Story and photography  by Bob Zaiglin

An awesome way to pass the time and tradition before that anticipated “main event” hunting seasons arrives.

Texas sportsmen are well aware of the impact spring rainfall has on the land and its inhabitants.  This year much of the Lone Star State has received an abundance of it throughout May, much of June, and even into July.  As a result, hunters are anticipating a pretty good deer hunting season as far as antler size goes.

But deer hunters are not alone, as dove hunters in the South Zone are also fired up and for good reason.   For the first time ever, the season opener for all dove species in all three Zones will begin on September 1, eliminating the special white-wing dove season with a standardized 15-bird bag limit, with no more than two white-tipped dove per day.

The enhanced opportunity to hunt dove is one thing; bagging a few of the oftentimes hard-to-hit birds is something else.  Dove in flight represent a challenging mobile target for scattergun enthusiasts, thus some preseason practice is warranted in order to bag a limit of birds.

The attraction to dove hunting, however, is not always the number of birds in one’s bag, but the enjoyable atmosphere in which the sport is conducted.  Unlike the confinement experienced while situated in an elevated box blind for hours waiting for the right buck to show up, doves are hunted in groups of amicable folks, oftentimes entire families, with one objective—to have fun and hopefully bag a few of those tasty birds.

I enjoy the sport with my daughters and the grandkids.  It’s one of our most pleasurable outdoor events, and birds in the bag are simply icing on the cake.

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