• South Zone: Sept. 14-Nov. 1 and Dec. 18-Jan. 23
• Special White-winged Dove Days: Sept. 5, 6, 12, 13

Ways to Stay Legal Legal

• Dove hunters will need a 2020-21 Texas hunting license, a Texas Migratory Game Bird Stamp Endorsement ($7) and be Harvest Information Program (HIP) certified.
• Shotguns must be plugged the accept no more than three shotshells.
• Don’t co-mingle your birds with those of other hunters.
• Don’t hunt around areas that have been baited. If you suspect an area has been baited, go elsewhere to hunt. Ignorance is no excuse in the eyes of the law.
• Hunter education certification is required of all hunters born on or after Sept. 2, 1971. Carry the certification card with you in the field.
• Hunters younger than 9 years old must be accompanied.
• Hunters 9-16 years of age may successfully complete a hunter education course, or you must be accompanied.
• Hunters 17 years and older must successfully complete a hunter education course, or purchase a $10 ”Hunter Education Deferral," and be accompanied.
• “Accompanied” means: By a person who is at least 17 years old, is licensed to hunt in Texas, has passed hunter education or is exempt (born before Sept. 2, 1971), and you must be within normal voice control.
• Don’t litter. Pick up spent shotshell hulls and trash.
• Legal shooting hours are 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset. Know the official sunrise and sunset times.