Texas Dove Season Changes
We are a month and a half away from this year's dove hunting season, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission approved hunting regulations for the 2021-22 seasons which means dove hunters will see some changes this fall.
South Zone Dove Season
The South Zone will offer dove hunters an additional two days of white-winged dove hunting during the next season.
TPWD describes the South Zone as the area south of Del Rio and eastward towards Orange with a slight deviation south of San Antonio.
"Basically, we propose to change that 4-day afternoon only season to a 6-day afternoon only season," Shaun Oldenburger (TPWD) Small Game Program Director, stated during the commission's March 25 public meeting.
The proposal was approved by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission. Oldenburger stated that adding two additional hunting days to the South Zone would reduce the January dove season.
Federal frameworks and the U.S. make it possible for texas to open the regular dove season only as early as September 14.
Federal regulations only allow the harvest of doves for up to 90 days. Therefore, those days from the end of January were pulled. The pulling of days from the end of January isn't expected to make much of a difference. There were very few dove-hunting opportunities during that time anyways.
North and Central Texas Dove Zone Seasons
There were no proposed changes to the dove hunting days in Texas' North and Central dove-hunting areas. All zones have daily bag limits of 15 birds per day, except for the South Zone's special white-winged days.
Other Texas Dove Season News
There is no bag limit or closed season for Eurasian collared doves. This includes invasive species like rock doves (also known as rock pigeons). The state has made it illegal to hunt common ground doves, Inca doves, and band-tailed pigeons.
When the new Outdoor Year is published in mid-August, regulatory changes will be noted.
For more information about Texas dove hunting regulations, visit TWPD’s website.
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