The beginning of fall comes early for Texas hunters who start the season dove hunting before moving on to ducks, deer, quail, turkey and more.

When it comes to hunting, this has always been my favorite time of year. Dove season opens Sept. 1, and like I have been almost every year of my life I will be in a field hunting somewhere.

Dove season is the beginning of nine months of hunting that concludes with next spring’s turkey season. But dove season is where my hunting memories began, first going with my father as a tag-along until finally getting the experience and enough lead in my britches to actually lift and shoot a gun.

It is hard to believe, but it has been 40 years since I last hunted with my dad. That doesn’t mean the memories are gone. I still remember some of the earliest hunts and remain amazed at some of the shots he made on his last hunt before passing away.

Long before my time, my dad was a good athlete, having been offered the chance to play either college or pro baseball. World War II got in the way of those dreams, but had it not been for his service in Egypt, I would not be here today. That is where he met my mom, who was there as an Army nurse. Even though she outranked him, they got engaged. Fortunately, my dad never let the little things stand in his way.

My early memories of him are as a good shooter. A terrible fisherman, but deadly with his Remington model 31, long-barreled, full choke, 12-gauge.

One of my uncles was a farmer south of Fort Worth, and that gave us access to a lot of land for dove hunting. It was afternoon hunts only at the time, and I can honestly say when I started it was those hot days, missed shots and bruised shoulders that started a lifelong passion.

Looking back, I realize the missed shots in the beginning were just as important as the hits. For starters there were a lot more of them as I learned my way handling a shotgun, when to raise up and how to continue to swing through the target.

Had it been too easy, I might have lost interest and moved on to other things. But I ended up looking forward to the beginning of the next season as soon as one ended.

So here we are on the doorstep of another season. Just days after dove season, teal season (Sept. 11-26) opens. Shortly after that is archery deer season (Oct. 2-Nov. 5) and the beginning of hunting with Managed Lands Deer permits. Quail season opens Oct. 30 and then the regular deer season opens Nov. 6 followed by a bunch of others like duck, goose, mule deer and pheasant. And for Texas hunters, that is not everything on the table.

Dove season for me actually starts earlier in August as I start rummaging the house for bug spray, camo, shotgun chokes and ammunition.

Then comes the annual purchase of my hunting and fishing license. Although it can be done online (https://tpwd.texas.gov/business/licenses/online_sales/), there is still something about going to the store to get it. Maybe it is just the nostalgia of the old days when you always ran into other hunters you knew and heard the tales of the previous year and the opportunities coming up. Apparently, others feel the same way as about 80 percent of all license sales in Texas are still made at the store.

Hunting is still robust in Texas. It is a multi-billion dollar industry that employs tens of thousands and still drives the local economy in a lot of small towns along with helping landowners pay tax bills and more.

But there are concerns. Youth license sales were up 6 percent last year to just over 127,000. While that is a positive trend, it was not that many years ago that Texas annually sold 150,000-plus youth licenses.

Couple that decline with the loss of older hunters at the other end and the long-term outlook does not look good.

It will be interesting to see if last year’s overall bump in hunting license sales during the pandemic shutdown carries through this fall.

By its nature, dove hunting is a good place to start hunters because it cost less than other types of hunting, provides a good chance for the parent to interact with their kids and the young hunter gets to shoot a lot as opposed to the one-and-done deer hunt.

It was a good start for me, for my kids and hopefully someday my grandkids, because as I have done for decade after decade, I will be out in a scorched Texas sunflower field once again on opening day. Just hoping my misses are fewer than they were so many years ago.