The opening day for North and Central zone dove hunters is in the books, and it was a good opener for most hunters.
Reports of good morning hunts came from many areas, including Coleman, Graham, Waxahachie, Haskell, Waco and farther south around Austin and San Antonio.
Hunters on fields with grain and sunflowers reported the best shooting. Some hunters who hunted flyways also reported good hunts.
Public land results were mixed.
The LSON crew headed to a private field in Kaufman County and had a good hunt. Nobody shot a limit, but all hunters killed a few birds. A field next to the group had more birds and by the amount of shooting, limits should have been taken.
That is the fun and frustration of dove hunting — hunters one field over can have the greatest hunt of their lives, while others just off the flyway have a so-so day. Our bag consisted of nothing but mourning dove.
The wind picked up in the afternoon and the birds heading downwind were really moving.
Many hunters in the Central Zone reported lots of whitewings in the bag, especially if they were hunting near cities.
More North Zone hunters reported seeing more whitewings than in years past. Hunters also reported shooting Eurasian collared dove in many areas.
The daily bag limit is 15 dove.
