Whose mind is on hunting season already?

[TXARGUY]

I'm mowing the fields this weekend specifically to make dead doves easier to locate.

Of course hunting in one form or another usually goes through my head at least a couple times a day.

EDIT: Haven't seen a lot of birds in my neck of the woods yet this year which I'm hoping is a good thing. Last year they flew so early they were just about all gone by opening morning.

 

[karlac]

Thanks for the reminder, just ordered my combo pack hunting/fishing license online.

 

[dee]

We are covered in Whitewings up here on the northern border.

 

[TXARGUY]

Yup. Went on sale this morning.

Here y'all go:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/licenses/public/recreational/

 

[robertc1024]

What's the story with that?

Up until about 20 years ago I rarely missed a day of dove hunting, and it was all mourning doves, except for down in the Valley. Sitting on my balcony during the past ten years or so, just SW of downtown Houston, and you can kill a limit of Whitewings in ten minutes with a pellet gun. Never used to see Whitewings this far North? The Whitewings have basically run all the other birds out around here, except for grackles.

I have a pellet gun & feeders.

 

[TXARGUY]

We are covered in Whitewings up here on the northern border.

What part of the border? My place is in Fannin County (a Red River county kinda in the center). I've been in west Texas for a while, headed hone now, and hoping you're gonna give me some good news.

There was nothing flying but the year rounders when I left.

I can say I'm been seeing a ton of them Mourning and White Wing) out north of Midland/Odessa.

 

[dee]

What part of the border? My place is in Fannin County (a Red River county kinda in the center). I've been in west Texas for a while, headed hone now, and hoping you're gonna give me some good news.

There was nothing flying but the year rounders when I left.

I can say I'm been seeing a ton of them Mourning and White Wing) out north of Midland/Odessa.

Clay county

 

[TXARGUY]

except for grackles.

I hate grackles almost as much as I hate crows and I hate crows to the core of my being.

Damn noisy and nosy ass MFrs stealing my damn corn and announcing my presence and location to everything in the damn woods.

Utinam populus cioară unam cervicem haberet!

 

[Vaquero]

I hate grackles almost as much as I hate crows and I hate crows to the core of my being.

Damn noisy and nosy ass MFrs stealing my damn corn and announcing my presence and location to everything in the damn woods.

Utinam populus cioară unam cervicem haberet!

Ain't sure what that means, but therer aint no grackles outside the city here.
No crows either.

 

[dee]

I hate grackles almost as much as I hate crows and I hate crows to the core of my being.

Damn noisy and nosy ass MFrs stealing my damn corn and announcing my presence and location to everything in the damn woods.

Utinam populus cioară unam cervicem haberet!

Crows and grackles are a blast to shoot with a 22-250. When hit its a legitimate 2 foot poof of feathers.

 

[jrbfishn]

I don't hunt dove, but if you are near enough, Stillhouse lake has places to hunt dove free. A lot of corps lakes do. Might find some hunting in your area.

 

[TXARGUY]

Clay county

That's close enough for the fly to be hitting my place too then.

Texas Parks and Wildlife seriously needs to look into moving the season opening up by a week or even better by two weeks for the North Zone.

The migration patterns and timing in the North Zone have changed so significantly since September 1, 1983 that by the time opening day rolls around most of the fly is well south of us leaving a few stragglers behind for us to waste shells trying to hit.

In other words we spend most of August watching the skies darkened with dove only see most of them well gone by the time we get to squeeze off a shot.

I've left my comments at the link below and would appreciate it if anyone else here concerned enough about the issue would weigh in with them also:

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/business/feedback/public_comment/proposals/201408_migratory.phtml

 

[Moonpie]

The story I heard about the whitewings taking over was due to the terrible freeze we had back in December of 1989.
It got down to 5 degrees at my house south of Houston!
This killed a lot of vegetation down in the valley, the traditional grounds for the whitewings. As they migrated out, with no real pressure from hunters(because TP&W regs) and no real predatory pressure the populations exploded everywhere.
When I was a kid living up north of San Antonio back in the 1970's I never even saw a whitewing. By the late 1990's the dang things were everywhere! At my parents house today you could fill an Igloo ice chest with whitewings in 20 minutes with a pellet gun

 

[karlac]

The story I heard about the whitewings taking over was due to the terrible freeze we had back in December of 1989.
It got down to 5 degrees at my house south of Houston!
This killed a lot of vegetation down in the valley, the traditional grounds for the whitewings. As they migrated out, with no real pressure from hunters(because TP&W regs) and no real predatory pressure the populations exploded everywhere.
When I was a kid living up north of San Antonio back in the 1970's I never even saw a whitewing. By the late 1990's the dang things were everywhere! At my parents house today you could fill an Igloo ice chest with whitewings in 20 minutes with a pellet gun

Yes sir, I remember that freeze well. First I've heard about that being the cause of it, but it's certainly plausible. Figured it had something to do with weather, but did not consider that one freeze could be responsible.

 

[BIGPAPIGREG]

I'm so far behind at the lease it's pitiful......but makes a good excuse to get up there for a coupla three days or so

 

[Texasjack]

Spent a big chunk of today (until it got too hot) working on a deer stand.

 

[Heinz Bar]

It's so expensive to hunt in Texas that I would go to Alabama and hunt on public land. Loved it so much I bought a farm there. Been working all summer trying to get it ready for deer season.



Did I mention we're covered in turkeys too?

 

[matefrio]

Where I've moved to deer come though my yard all the time. Living outside of town I can shoot on the land, just 2 acres. I may try and take one sitting in the sun room.

Finding hunting grounds here is a bit easier if you go the public route.

 

[Stumpy]

I can't freaking wait to get back to some hunting. I moved to Moss Bluff, Louisiana two and a half weeks ago so I gotta figure out what I'm gonna do. I've got an open invite to my uncle's lease south of Grape Creek, an invite to a dove/pig hunt in N Texas from a forum member(not telling!), and an invite to a weekend-after-Thanksgiving deer hunt in N Louisiana from a friend down here. Dang, I wish I got better mileage in my '01 F-150.

I've loved hunting all my life. Everything about it. The pursuit of game, good friends, cold beer, colder weather(sometimes), hot campfires, tall tales, college football on the radio, 4-wheelers, sunset behind mesquite forests, and sometimes just sitting watching critters interact with one another in their world and generally enjoying being out in the country. Yee yee! I wish a fun and successful season to all.

 

[Vaquero]

I can't freaking wait to get back to some hunting. I moved to Moss Bluff, Louisiana two and a half weeks ago so I gotta figure out what I'm gonna do. I've got an open invite to my uncle's lease south of Grape Creek, an invite to a dove/pig hunt in N Texas from a forum member(not telling!), and an invite to a weekend-after-Thanksgiving deer hunt in N Louisiana from a friend down here. Dang, I wish I got better mileage in my '01 F-150.

I've loved hunting all my life. Everything about it. The pursuit of game, good friends, cold beer, colder weather(sometimes), hot campfires, tall tales, college football on the radio, 4-wheelers, sunset behind mesquite forests, and sometimes just sitting watching critters interact with one another in their world and generally enjoying being out in the country. Yee yee! I wish a fun and successful season to all.

Stumpy "gets it".