Texas Dove Season Opens Sept. 1st With Near-Record Bird Numbers
If you're a dove hunter in Lubbock or anywhere across the South Plains, you might want to start checking your gear, finding your hunting license and figuring out where you left that bucket you swear is more comfortable than an actual chair.
Texas dove season opens September 1st, and this year there should be plenty of birds waiting for us.
According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, both mourning dove and white-winged dove populations are hovering near historic highs following another spring with significant rainfall across much of Texas.
And 2026 brings a major change: for the first time, dove season will open statewide on September 1st.
Texas Has A LOT of Doves Right Now
TPWD estimates Texas currently has about 36.7 million mourning doves, up 2% from last year and just below the 2016 record of 37.5 million.
White-winged doves are doing even better.
The estimated population jumped 10% to 12.9 million birds...the highest number ever recorded by TPWD.
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For West Texas hunters, good habitat conditions could initially mean the birds are fairly spread out. As August heat continues drying the landscape, TPWD expects more birds to concentrate around available water.
That makes preseason scouting particularly important. Look around agricultural fields and native food sources including sunflower, and pay attention to where birds are feeding and watering throughout the day.
September 1 Is Now Opening Day Across Texas
The biggest change involves the South Zone.
For more than a century, South Texas hunters had to wait longer because of concerns about hunting pressure on late-nesting mourning doves. Following a review of biological data, TPWD worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to allow the South Zone to join the North and Central zones for a September 1st opener.
The change is being implemented on a three-year experimental basis so wildlife officials can monitor its effects.
As a result, the old Special White-winged Dove Days held before the regular South Zone season have been eliminated.
Texas Is Dove Hunting Country
If dove hunting seems particularly important around Lubbock and West Texas, that's because Texas absolutely dominates this sport.
More than 300,000 hunters participate annually, generating over $500 million in economic activity. Texas hunters account for approximately 32% of America's mourning dove harvest and an incredible 87% of the nation's white-winged dove harvest.
Don't Forget Your License
Before heading out, hunters need a valid Texas hunting license, Migratory Game Bird Endorsement and HIP certification. Anyone born after September 1st, 1971, must also meet Texas hunter-education requirements.
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TPWD also reminds hunters that September in West Texas can still be brutally hot. Bring plenty of water for yourself and your hunting dogs, watch for overheating and be careful parking vehicles in tall, dry grass.
For hunters around Lubbock, opening morning arrives Tuesday, September 1st.
And judging by this year's numbers, there ought to be plenty flying overhead.
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Gallery Credit: Landon King
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Gallery Credit: Landon King