Some people liken dove hunting to preseason football — it’s got all the ingredients of hunting, but it’s a lot less serious.

Dove hunting is a tradition in the Lone Star State that brings friends and family together. These hunts are as much social events as they are tests of hand-eye skills, and there’s usually equal emphasis put on enjoying tales of the day’s hunt while grilling birds as there is on the shooting itself.

Successful dove hunts require knowledge and skill, and being in the right place at the right time can mean the difference between dining on fresh birds or picking up a couple of burgers on the way home. And finding doves on the wing comes down to the basics — food and water.

Dove typically feed on corn, maize and dove weed. Recently plowed fields offer good opportunities, especially those near creeks or stock tanks. Central Texas has been cursed with a

severe lack of rainfall, and it looks like more hot, dry weather is in store, so dove hunters can count on the area’s limited and dwindling watering holes — especially those located near a food source — to be prime places to set up hunts.

Look for power lines and trees near tanks for doves perching. Dove often fly from there to get meals, then wash it down with a nightcap before returning to roost.

“Dove hunting over a water source should be excellent,” said Corey Mason, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department dove program leader. “Additionally, dove may be concentrated on food sources, so if you can find a stand of sunflower, goat weed, etc., hunting should be productive. Native food sources are going to be more important this year because agricultural crops aren’t as good as years past.”

Central Texas is in the transition zone between the Hill Country, Blackland Prairie and Post Oak Savannah regions, meaning that hunters can nab different environments within a couple hours’ drive. Some areas to our east have had more rain than Waco and the surrounding area, and water can be a game-changer.

The more choices dove have, the less concentrated the birds will be.

Plus, even moderate rain can create puddles and other low-lying areas, eliminating the need for birds to fly to those now-precious ponds and tanks.

Biologists say the state’s drought conditions will have some impacts on dove populations, with the greatest being on juveniles. However, they do not expect significant impacts to what hunters will see this fall.

Texas boasts fall dove populations in excess of 40 million birds, and its 300,000 dove hunters harvest about 6 million birds annually or roughly 30 percent of all doves taken in the United States.

After the first shots are fired, dove become wary, often flying higher, faster and more erratically to avoid movements on the ground. Dove are equipped with keen eyesight, and concealment can give you the extra second or two that makes the difference between hitting your target and just blasting pellets into the sky.

The first split runs through Oct. 23, and those much-anticipated cold fronts that will inevitably blow through Central Texas will bring not only relief from our record-setting summer, but also will push in new batches of dove from the plains. However, it won’t take them long to get wise and start flying.

If you’re looking for a place to hunt, TPWD has a solution — along with your license, you can purchase a public hunting permit that opens up nearly a million acres in Texas, including thousands of them right here at home, to you. Go to the Centex Outdoors website for more information on public hunting opportunities.

Choosing a shotgun

Shotguns are the weapons of choice for dove hunting, with most hunters opting for 20, 16 or 12-gauge guns. The best bet for doves is shooting shells with smaller pellets from 7  1/2 to 9. The gauges and shot sizes are listed on the box. Texas law requires shotguns to be plugged to a three-shell capacity.

Other gear that hunters will need includes a vest, shell bag, earplugs, hunting seat and a cool place to store dressed-out bird breasts. The camo buckets with padded, swiveling seats allow for plenty of storage and keep ants from your bird bag. Check your local sporting goods store for help selecting gear.

The limit on dove in the North and Central zones is 15 mourning, white-winged and white-tipped doves. Game wardens advise that if you field-dress doves, leave a wing attached in case a warden checks your birds.

As with all meats, dove should be handled properly. Leaving birds coagulating in a game bag for hours doesn’t do any good when it comes to flavor. Hunters can pluck and remove the breasts during lulls in the action and store them in an insulated cold pack for better flavor and healthier eating.

Cooking, cleaning dove

Cooking and eating these tasty birds is almost as fun as the hunt itself, and the first step in any cookout is to wash the meat and remove any shot before cooking, using a toothpick to clear wound channels.

One of the most popular ways to cook dove is on the grill. Slice the dove along either side of the breastbone and place sliced jalapenos between the breast halves. Wrap with a strip of bacon, completely covering the dove meat, and cook until the bacon is well-done.