STEVE KNIGHT/steve@texasalloutdoors.com

Just maybe late season dove hunting is not the greatest idea.

First of all there may or not be doves depending on cold fronts and cold rain, and if there are birds one shot will often have an entire flock on its way south.

This year there has been another issue. Snakes.

Maybe it is because some hunters have been out dove hunting later than normal or maybe it has been the spring-like weather. Whatever it has been the reports of rattlesnake encounters have been off the scale.

It serves as a warning to deer hunters who will be going before the state gets a hard freeze. There is not much a hunter can do except try to reduce the chance of bumping into a snake by not stepping over piles of timber or clumps of grass. If you run into one on a trail, stop and give it a chance to leave.

Now, go have fun out there.