When is the best time to hunt doves? Under a framework approved by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in late June, Texas hunters in all three dove zones should get plenty of action.

"For three zones, we have the best utilization of days and bag limits available to us," said Vernon Bevill, Texas Parks and Wildlife game bird program director. "This year, the season framework reflects the most public input we've ever received about dove hunting. From the thousands of comments we received, this is what the hunters want."

As a result, this year Texas will offer a 60-day season (Sept. 1-Oct. 30) and 15-bird daily bag limit for mourning dove hunting in the North Zone to give hunters the best odds of encountering birds before cooler weather drives them south.

Conversely, Central Zone hunters will have better odds of seeing migrant doves during the first cold snaps of late October and will be provided a 70-day season. In exchange for getting 10 additional hunting days, Central Zone hunters will be limited to 12 birds per day in the bag. The first split of the Central Zone season will run Sept. 1-Oct. 28, with a second split Dec. 26-Jan. 6.

In the South Zone, hunters will also have a 70-day season with a 12-bird bag. A few days were added to the front end of the second split and will allow young hunters on holiday break from school can get in on the dove action. The South Zone season will run Sept. 21-Nov. 4 and Dec. 22-Jan. 15 this year. In future years the second split will open on the Saturday before Christmas.

Also finalized was the early teal season, which for the fourth consecutive year will run 16 days thanks to an above-average breeding population of bluewing teal. According to Bevill, this year's North American bluewing breeding population of 5.9 million birds is well above the 4.7 million threshold for determining an extended early hunting season. The teal season will run Sept. 15-30 with a four-bird daily bag limit.

Regulations for the general duck and goose seasons will be determined at the Aug. 30 TPW Commission meeting. Preliminary indications point to a 74-day and six-bird bag duck season in the North and South Zones, and an extended hunting season in the High Plains Mallard Management Unit.