If you're wondering if the heat has affected the doves, don't worry. Like most Texans, most doves are well-adapted to hot, dry conditions, particularly white-winged doves, and the season looks promising.

"Doves kick reproduction into high gear in dry years like this, and we’re seeing a lot of young birds on the landscape,” says Dove Program Leader, Owen Fitzsimmons.

Extreme conditions concentrate birds near water and food sources, and Fitzsimmons offers this tip: "Hunting near water will be key for opening day this year." Protected birds may be mixed in with your quarry, so look over the dove identifier to tell the difference. 

The regular season opens 9/1 in North and Central Zones; South Zone's Special White-wing Dove Days open 9/2. The daily bag limit is 15. For all your regulation information, including complete season dates, refer to the Outdoor Annual online or use the app.

Digital tagging is now available as an option with select 2022-23 resident Super Combo licenses, including the Super Combo, Senior Super Combo and Lifetime Super Combo.

With any one of these digital licenses, you can digitally tag your deer, turkey and oversized red drum harvests. See how it works by watching our video Digital Tagging 2022-2023 Hunting Season. Our press release also has more information about digital tagging.

Digital tagging is currently available only to Texas residents that purchase one of the Super Combo licenses online – get yours today! 

You can now use a digital image of your license as proof for hunting any legal game that doesn’t require a tag, like dove. Accepted proof of your hunting license includes: a digital photo, an emailed receipt, or your license accessed in the Outdoor Annual app or in the My Texas Hunt Harvest app.

This summer's been a hot one, and it's not over quite yet. These 5 hunting heat hacks will help keep you cool:

1. Hunt in the morning 
2. Drink both water and electrolyte beverages
3. Wear a hat and loose clothing in breathable fabrics, like cotton
4. Wear a commercial neck-cooler or wet bandana around your neck
5. Eat salty snacks

Texas State Parks has more tips to beat the heat.

High temperatures can also be dangerous for dogs, especially when they’re excited and running hard after birds. Think twice about bringing your dogs out in extreme heat. If you do, limit hunts to early mornings or late evenings, give them breaks in the shade and bring plenty of water just for the dogs. The Humane Society has tips to keep dogs safe in the heat, including how to identify a heatstroke and treat it.

If you want to expand your hunting options, walk-in hunting is available on more than 1 million acres of land. This is land we've leased from federal and state agencies, industry and private landowners – all you need to access it is a $48 Annual Public Hunting Permit. 

Blaze orange is required to be worn on public hunting lands except during archery-only hunts, migratory game bird hunting or turkey hunting. Hunters also must be able to show proof of a current Annual Public Hunting Permit, a hunting license, any required endorsements, and proof of Hunter Ed if born after Sept. 1, 1971.

Check out the Roger R. Fawcett WMA in our video, Acres of Access for Hunters. Then do a search by area or type of game and find yourself a new, affordable spot for a hunt! 

Wildfires are making headlines, reminding us all to be mindful in the field this fall. If dry conditions persist, these safety practices will help you prevent wildfires:

• Avoid parking vehicles or idling over dry vegetation – a hot catalytic converter can ignite grass
• Avoid shooting near tall, dry grass or into rocks that may spark
• Avoid using full metal jacket or tracer ammunition   

Find more ways to prevent wildfires in the magazine blog Protect Your Texas Lands from Wildfire. 

Nobody likes to miss a shot, especially when you're out in the field surrounded by your buddies. Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine got together with a shooting school and put together some easy exercises to hone your shotgun skills and help you get ready for dove season.

Clay target games are an excellent way to improve your shotgun skills, because clays are airborne moving targets, just like birds on the wing. Find out more about how to practice using clay targets in the magazine story Shooting Clays. 

Imagine going on a guided, private hunt with a friend, then add in free lodging and meals - if that sounds like your kind of experience, enter Big Time Texas Hunts today.

We’ve put together 10 hunt packages on some of the finest private ranches and public lands. NEW this year, the Exotic Safari winner will also receive a Browning X-Bolt Hunter .270 rifle with Leupold Freedom 3x9 scope, courtesy of McBride's Guns.

Other packages include the Ultimate Mule Deer Hunt, Powderhorn Cast and Blast and the big Grand Slam, which awards the winner 4 separate hunts for bighorn sheep, white-tailed deer, pronghorn and mule deer. 

An entry is $9 online. Enter as many hunts as you like, as many times as you like, but do it by the deadline of Oct. 15. All proceeds go directly to support wildlife conservation and public hunting in Texas, so any way you look at it, if you participate, you're a winner.