For such an easy form of hunting it sure takes a load of gear to get to Tuesday’s dove season opener.

Maybe it is the excitement of the first hunt of the year or maybe we just haven’t gotten on our game when it comes to packing, but it sure seems easy to fill up a truck with stuff just to hunt a few birds.

Part of it is self-inflicted. Hunters like gadgets. We don’t have to have motorized dove decoys, but we have them. The problem is that if one is good, two is even better. I have three.

Don’t ask about the box of stagnant decoys. They just sort of showed up one day, and as long as I have them and there is a tree or fence nearby, why not use them.

The same is true about choke tubes. My first shotgun had none. I now have a gun with five chokes, all used for different types of hunting or so I tell myself. Might as well take them all because you never know what you might get into. Besides, they are in a box with rags, tools and several types of cleaning solvent and gun grease.

And guns, plural. There is the shotgun you hunt with, the shotgun you might hunt with and the one you keep thinking you are going to hunt with. OK, maybe you better take one in case someone else’s shotgun breaks down because you don’t want them using your No. 1 or No. 2 gun.

With each gun, all of which are different gauges, comes the need for different shells. That isn’t made easier if you find yourself somewhere where there are whitewings. They require a little more knockdown power than a mourning dove, so it is always good to have a case for each situation.

Sure you could get away with fewer, but they are easier to carry that way and never forget the average is about five shots per downed bird. With a daily bag limit of 15, that is three boxes. With a three-day possession limit, that is nine boxes. May want to make that a case and a half of each.

You have to have clothes too, and while it is nice to be able to wear shorts, sunflowers can leave scratches as bad as barbed wire. Better take both, and multiple camo shirts to match the surroundings.

Don’t forget a good shell bag, a cap and a comfortable chair or stool.

And then there are the things you really need come opening day. Like a hunting license. Mandatory, but sometimes forgotten or by-passed by those who haven’t taken a hunter education course. In recent years that problem has been rectified by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department offering a $10, one-time exemption from the course.

While getting a license, make certain to get HIP certified. It is nothing more than a series of questions that are asked about the previous year’s harvest of migratory birds, but it is required. Some clerks don’t know to ask.

A plug in semi-auto and pump shotguns is also a requirement. Hunters probably don’t take plugs out of shotguns like they used to. Unless cleaning the magazine there really isn’t a reason to take it out.

In the old days when quail hunting was really big hunters would pull their plugs so they would be ready for a covey rise. That isn’t the case anymore.

The rule to plug a gun to no more than three shots for dove hunting is more about protection of the resource. A hunter has a better chance of finding one or two birds that they knock down than they are three or four.

The fact that any beyond two shots is typically wasted is a bonus money-saving part of the rule.

Plastic trah bags can be a lot more important than hunters realize. Besides trash they can also be used for cleaning birds to keep from littering the land-owner’s field.

Freezer quality bags are also important for storing birds after the hunt. Just as important is a Sharpie to mark the bag with the hunters name, address, date of the hunt and number of birds in the bag. This is in case a warden comes into the field on Day 2 or 3 so they know what birds belong to whom, when and how many were taken.

Water for drinking in the field is also a must. There is a time to celebrate hunting, and while hunting is not it. Chances are opening week is going to be hot, and nothing quenches a thirst quite like water. Carry extra if you are taking a dog.

Bug spray is also going to be important. While mosquitoes may not be the problem in Central Texas they can be in East Texas, the ones they have are huge. Ticks can also be a serious problem and gnats are irritating.

If there is any room left over, you might want to consider food, but that is optional.

 

Have a comment or opinion on this story? Contact outdoor writer Steve Knight by email at outdoor@tylerpaper.com. Follow Steve Knight on Facebook at TylerPaper Outdoors and on Twitter @tyleroutdoor.