{"id":119030,"date":"2019-12-01T09:46:37","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T14:46:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=119030"},"modified":"2025-11-07T04:52:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T10:52:41","slug":"hunt365-texas-fall-winter-dove-hunting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/hunt365-texas-fall-winter-dove-hunting\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Fall\/Winter Dove Hunting Can Be Very Good, Even If You Are a Lousy Dove Hunter!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The hot Texas wind blew hard and steady from my right, and I saw the doves swooping and diving hundreds of yards away at the edges of the field. I sat in the shade of a bushy mesquite at the far end of the cut-over crop field, my 20-gauge Remington 870 ready.  Waiting, waiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then a handful of\nmourning doves sliced in from my right on a gust of wind. My shots, I knew as I\ntook them, were going to miss, the doves riding a 25-mile-per-hour gust of wind\nand zooming by at Mach Dove 3. But I took the shots, anyway, and three empty\nRemington Game Loads shells hit the hard Texas ground to my right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Texas
Fall hunting for Texas doves doesn\u2019t get much press, but the hunting can be very good. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The doves glanced backward as they whipped on by, seemingly annoyed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat the heck was\nthat, Billy?\u201d I imagined one dove saying to the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDumb hunter,\u201d Billy\nsaid. \u201cWe\u2019re safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They were safe. As would be other doves that afternoon. But, I figured, it was time to get the Remington 870<\/a> shotgun unlimbered, start the process of finding my range and getting my lead and swing right. I just hoped it wouldn\u2019t take a whole box of shells.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The September 1 Texas\ndove hunt opener gets a lot of press, and rightly so, as tens of thousands of\nhunters hit the fields on that day alone. The dove opener is a ritual in Texas,\na celebration of the hunting spirit, and a rite of passage for the young and\nfirst-time hunters. In the small Texas towns, opening day of doves means pickup\ntrucks lined up at the cafes, the gas stations and the Dairy Queens, their beds\nloaded down with folding chairs and gun cases, decoys and coolers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large coolers. A September\nOne dove hunt in Texas is hot and thirsty work!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Texas dove\nhunting is actually very good to flat out great all through the fall and into\nthe winter. With a daily bag limit of 15 doves (no more than two of which can\nbe white-winged doves), the Texas dove hunt goes from September 1 and into November\n(specific ending dates depend on the hunting zone), picks up again in December\nand runs into January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Texas
It doesn\u2019t take a lot of gear to do a fun dove hunt, just a shotgun, a folding seat, shells, and water! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This hunting season, for\nexample, you can hunt second season doves until January 23, 2020, in the South\nZone! The possession limit is three times the daily bag limit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(For more information on the Texas dove hunting season, including specific county-by-county regulations, check out the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was in Texas in October of 2019, mostly to hunt hogs and mostly at night. But when I was making plans for the hunt with Bryan Wilson of Frio County Hunts<\/a>, located south and west of San Antonio, Wilson mentioned the fall dove hunting there was good and could even be impressive. As not many people actually did it, we\u2019d pretty much have a dove hunt or two to ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have a shotgun,\nright?\u201d Wilson asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBring it along. Nothing\nbetter than Dove Poppers on the grill!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took me eight tries,\nbut I was finally able to drop my first dove of the afternoon. Did I mention I pretty\nmuch suck at wing shooting, in no small part because I don\u2019t do it regularly\nand almost never practice it? Yeah, I suck. But it\u2019s still a lot of fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Texas
McCombie lining up on a high-flying mourning dove. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On this hunt, I\nfinally figured out I needed to shoot only<\/em> when the wind at least died\ndown. The doves still came by fast, but nothing like when they blasted by on the\nTexas Jet Stream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Texas
A harvested oat field in Frio County, Texas, was the scene of McCombie\u2019s fall dove hunt.  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There were lots of doves, too, groups of 20 and 30 whipping by and all sorts of singles, doubles, and triples flying in, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wasn\u2019t using any great and insightful hunting tactics. The cut-over field in front of me had grown oats, and of course, there was plenty of it on the ground to attract birds. Plus, two livestock watering tanks were situated nearby, further drawing in the doves. I sat in the shade and waited for doves to fly by and shot as opportunities were present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 My Remington Express Combo 20-gauge<\/a>, I soon discovered, was a great choice. Using the Remington Game Loads, with the 2 3\/4’\u201d shells holding 7\/8 of an ounce of #7 1\/2 shot, the recoil was minimal; it could and did take down doves at 30 yards with modified choke tube that came standard. The workhorse 870 pump action cycled fast and smoothly, while the 26-inch vented barrel got me on target easily enough, even if the shooter himself wasn\u2019t always that accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Texas
The Remington Express Combo in 20-gauge comes with a smoothbore and a slug gun barrel, for under $500 at some retailers. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As noted, it is a Combo version, so it also came with a 20-inch rifled slug barrel topped with rifle sights. Stock and forend are hard wood with a satin sheen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simple, very functional, with the front of the barrel tipped with an Old School bead. I like the 870 Express.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Texas
The Old School front bead on McCombie\u2019s Remington 870 20-gauge only added to the hunting fun. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is affordable, too. Remington<\/a> lists the suggested retail price at $609, but the various retailers I looked up online apparently didn\u2019t get that message; I found it offered for as low as $479.00. Wing shooting and turkeys with the smoothbore barrel, deer, hogs and black bears with the slug barrel, all for under $500, and<\/em> in a lighter recoiling 20-gauge?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 I\u2019d term that as, \u201cWinning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My hunt was a pretty light gear affair, too. My shotgun and shells, a folding seat and a couple of bottles of water in my backpack were all I needed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Okay, I did have one piece of non-basic gear. Wilson had three MOJO Voodoo Dove<\/a> decoys with him, spinning-wing style decoys that run on four AA batteries each. Sure, I said, let\u2019s see if they work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Texas
The MOJO Voodoo Dove decoy, with spinning wings, pulled in doves. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They did. Work that is. Set up on a short pole, the decoy bodies are angled the right way to mimic a dove coming down for a landing, and with the spinning wings, they did, in fact, pull in some birds. A dozen times or more, I saw doves flying at distances too far for my shotgun suddenly cut in right at the MOJO Voodoo Doves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MOJO rates the decoys\nas running 16 hours on one set of batteries. The support pole is made of steel,\nwith an ON\/OFF switch located on the underside of the decoy body. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Texas
Running on 4 AA batteries, the wings on the MOJO Voodoo Dove decoy are rated to spin away for up to 16 hours. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This was Texas and nearly 90 degrees when we got to the field, so I was also outfitted with snake protection. I used Snake Guardz Snake Proof Chaps<\/a> in Mossy Oak Break-Up Country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Texas
Poisonous snakes are a real possibility on a hot Texas day in October, and McCombie took the precaution of wearing SnakeGuardz Chaps over his hunting boots. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Much lighter than snake boots (and easier to pack when I am flying, and luggage space is at a premium) Snake Guardz are made of tough 1000 Denier Nylon covering even sturdier polycarbonate inserts. They weigh just 11-ounces apiece and are snake-proof to 17-inches high. A unique built-in toe cover offers protection to the laces area of the boot or shoe, too.
My Snake Guardz were easy to attach and fit comfortably. Fortunately, I didn\u2019t run into any rattlers or their various cousins. But the Snake Guardz effectively shielded my lower legs through cactus and thorny brush. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once he was done\ndoing some scouting for the night\u2019s hog hunt, Wilson returned and set up about\n100 yards to my right. He was and is a pretty deft dove shot and dropped some\nof his own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Texas
Bryan Wilson, owner\/operator of Frio County Hunts, doing a little fall dove hunting. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But invariably you\nwill miss on doves and when he did, he pushed a few groups right at me. I whiffed\non my share, but dropped several of these \u201cpushed\u201d doves, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did not set any\ndove hunting accuracy records. One box of the Game Loads and I only accounted\nfor five doves. But it was fun, great to be outside and shooting, and got me\nready for the night\u2019s hog hunting.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next time I am in Texas for a fall or winter deer or hog hunt? I\u2019m bringing along my Remington 870 20-gauge. And Wilson wasn\u2019t kidding: Grilled Dove Poppers are excellent!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Texas
Remington\u2019s 20-gauge Game Loads worked well on McCombie\u2019s Texas dove hunt.    <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n