Outdoors With Mat Taylor
Slight changes proposed for migratory bird season

Former Soil Conservation Service employee and longtime writer Mat Taylor offers his outdoors column for Dispatch Record readers. He can be contacted at (254) 518-2262 or via e-mail at mntaylor@agristar.net.

Dove season opens in about two months, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is proposing moving the South Zone second split of dove season deeper into January, but otherwise has recommended only minimal changes to the 2008-09 Early Migratory Game Bird Proclamation.

TPWD staff announced the proposed dove and teal season calendar during the recent meeting of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission.

The proposed Central Dove Zone, which includes Lampasas and all surrounding counties, would be open Sept. 1-Oct. 30 and reopen Dec. 26-Jan. 4, with a 12-bird limit of mourning, white-winged and white-tipped doves. No more than two white-tipped doves are allowed.

The proposed season in the North Zone would run Sept. 1-Oct. 30 with a 15-bird limit and not more than two white-tipped doves. The South Zone would run Sept. 20-Nov. 2, and reopen Dec. 26-Jan. 20 with a 12-bird bag and no more than two whitetipped doves.

Possession limit is twice the daily bag in all zones.

The Special South Texas Whitewing Zone, which now encompasses land west of I-35 and south of U.S. Highway 90, would open to white-winged dove afternoon-only (noon to sunset) hunting the first two Saturdays and Sundays in September, and reopen Sept. 20-Nov. 2 and again from Dec. 26-Jan. 16.

Daily bag limit is 12 birds, not more than four mourning doves during the first two weekend splits and two white-tipped doves.

In South Texas, some hunters have requested more hunting opportunities in January. To accommodate this request, the department is proposing to move one week from the end of the first season segment (Nov. 3-9) and put in it January (Jan. 14- 20). This would give hunters the chance to hunt dove, quail and deer concurrently during either of these periods.

The proposed changes in the South Zone will not affect Lampasas County but would affect local hunters who plan to hunt in South Texas this coming season. TPWD is encouraging the public to provide comments online at www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/ feedback/publiccomment by the end of this week.

Not too many hunters I know hunt teal, but the early teal season is proposed tentatively for Sept. 13- 28 if a 16-day season is granted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or Sept. 20-28 under a nine-day season framework. The daily bag limit for teal is four.

When my son was in graduate school at Texas Tech University, we went geese hunting several times with a local outfitter. Even though we hunted in the morning with very cold temperatures, we took our limit of five Canadian geese and a few sandhill cranes on every trip. That was the limit at the time.

The suggested dates for ducks and geese also were presented to the commission, and they reflected the calendar adjustment from last year. Upon completion of breeding population surveys and development of harvest packages, dates will be refined and provided for public comment probably late next month or early August.

One proposed change is to shift the crane season one week later. Season dates for sandhill cranes for Zone A are Nov. 8-Feb. 8. Zone B runs from Nov. 28- Feb. 8, and Dec. 20- Jan. 25 for Zone C. The bag limit is three birds for Zones A and B, and two for Zone C.

A lot of people have participated in a snipe hunt and were left alone in the woods holding an empty sack. Believe it or not, there is a snipe season in Texas; it runs from Nov. 1 through Feb. 15. There also is a woodcock season from Dec. 18-Jan. 31.

Final adoption of the early migratory game bird seasons will take place later this summer as population and other data becomes available.

If you want to hunt migratory birds this fall and winter, it is not too early to begin planning. Now is the time to check your shotgun to make sure it is clean and functioning. If possible, shooting at clay pigeons is a good way to sharpen your shotgun skills.