The “Ber” Months are Back

The long-awaited “ber” months are finally here.  Cooler weather to follow. Hunters anticipate this time of year and its kick-off on Labor Day weekend with dove hunting and this season promises to be an exceptional one. “TPWD reported that their spring population survey found an estimated 34 million mourning doves…. The third highest estimated population since the surveys began.” (TPWD News. 2024). Along with good summer rains this year dove hunting in September should be good throughout the state. 

Mojo Dove Decoy

I have harvested a lot of doves over this decoy. Many of which flew right up to it.

                Of all the TPWD public hunting land opportunities Dove is the most accessible to hunters. TPWD added 18,000 acres of dove fields this year. There are opportunities all over the state within an hour of major cities like Dallas, Austin, and Houston. Dove hunting is a great way to introduce hunting to someone new. No matter which unit you go to you will likely see and have shots at Dove.

                Despite the forecast the reports coming in from the field are mixed. It seems that the North Zone and Upper Central Zone had a hotter start than the Lower Central and South Zones. The scattered showers on opening weekend also put a damper on dove hunting. “We didn’t see a lot of birds,” Ryan Boyce said, “It rained ¾ of the time we were out hunting,” he added. Ryan hunted on the lower edge of the central zone this past weekend. “It felt like a tenth of the birds from previous years,” Ryan said. “Our entire group only harvested 8 doves total.” One of which Ryan had to fish out of a tree it landed in after getting winged. “If you were there just for the dove you would have been disappointed,” Ryan said.

                In the Sommerville area, the doves were scattered. August was hot but it had a decent amount of rain. Water and food were plentiful. “Most of the birds we saw were in groups of one or two at most without a consistent flight path,” John Adams said, “The only large groups we saw were high and out of range,” He added. As the season goes on and the goat weed drops its seed, there is a good chance that hunting in the Lower Central and South Zones picks up for morning dove. There are a lot worse ways to spend a day than sitting in a field looking up for a dove or two.

A slower than expected start given the unseasonably cool weather on opening day of dove.