(music)
(gunshots)
[Narration] For many hunters, dove season marks the beginning
of a new year of hunting.
The first thing hunters need to keep in mind is their location.
[Natali Mejia] It is important for a hunter to know where
they're hunting because Texas is divided into three separate zones; the North Zone, Central
Zone, South Zone, as well as the Special White-winged Area.
The Special White-winged Dove Area is the western part of the South Zone.
These zones are defined by major highways and farm to market roads.
[Narration] Within these zones the season is split into
two different periods.
In the Special White Wing Dove Area of the South Zone, there are also two additional
weekends in September open for dove hunting.
In all zones, the bag limit and possession limit are the same.
[Natali Mejia] The legal bag limit for dove is 15 doves per
day and that can be a combination of mourning dove, white-winged dove and white-tipped doves,
although from those, only a maximum of two can be white-tipped dove.
The possession limit for dove is three times the daily bag limit.
[Narration] During the Special Season in the Special White-wing
Dove Area, the bag limit is 15 white-winged, mourning and white-tipped doves in the aggregate,
to include not more than 2 mourning doves and 2 white-tips.
If you're hunting with a group, it's important to keep harvested birds separate.
[Natali Mejia] When out in the field hunters should keep
track of their birds by keeping what they shoot in their own bag and not keeping them
in a combined pile with other hunters.
[Narration] Be sure to check any birds you harvest for
leg bands.
[Natali Mejia] When you're out hunting and you shoot a dove
that has a band on its leg you should report this because that information is important
to our biologists.
[Narration] Hunters also need to keep track of the time.
[Natali Mejia] During dove season legal shooting hours are
30 minutes before sunrise to sunset.
[Narration] In special white-winged dove area, on the
two weekends of that special season, legal shooting hours are from noon to sunset.
There are many sites on the internet that can give exact sunrise and sunset times for
the area where you are hunting.
While you're out hunting, you may be checked by a Game Warden.
[Natali Mejia] State Game Warden.
How are you, sir?
Good etiquette out in the field when being approached by a game warden is to point your
firearm in a safe direction and unload it.
I'm going to go ahead and see your hunting license, sir.
When going dove hunting you need to have a hunting license and as well as your migratory
bird stamp.
You can buy the endorsement at any location where you buy the hunting license.
[Narration] When you buy your license you also need to
get certification in the Harvest Information Program, which is simply a quick survey about
what birds you took the previous year.
It costs nothing and the information helps biologists estimate the number of birds annually
harvested.
(gunshots)
[Narration] You also need to be sure that your shotgun
is legal for migratory birds.
[Natali Mejia] A legal firearm for hunting dove is a shotgun
with a max capacity of three shells.
[Narration] So if your shotgun has a magazine it must
have a plug inserted so the magazine can hold only 2 shells.
However, most violations during dove season aren't related to dove hunting regulations.
[Natali Mejia] The most common violation that is written
when checking dove hunters is having no hunter education.
People that need hunter education is anybody that was on or after September 2 of 1971.
You can get all this information in our Outdoor Annual which is available to you when you
buy your hunting license as well as online.
[Narration] There's also a Texas Outdoor Annual app available
for free downloading for both apple and android devices wherever you get apps.
Now it's easier than ever to find out what you need to know about hunting in Texas.
While you're out there, remember it can be hot when you're hunting.
Take plenty of water and stay hydrated for an enjoyable hunt.
[Natali Mejia] As a Game Warden I wish for hunters to be
safe out there, have fun and come back next year.