The 2016-17 Dove Hunting Season Officially Begins September 1st
Lubbock and surrounding areas— Locals wardens are preparing for an increase in hunters as Texas citizens will enjoy the longest dove season in 80 years.
A new 90-day season this fall means hunters will have 20 more days of opportunity compared with previous years. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is integrating those additional days early in the season to take advantage of mourning dove migrating into the state. Dove hunting season will now run from September 1st-November 13th in the North zone, where the panhandle region is located.
Public information officer Aaron Sims tells us that Lubbock district game wardens are as excited as area hunters are for the season to kick off. “Game warden patrols change throughout the year depending on what’s going on around the state. I can tell you that after a long hot water safety season, we are all ready for dove season to roll around. There’s really nothing like waking up extra early, sipping some coffee on a cool morning while listening for the first shots to ring out.” Sims says that all area wardens will be out in force ensuring hunters are abiding by the laws. “One of the many things we are out there looking for is to make sure the wildlife resources are protected and that hunters are abiding by their daily bag limit.” The daily bag limit for dove is 15, which means that a hunter cannot exceed taking 15 dove in a single day.
Roughly 10 percent of the nation’s 350 million mourning dove reside in Texas, along with about 9 million white-winged dove. Each fall, over 415,000 Texas dove hunters take to the field in pursuit of these acrobatic, fast-flying game birds. Based on field observations by TPWD wildlife biologists, prospects for the 2016-17 hunting season are good to excellent.
“During the start of breeding season (March) in Texas, habitat conditions for dove were good to fantastic, thanks to the carryover of precipitation from 2015,” said Shaun Oldenburger, TPWD Dove Program Leader. “Biologists witnessed good early production on both white-winged and mourning doves throughout the state until the May rains arrived. However, good production was witnessed in June and July as more sporadic, isolated storm events continued across the state.”
Based on early survey results at TPWD, mourning dove numbers may be some of the highest in more than a decade in the Panhandle with similar numbers as 2015 in the rest of the state. White-winged doves continue to increase in numbers across the state, but the growth is gradually slowing.
All hunters are reminded that licenses expire each year on Aug. 31, so a new license for 2016-17 is needed prior to going dove hunting. Licenses may be purchased at local sporting goods retailers, TPWD Law Enforcement offices, online through the TPWD website at www.tpwd.state.tx.us/buy or by phone at 1-800-895-4248.
Hunting and fishing regulations for the new season can be found in the 2015-2016 Outdoor Annual, available at license retailers and online at www.txoutdoorannual.com. A new app now available enables hunters to carry the Outdoor Annual with them on their mobile devices. To download the free app, visit http://www.txoutdoorannual.com/app or search the iTunes App Store, Amazon AppStore or Google Play for Outdoor Annual – Texas Hunting and Fishing Regulations.
