TOP 10 RULES FOR SUCCESSFUL DOVE HUNTING
(JUST A COUPLE OF USEFULL TIPS FROM AN OLD DOVE HUNTER THAT GREW UP IN THE HOUSTON AREA. MOST OF THESE THINGS TOOK ME YEARS TO FIGURE OUT. USE THEM TO YOUR ADVANTAGE OR THROW THEM AWAY BUT HUNT LONG ENOUGH AND YOU TOO WILL COME TO KNOW THEM AS TRUTHS)

1.Stay away from the Katy prairie (except for opening day). Waterfowl hunting clubs use the money generated from rookie dove hunters to pay for the duck & goose land they lease. Waterfowl hunting land (flooded rice & uncut bean fields) does not provide the habitat to maintain consistent dove numbers throughout the season. Furthermore, the thousands of hunters that will decend on these prairies on opening week are guaranteed to scare all area birds clear out of the county until opening day of the following season.

2.Look for lease land w/ a diversity of fields & terrain. Doves like the wild seeds that fallow fields provide as much as they like corn, milo and other forms of harvested crops. Doves also like trees, gravel and piles of spilled grain, plowed ground, open ground in the fields they feed in and around water holes.

3.Water (unless on an exceptionally dry year or in deep south or west Texas) is over rated. Humid climates (i.e. Houston) tend to provide all the moisture that doves need for the day at dew point, in the foods they consume or in rain puddles.

4.Always scout your fields and do it during the times of day that dove like to move. Mid day scouting will not provide you with accurate information. And weather scouting or hunting, take a pair of binoculars so you don’t miss the thousand or so birds trickling in fence high below the tree line .

5.Don’t wear new boots, don’t forget to waterproof your old boots, don’t forget your supplies like water, sunscreen, bug repellant, protective eyewear. Don’t trespass, shoot your friends truck, shoot your truck or take any shot that puts property or other hunters in harms way. Real shotgun shells create real damage. It sounds simple enough but chances are that you too have been witness to such careless acts. Don’t forget to take whatever measures needed to keep your dog cool. Heat stroke is real scary, it has happened to my dog before and I was fortunate enough to have had the resources to save him. I have witnessed others who have lost their dogs in a hot September field. Don’t take chances, sometimes the best decision is to leave your dog at home. (For those of you to young to have seen it. Just look into the archives of the Houston Chronicle and you will see legendary outfitter Forrest West in tears as he carries his dead lab from the hot dove field (somewhere around the late 80s).)

6.Don’t ignore late or second dove season. You know, the times when Texas gets nice & cool and all other (so called) hunters give up on doves all together for the pursuits of bigger & better things (deer hunting, football, golf, tennis ect.). There is no comparable experience to that of a cool October afternoon or that dec 26th hunt in 65 degree weather with a handful of buddies on that 6000ac lease void of all other human activity. Can’t tell you how many outstanding soybean & sesame field hunts (hint hint) that I have had during the second season.

7.Don’t be afraid to move. Patients means nothing parked under a shade tree in an unproductive spot (unless hunting a dove roost or late evening water hole) . This is where a diversity of huntable fields and terrain pays off. Get out those binoculars and find the birds, chances are that they are around. This is what real hunters do, they find the flight paths and get under them while others pack up and go home.

8.Pay attention to what the doves are eating. Look inside the craws of the doves that you shoot and move to the areas that are producing those types of seeds.

9.Hunt long enough and you will notice that doves will consistently fly high during the last 30 minutes of shooting time. At this point, feeding time is over and they are headed for either water or their roost. Doves typically roost in trees sometimes located miles away from their feeding areas. Roost hunts are possibly the most exciting form of dove hunting. A dove’s drive to their predetermined roosting area is unshakeable. Find out where that spot is and you will be guaranteed the most exciting 30 minutes of your life regardless of cover, camo (or lack there of) .

10.ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS hunt opening day. Don’t ever underestimate how much success is linked to the uneducated bird. If opening days falls on a Tuesday as it does on this Sept. 1st. declare it a personal holiday, sick day or what ever day you need to get to your scouted field. If you have kids (weather bird fetchers or hunters) PULL THEM OUT OF SCHOOL FOR THE DAY. The time that you spend bonding with them on opening day will be well worth the effort.

Dove hunting for me is a sport that I take very seriously and have little time to waste in non - productive fields on the advice of anyone who I do not know well. I personally have not hunted the Houston area since the dismantling of the 9-BAR ranch outside of Hemstead Tx. For the last ten years I have declared the first seven days of Sept My personal vacation time to chase birds on the wide open playing fields of Uvalde Tx.

Enjoy Your Holiday!

Saltstorm,

Thanks for the advice! Have you been to Uvalde recently? Are there many doves flying this year? I have heard it is real dry out there.

Nice post... I'm looking forward to 4 or 5 years from now when I can pull my son out of school for his first opening day hunt!

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Good post! x2 on Katy dove hunting sucking ars! I am in Houston and would love to hunt somewhere within 1.5 hr! Good luck to all!

AMEN SALTSTORM... I will be there, blowing holes in the sky....