The mockingbird is the official bird of Texas, but if you judged that title on the amount of dollars spent in pursuit of a particular species, doves would win hands-down. Mockingbirds are of course off-limits to hunters, but even the booming Texas birding industry pails in comparison to the amount of effort passion and cash exchange that goes into dove hunting in the Lone Star State.

    When the Sept. 1 rolls around fields around the region are filled with hunters in pursuit of these super popular game birds.

    “It is looking really really good for doves in our area,” said Shane Chesson of Drake Plantation Outfitters.

    “We have been seeing more dove than we have in several seasons and by far more whitewings than ever in some of our fields on the north side of Interstate 10.”

     Texas has several species of dove, all of which are similar in appearance and habits, but that each has their own unique attributes.

    Mourning doves are the most common and they prefer a mix of wild and agricultural settings. In most of the state, their preferred foods are milo, wheat and corn and they feed heavily on wild plants such as dove weed (croton) and ragweed. They are big seedeaters and researchers have found individuals with as many as 6,400 seeds in their crop.

    In the eastern part of the state, they can be found along the edge of fresh clear cuts and newly formed pine thickets where fresh growth of many of their preferred wild food is common. There is a misconception that mourning doves only congregate in large numbers in agricultural areas but parts of the Pineywoods region for example are loaded with them in areas where there is little agriculture.

   Whitewings are more of a city loving species and although they were once relegated to the southern half of the state, their numbers have increased dramatically and the range now includes Southeast Texas.

    Whitewings often fly out of urban areas to feed in the surrounding wild lands. That is not to say they do not dwell in purely wild areas as they do, but in much of the state, particularly from Austin south, the doves you will shoot around the cities will be most heavily whitewings. Whitewings will eat a variety of food from small seeds to acorns to cactus fruit.

    In most regards, the whitewings and mourning doves, which are by far the most important to hunters are alike accept in one crucial aspect: flight time. Mourning doves are notorious for flying before legal shooting light, whereas mourning doves tend to get moving later in the morning. In addition, whitewings, especially those in South Texas, fly in larger groups that mourning doves. You can be sitting on your bucket bored out of your mind and in comes more doves than you can shoot at. Whitewing hunting tends to be a little more intense than the typical mourning dove shoot.

    In Southeast Texas, hunters also encounter white-tipped doves, which prefer extremely thick areas and have a smaller bag limit. Hunters can only kill two per day.

    There is another species some hunters will see and that is the Eurasian collared dove, which is an exotic species that is now found in most Texas counties. They are a large species with beautiful markings and fortunately for hunters there is currently no bag limit on them or any other special regulation that might make things confusing.

    Each year, the state offers inexpensive public access to hunting via their Annual Public Hunting Permit program.

    They may be purchased wherever hunting licenses are sold, by phone at 800-895-4248 or online at (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/).

    A map booklet and supplement of dove lease maps will be mailed within 10 days of purchase of the permit at retail outlets; however, the map booklet and supplement can be obtained immediately by purchasing the permit at a TPWD law enforcement office.

     The map booklet and supplement may also be viewed on the Internet (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/public_hunting/).



    This is a great resource for hunters wanting to see just how close leases are to their base of operation.