bird hunting (Lubbock, Abilene, Eagle Pass: move, relocating to, land)

[bman15470]

As part of my research on relocating to Texas I am curious about the bird hunting. Am looking at the area from FW to Abilene as far north as Young county and south to Comanche. Also am looking at land off the Cap rock, Crosby-Dickens and surrounding counties. Is there plentiful upland birds? dove, quail, pheasant, prairie chicken. Are there any Chukar partridge established in the canyon terrains? Hows the duck and goose hunting? seems I heard theres lots of snow goose areas in Texas. Are there hunt-able public lands for any of these game species? Thanks bman

[Philosophizer]

dove are plentiful throughout the state. Any stock tank near a field of sunflowers or milo are ideal places to hunt. generally speaking, most doves north of I-10 are going to be morning doves, and as you move further south, you'll see more whitewings. there is also a non native population of ringnecks are becoming increasingly more common, but they still aren't as well established as morning/whitewings. if you do kill one, they won't count towards your limit as they aren't native to the US.

Quail numbers have been down in recent years due to droughts across the central and western central parts of the state. As you move into the trans pecos region and south texas, you'll encounter blue quail. Bobwhites are far more common statewide however and can be found in the western two thirds of the state.

We've got pheasants, but you'll have to go to the panhandle to hunt them. I've never seen them any place else in Texas except the panhandle praries from Lubbock northward.

Ducks can be killed anywhere in the state on land that has stock tanks. Geese are thick in the coastal rice fields. Eagle Pass and El Campo are prime locations. Public hunting land can be found at the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/

[bman15470]

thanks Pat.