MR. PUBLIC

There just aren’t many secrets anymore when it comes to duck and dove hunting sweet spots on public hunting lands. One careless social media post or slip of the tongue amongst big ears these days is all it takes to call in the troops and ruin a great hunting spot that may have taken years to pin down.

My ol’ friend Shannon Tompkins of Porter knows a thing or two about wing shooting on public lands. Tompkins, 71, grew up in Baytown and spent four decades as a newspaper outdoors writer before retiring from the Houston Chronicle in 2019.

Tompkins has traversed lots country over the years and enjoyed some banner shoots along the way, many of them on public lands and waters. Though finding unmolested hotspots doesn’t seem as easy today as it once was, he says there are still some gems out there waiting to be discovered by ambitious hunters willing to put forth the effort it takes to find them.

Following are some bullet points Tompkins offered up on the topic.

“A lot of this stuff is just common sense,” Tompkins stressed. “But some of it comes hard-won from almost 60 years of chasing waterfowl and doves in Texas, most of it on public areas.”

* Good Work Ethic: Tompkins says hunters to be willing to invest the time, research and the road miles to find decent out-of-the-way or high quality public spots. It’s a lot of work and expense. “The farther away a spot is from a population center, the better chance of it being unmolested by other hunters,” he said.

* Networking a Plus: Building a small network of like-minded, trustworthy folks with whom to share personal information and ideas can be a big help, but it’s wise to avoid discussions on internet chat rooms. Intimate networks can provide valuable connections for learning about current habitat conditions, bird numbers and hunting prospects in areas that may be too far from home base to be scouted on your own.

Tompkins says he has had friends who live hours away contact him with valuable information about public hunting spots that were prime for hunting at the time. “It’s impossible to gather real-time intel like that without taking the huge risk of driving long distances, only to be cruelly (and expensively) disappointed once you get there.” he said.

* Dedication: Be willing to work harder – walk farther, scout harder, hide better, stay longer – than the other guys.

* Buy a APH Permit: At only $48, a TPWD Annual Public Hunting permit can be a great investment. The permit grants legal access to more than 180 tracts statewide totaling more than 1 million acres. Plus, permit holders are eligible to participate in drawn hunts on wildlife management areas overseen by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, some of which can provide top shelf wingshooting.

“The hunts are well-run, the number of permits are limited and hunters have designated areas/compartments that only they may hunt,” Tompkins said. “It makes for a super high-quality experience.”

Additionally, Tompkins says the APH can open up opportunities to find isolated oxbows and sloughs on national forest lands that can provide some stellar shoots for wood ducks, mallards, gadwall and teal.

“As with all public hunting, the first trick is finding these isolated wetlands, he said. “Aerial maps have made this much easier. But it is crucial to scout them, and to learn how weather conditions and patterns affect the landscape. A “wet” year can create duck-friendly wetlands where none exist during dry years. A dry year can evaporate last season’s hotspot.”

* WMA Dove Sweet Spots: Tompkins says WMA’s located in deep South Texas offer some world class dove hunting opportunities with very limited pressure at times. Some of his favorites are found in the Rio Grande Valley.

“It’s crucial to either scout those areas yourself or have contacts who can do that and willing to share their information,” Tompkins said.

* Cold Weather Doves: While dove hunting always gets the most play from hunters in late summer/early fall, Tompkins says winter seasons offer some golden opportunities on public land that often go overlooked by the masses.

“The winter seasons don’t draw the numbers of hunters the September opener pulls, but, with the influx of wintering doves, the number of birds can be just as spectacular,” he said. “I’ve had great winter-season dove shoots on WMAs and other public tracts in South Texas, particularly around water holes, and in central and coastal Texas around fields holding croton, sunflower, pigweed and other hard native seeds that provide much of wintering doves’ forage.”

* Coastal Gems: Tompkins says Texas’ vast coastline offers some of the best opportunities for a waterfowler to find isolated sweet spots that aren’t overrun with other hunters. Just don’t expect good fortune to come easy.

“Long boat rides to isolated spots 10-20 miles from the nearest ramp, usually in the dark and often in nasty weather conditions, sometimes lead to the best hunts.” he said. “These kinds of expeditions take extensive planning may involve overnight primitive camping on sandy shorelines or rough, oyster reefs.”

* River Tricks: Tompkins says it possible to enjoy some exceptional hunting along shallow flats and calm eddies on larger rivers that are frequently used as travel corridors by migrant waterfowl.

The tricks are locating such areas, learning how water levels affect “huntability” and bird behavior and being careful to avoid any violations of trespass laws and hunting regulations.

“Also, take into consideration there’s a very high probability landowners adjacent to the area hunted will not be happy to find someone hunting along “their” stretch of the river and will confront the hunters or call law enforcement to address the issue,” he said. River hunters should be very careful, use discretion and expect to be confronted. For most, it’s not worth the hassle and the potential for things to go sideways.”

Matt Williams is a freelance writer based in Nacogdoches. He can be reached by e-mail, mattwillwrite4u@yahoo. com.