TDHA Gears Up for Season and the Texas Banded Bird Challenge
Whether you hunt upland birds, ducks, crane, deer, pigs, exotics, or any other wildlife,
September 1st is the day all hunters anxiously await. The opening day of dove season is also the opening day of hunting season in Texas and the first chance to pull the trigger on wild game.
It is also the most exciting time of the year for Texas Dove Hunters Association (TDHA). This month, in preparation for September 1st and the rest of dove season, we’re busy mailing out hundreds of new memberships and renewals, attending trade shows across the state, and releasing birds for the Texas Banded Bird Challenge.
TDHA has been a true hunter’s organization since it began in 2012 and promotes strong family unity through hunting and the outdoors. A membership organization committed to research, education, and habitat conservation, THDA developed an extensive field study on the Eurasian Collared Dove, an invasive species in Texas. We have built a database centered on where these birds are trapped, banded, and released, compared to where they are found or harvested. We study the habitat in all three locations, looking at directional travel, age, and distance over time.
This year even more wing shooters are entering the Texas BB Challenge in hopes that they will
harvest a Eurasian Collared dove with an orange TDHA band on its leg. The top prize is a new truck provided by Hoffpauir Auto Group. If a Texas BB Challenge entrant reports a band that matches a pre-determined number, they win the new truck. All entrants who report a band will win—and we take pride in offering some of the best hunting contest prizes around, thanks to our Banded Bird sponsors and supporters. This year’s sponsors include Hoffpauir Outdoor Superstore, Recordbuck Ranch, G2 Ranch, Baffin Bay Rod and Gun Club, Bird Down Brand, Aluminum Outfitters, Blake Jones Designs, Los Cazadores, Negrini Gun Cases, David Denies Bird Hunting, Poncho Outdoors, Forager Outdoor Products, the Dove Wrangler, Cowboys Wild Game Washer and Dove Cord.
This year’s winners will receive a wide variety of prizes – ranging from a Polaris Ranger, exotic hunts, trophy trout fishing trip, Argentina dove hunt, leather products, a lifetime TDHA membership, gun accessories and targets, feeders, Poncho shirts, and more. Needless to say, your $20 TBBC entry could pay off big!
For a full list of prizes, past winner photos, information on the TBBC and contest rules, visit: www.bandedbirdchallenge.com.
The TDHA release team has already started banding and releasing some of the 800 Eurasian
Collared doves for the 2024 Texas Banded Bird Challenge. As the contest continues to
gain momentum and popularity for the prizes being won, it also continues to generate some
exciting insight into the habits and migratory instincts of these invasive birds to Texas. This year will mark the seventh year of the study and some 5,400 birds having been banded and released.
We hope to see some of you at the TTHA Hunters Extravaganza this weekend in San Antonio! Come find us at our booth to join/renew, enter the TBBC, grab a new TDHA hat, or just say hello to our team.
Join or renew TDHA today and enter the Texas Banded Bird Challenge at www.texasdovehunters.com.
