Dove Hunting
A Texas Specialty
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The first settlers to arrive in Texas found it to be a wildlife paradise, with game that ranged from alligators, black bears, and cougars, to prairie chickens, American buffalo, and pronghorn. So it should come as no surprise that Texas is considered by many to be the top state in the US for dove hunting.
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History
Dove hunting wasn’t nearly as popular amongst hunters throughout the 16th and 17th centuries as turkey, quail, or big game. The first of its mention comes from a story reprinted from German in October 1895 by San Antonio Light, “it answers the purpose of giving the fat sportsmen and those unable to be long on their feet an opportunity to share the name sportsman with his brother.”
The scarcity of dove hunting in Texas was likely due to the fact that there was simply much bigger game to be caught like turkey, goose, prairie chicken, quail, and duck, (What wine goes well with duck?) some of which being white meat (What wine goes well with white meat?) which Americans clearly preferred. With the majority of the substantial game birds being hunted out and the official extinction of the passenger pigeon, Texans turned their shotguns to flocks of doves.
By 1920 the government instituted an official dove hunting season which was to begin on September 1st and run all the way to March 1st, but issues began to present themselves. Quail, still being the game bird of choice throughout the South, meant that many hunters started bagging quails during a dove hunt, despite it being out of season. On top of that, the population of doves was being noticeably impacted, which led to further regulations outlawing the right to hunt doves before noon, and a 15 bird limit.
Native Texas Dove Species
While there are many more species present in Texas, there are handful of species of dove native to the great state. This list only includes the ones that are permitted to hunt in the state, none of the protected species like the white-tipped dove, Inca dove, bant-tailed pigeon, or common ground dove.
Mourning Dove
Also known as the rain dove, and colloquially as the turtle dove, mourning doves are one of the most widespread and abundant birds across North America today where anywhere between 20 and 70 million are shot annually across the country.
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The wings make an unusual whistling sound upon take-off and landing, a form of sonation, and they are capable of accelerating to speeds of up to 55mph. The breed is characterized by its brown feathers with black spots on their wings and a long, pointed tail.
White-Winged Dove
White-winged doves can be identified by the distinctive white line that runs down the lining of the bird’s wings. They’re a brownish-gray color and have red eyes with a blue eyering. Before the advent of agriculture, the dove mainly resided in areas where the saguaro caucus was abundant as a reliable source of water. Today, with food and water in abundance, the white-winged dove resides all across the Midwest and South.
Dove Meat
Doves are dark meat birds with very little fat which makes them pretty unforgiving depending on the cooking method you use. Any method of dry heat can dry the small portions out and make them tough and rubbery.
If you can cook dove right though, it has a distinct, rich flavor that some people call gamey (but only from people who don’t know how to cook it). Just take into consideration how to accommodate the flavor of the duck as well as keeping it moist. Wrapping it in bacon may be one, using wet cooking methods like deep frying or braising could be another.
Dove Hunting Zones, Seasons, & Regulation
Today, hunting doves has become a strong pastime in Texas, understandably so as doves are the most abundant game birds in North America. Each year 300,000 dove hunters harvest between six and ten million mourning doves and white-winged doves, nearly 30% of all doves taken in the United States.
Hunting Seasons
While the season often varies (although not much in recent years), it does regularly vary slightly from zone to zone (north, central, and south). Typically, they are as follows:
North Zone: Sept. 1 - Nov. 12, 2021 & Dec. 17, 2021 - Jan. 2, 2022
Central Zone: Sept. 1 - Oct. 31, 2021 & Dec. 17, 2021 - Jan. 14, 2022
South Zone: Sept. 14 - Oct. 31, 2021 & Dec. 17, 2021 - Jan. 21, 2022
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There is also a falconry season which in 2021 will begin on November 19th to December 5th. Special White-winged Dove Days also go full swing in the south zone from September third through the fifth, 2021, and September 10th through the 12th, 2021.
Bag Limits
In case you’re totally unfamiliar with hunting, most, if not every, game animal has something called a bag limit. Essentially, this denotes how many birds you can collect in the year, season, or day. For dove, it’s 15 daily across the season, per hunter, without exceeding two white-tipped doves. For falconers, the bag limit is three birds.
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Penalties & Restitution
There’s a list of fines for a specific rundown of penalties,. But generally speaking, you can be fined anywhere between $25 up to $4,000, depending on your violation and/or whether or not it’s misdemeanor class A, B, or C.
For state felonies you could be paying up to $10,000 in fines as well as spending up to a year in jail, if the violation is severe. Alongside that, you may also have your hunting license suspended or revoked for as long as five years, and any gear confiscated that was used while breaking the violation.
Laws for hunting can often be obscure because they vary so much from state to state and also from animal to animal, although there are some pretty basic ground rules for most states and game animals:
Make sure you’re hunting with a valid hunting license with all the required stamps, for Texas, it’s a Texas Migratory Game Bird Endorsement which will cost $7 and is required for anyone over the age of 17.
Make sure you don’t exceed your daily bag limit. This one is also confusing to novice hunters because (when it comes to doves) you can legally carry three times the daily bag limit, but of course in reason. If you get stopped by a game warden on the first day of the season with over 15 birds, it’s an obvious violation except maybe in the case that you’re hunting in a group, even then everyone needs their own bag.
Any kind of bird hunting in Texas needs to be accommodated by a 3-round shotgun plug. All this is is a green tube that goes into the magazine of a shotgun so you cant load more than three shells at a time.
You need to carry a valid form of ID for a warden to inspect should you ever be asked, and they have the right.
Don’t trespass into anyone else's land to hunt for doves.
Dove hunting is a phenomenal pastime and produces some really delicious dishes like our good friend Tim’s family Pigeon Recipe. Always do your research if you’re new to dove hunting and particularly if you’re completely new to hunting. When done correctly, hunting can both help sustain you and help with wildlife conservation.
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