For the most part that pattern has not changed, except that migrating birds are now dodging more and more urban sprawl along the traditional I-35 migration corridor, as Dallas, Austin and San Antonio continue to spread out into farm and pasture land. Houston and Lower Rio Grande Valley developments likewise are crowding into what once were hot dove fields.

White-winged doves, which used to be the "other" Texas dove, and which few hunters saw and fewer hunters shot except in the Rio Grande Valley, are now a mainstay of dove hunting almost statewide. "Whitewings still seem to be increasing in the state," Roberson said. "They are known to be breeding and producing young in most counties of the state, with estimated annual harvest of 1.3 million."

That's a really exciting change for those of us who grew up dreaming of just once hunting the big high-flying birds!

Another looming issue that waterfowl hunters have lived with for a generation, and that might affect dove hunters: lead shot. "Concern has been expressed over the deposition of spent lead shot in the environment and its effects on other birds that might ingest it," Roberson said. "I expect more state and federal pressure to find alternate sources of shot for dove hunting."

Here's a closer look at the hunting in what should be our top dove regions this fall.

SOUTH TEXAS
"Historically, the Rio Grande Valley (Cameron, Willacy, Starr, Hidalgo, and Zapata counties) offered some of the best hunting in South Texas, primarily due to extensive food sources and a large population of whitewing doves," said Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologist Daniel Kunz, of Alice. "Although these counties still offer excellent hunting, the whitewing population has since expanded northward, and large populations can be found throughout the South Texas Brush Country. Farther north, this species has exploded in population around urban areas.

"I believe current call counts indicate that the population of white-winged doves in the San Antonio Metroplex now exceeds the population in the Rio Grande Valley. The hotspots nowadays include agricultural fields surrounding urban areas, especially those areas surrounding San Antonio, Uvalde, Hondo, Castroville, Corpus Christi, and the aforementioned counties in the Rio Grande Valley."

Some of the most incredible bird hunts of my life have taken place in the maize fields around Uvalde, where I'd take aim at the huge flocks of whitewings flooding out of the city's oak trees to feed. Maybe the best shooting I've ever had with doves was on one such hunt.

I parked my backside under a lane of what proved to be steady overhead flights, all on the same route. I was armed with an ancient Model 12 full-choke pump that we'd inherited from my father-in-law -- a gun ideal for the 40-yard-high birds. I dropped 10 straight before I realized that my morning hunt was rapidly turning into a 1-minute hunt!

"Areas to the south of San Antonio also offer excellent hunts, such as around Dilley and Pearsall," Kunz said. "The counties surrounding Corpus Christi (Nueces, Jim Wells, San Patricio and Kleberg) are also hotspots for both mourning doves and whitewings. Nueces and San Patricio counties have large amounts of cropland, and one of the primary crops produced is grain sorghum (milo), an excellent forage for doves.

"Many private ranchers also draw in doves across the Brush Country, providing irrigated food plots and water sources, so excellent hunting can also be found outside the previously mentioned areas."

Kunz agreed that the drought did change some dove movement patterns in South Texas. "The shifts in migration patterns of mourning doves are largely dependent on climatic conditions and water availability," he remarked. "For instance: Last season, fewer doves were seen along agricultural corridors along the coast. The severe drought we experienced resulted in poor milo yields in these areas, but heavy rainfall in the fall caused many forb, grass, and brush species out west to flower late and produce abundant forage. The doves seemed to shift their movements west to take advantage of this.

"I saw fewer doves than normal in Nueces and San Patricio counties, but helicopter surveys in Jim Wells and Duval counties last fall showed large numbers of birds. South Texas can get large rainfall events of tropical origin in the fall, and this can scatter the birds across the landscape."

According to district biologist Ruben Cantu, drought shouldn't be a factor in the upcoming season. "I say this because we are experiencing good rainfall," he said, "and doves are cooing really early. So I don't see the drought we had before the New Year to have an effect, at this time, for dove production."