PROSPECTS GOOD FOR A SUCCESSFUL DOVE SEASON
Wildlife biologists with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department are predicting a hearty 2014-15 dove season—which opens today (Monday) in the North and Central Zones.
Experts say both mourning and white-winged dove populations are seeing an increase over last year.
TPWD Dove Program Leader Shaun Oldenburger says that in any given year, Texans shoot between 4-to-5 million mourning doves and, doesn’t expect that to change during the 2014-15 season.
Oldenburger says, “Based on rural and urban dove surveys by the department, the 2014 estimated breeding mourning dove population is about 26.55 million birds, which is a 5 percent increase over last year and nearly 8 percent above the long-term average.”
And Oldenburger says that more than 90 percent of all mourning doves occupy rural habitats.
The 2014 combined white-winged dove breeding population is estimated at 6.61 million birds, which is also a 5 percent increase over 2013 and more than 12 percent above the long-term average. However, 80 percent of white-winged doves live in urban areas.
Texas harvests more mourning and white-winged doves than any other state in the country. From 2003 – 2013, Texas hunters bagged 1 out of every 4 mourning doves taken nationwide and more than 80 percent of all white-winged doves.
Texas dove hunting also carries a hefty contribution to the state’s economy, with an economic output of roughly $316 million.