Chris Smith

Published 3:02 pm Wednesday, January 8, 2025

East Texas shotgunners really have a tough time choosing their game this time of year.

Ducks, geese, woodcock and snipe are all on the menu, but this will be the last full weekend of the winter dove season.

I always look forward to the “holiday Dove season” for one reason. This reason is my appetite for winter dove breast/jalapeno/cream cheese, mesquite grilled poppers. Of course I enjoy the regular season dove poppers but the winter birds can almost double in size by January.

This translates into more dove breast per popper and this is always a great idea.

A good number of doves will stay north taking advantage of agricultural waste feed in the Texas panhandle, Kansas or Oklahoma. Ice or snow on the ground is about the only thing that will send these birds south.

There are plenty doves that call East Texas home during the winter and the late arrivals will blend in quickly, following their feed patterns. Think about how many times you have witnessed doves flying in to pick up corn under your deer feeder. Unless your corn feeders are inside a building, the wintering birds know their locations.

Backyard feeders are another popular spot for wintering doves to put on weight. Of course it is illegal to harvest doves over any type of grain or feed, anywhere, anytime but its easy to see how they can bulk up.

The same places dove frequent in September will come into play in January. Gravel roads, farm ponds and goatweed aka croton are all great places to watch for activity. One sleeper location is a fresh timber cutover. If the area has recently been replanted, even better.

The big plows used to replant turn huge amounts of soil and newly plowed ground is like a magnet to doves. This “new ground” can be booming for other game as well. A slow stroll could flush doves, woodcocks and/or rabbits. If a stroll isn’t your style, there is always a tree left standing that the doves will land in first.

From the tree, they will locate any activity on the ground and glide down to areas where birds are feeding. Post up by that tree and your limit will be on the way shortly.

The actual end of the late season is Tuesday Jan. 14. The daily bag limit is 15 white-winged, mourning and white-tipped doves in the aggregate, to include no more than 2 white-tipped doves.

The possession limit is three times the daily bag. Legal shooting hours are 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset.

Check the Texas Parks & Wildlife Handbook for any restrictions for the county your are hunting in.