Fall 2011 Dove Forecast
Friday, August 5th, 2011This is Passport to Texas
Texas’ hot dry summer will affect fall hunting forecasts. Yet, Corey Mason, dove program leader for Parks and Wildlife, says dove season, which opens September first, should be good.
We do expect to have decreased seed production, and also a decline in agricultural production. But what that means on a positive, is that it does provide some bare ground so that those seeds that are available can be found by dove.
So, the hunting forecast is going to be good for Texas just because of the number of birds we have in the sky. You know, we have an estimated fall population in excess of 40-million mourning dove, so we’re going to have ample opportunity for hunters who choose to enjoy the sport.
Hunting and fishing and nature viewing in Texas have a huge economic impact. And certainly with dove being as prolific as they are and being such a popular bird, they must have quite an impact on the Texas economy.
They do, and you know, in a lot of these small towns the first of September—and the opening of deer season as well in early November—are very significant events for them. Dove hunting has an economic value estimated at 300-million plus dollars annually in Texas.
And we’re talking primarily the small rural towns that benefit.
It’s folks coming in town renting hotel rooms in small communities that don’t typically have them booked that time of year, and the local cafes and gas stations that are selling fuel and ice and cokes and candy bars and all those kinds of things. They really make a significant impact on local communities. It’s hunters dollars putting a lot of things in play.
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For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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