Dove season is not only the opening of the fall hunting year in Texas, it is an excellent opportunity to introduce youth to hunting. (Steve Knight/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

It seems like it was only a couple of weeks ago we were saying goodbye to the 2023-24 Texas hunting season. In just a few more weeks we will be saying hello to the first of the 2024-25 seasons.

Dove season is the opening act for hunters starting Sept. 1 in the North and Central zones, and for the first two-day special white-winged dove season in the South. The regular South Zone season opens Sept. 14.

These days deer season rules the Texas hunting scene, but it has not always been that way. In an era when people had more free time they were all-around hunters starting with dove because it was an every-man’s hunt. Texas was a more agrarian state, and you either had family who farmed, or knew someone who did, so it was not hard to get access to hunt.

That meant all you needed was a hunting license, shotgun and several boxes of shells that were available everywhere from sporting goods stores, convenience stores, mom-and-pop country groceries and department stores.

School years did not start as early then, and with hunting allowed only in the afternoons, hunts were family affairs almost like family reunions.

At least that is how it was in my family. My dad came from a large farming family and opening day often included some his seven brothers, some of my cousins and was always held at their sister’s farm south of Fort Worth.

Unlike today with shredded fields, hunting stools, dogs and various styles of camo, the hunts were simple. Hunters wore a green or tan, sometimes maybe a plaid shirt, and they stood next to a tree if anything and those of us too young to shoot did most of the retrieving.

For me it was Hunting 101, an introduction to the sport of hunting. Of course I did not know it at the time, but it was where I learned that hunting was more than the killing of an animal.

It took a few years, Ok, a lot of years, before I realized it was the anticipation, the preparation, the comradery, the pride of success and the stories that came with defeat.

Before I was old enough to swing a 16-gauge shotgun, yep, that was my starter because that was what was available, the biggest disappointment came in years rain washed out opening day, delaying the first hunt until the next weekend.

There were also years when there were not a lot of birds, but that did not bother me. Getting to go on the hunt was what mattered.

It was not until I started shooting that I felt the agony of defeat from missed shots. And there were a lot of those. We did not have access to a skeet ranges so the only practice we got was in the field. Thankfully a box of bullets was less than $2, which might have been a lot had it been my dime instead of my dad’s.

And that was another difference. We did not walk out into the field knowing there was a case of ammo in the truck if we needed it. We might get two boxes, and if I was hunting alone and wanted more I had to walk across the highway to a store that thankfully sold ammo by the shell if you only needed a few.

I hunted with my dad up until he died, but like everyone else my circle of hunting friends expanded greatly over the years thanks to dove hunting. So did the areas I hunted, from the Panhandle, Cross Timbers, North Texas, Central Texas, South Texas, and even on occasion East Texas.

I have learned from outfitters to never start watching the power lines until mid-August, but I cannot help myself. I have been watching birds in a couple of locations for several weeks, and although I know there is a good chance they will not be around opening day, seeing them gets me excited. But just in case, I have a hunt planned opening day in the Abilene area. It is new country, and that makes it even better.

Dove is not only the hunting season opener, it makes an ideal starter into hunting for youngsters working their way up from bird boy to a member of the hunting line. The hot weather beats the cold, the hunts are usually short, and the trips are compact. If you look around it can still be affordable, certainly cheaper than starting them out deer hunting.

I have already inventoried my shotgun shells, made sure I have the right choke tube in my gun and come Aug. 15 I will be in line getting my license for the new year.