By Jessica Domel
Multimedia Reporter

The second half of the regular dove hunting season opens Dec. 17, and experts say hunters should have good chances of bagging some birds.

“As sparse as it may have been for the majority of the state in the first season, the way this thing has played out, it should lead up to a really good second season,” Bobby Thornton, co-founder of the Texas Dove Hunters Association, said. “Generally speaking, drier conditions usually lead to a really good breeding crop. We’re anticipating having lots of birds having gone through the early stages of infancy to now being here for the second season. This could lead up to a really good season.”

Although the second part of the season can provide some great opportunities for hunters, it’s typically not the most popular.

“Statistically speaking, you get more hunters before the split. Within the first three weeks of a dove season, you’re shooting over 80% of your birds that are harvested in an entire season,” Thornton said in an interview with the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “That being said, if you eliminate the first weeks and compare the end of the first season to the second season, we are starting to see more and more hunters coming out in the second season.”

The second season runs through Jan. 1 in the north zone, through Jan. 15 in the central zone and through Jan. 22 in the south zone.

“January is a great time to be in the field—early to mid-January—as long as the weather cooperates,” Thornton said.

Hunters who plan to take advantage of the reopening of dove season in December are encouraged to scout their potential hunting areas to find the best spot to hunt.

“The hard thing about scouting second season is weather conditions really tend to move birds,” Thornton said. “It’s a great idea to scout and see where they’re going, but if all of a sudden you get a cold front come through with a lot of rain, a field that was just phenomenal will be horrible the next day or vice versa. That’s just the nature of the second season.”