So ... apparently I signed up for an account a long time ago. I'm not sure that I have ever made a post / thread here but here goes .. so be gentle please.

I've longed for my kids to be more interested in hunting a fishing. We've recently moved into the city from the country and have been inundated by the squirrels. My wife has shared her displeasure of the squirrels and the boys have picked up on that. I've refused to let them take the squirrels at their peril due to it being in the city and close quarters. Kids and airguns and neighbors can end in bad ways if not supervised correctly. They have decided they want to go squirrel hunting this year ... so I bought a youth model 20ga and a public use land permit.

We took them out shooting at the range so they could get accustomed to shooting. The 12 yr old is digging the 20 gauge. The 8 year old is digging the single shot 410 and is pretty decent shot. After playing around at the range, the 8 year old nailed a couple of old trashed water bottles when thrown. The 12 yr old was struggling. We may blame the thrower a little but let's not tell them.

This got me thinking ... I've gone on some sponsored dove hunts and had LOTS of fun. These were not exactly kid friendly hunts though. I would really like to give the boys this experience, which boils down to my predicament ...

The amount of public land (that seems to be good dove hunting land) available is daunting and spread out and at least 6 hours away. Me not being in or around the area .. I hate to just trek that way and hope for the best with 2 impatient kiddos in tow.

Does anyone have any pointers on a good area that's not to busy? These are inexperienced kids and I don't want them to be to crowded.

Long term .. I'd like to get a place to go as a lodging type setup, but I don't want to break the bank in doing so. This however would take some planning and may include some friends.

I'm not asking for honey holes, I just need information on a good area with availability.

If this has been posted already .. I'm sorry, please refer to the first line.

I would give your location, as I have no idea where you are located. I might be able to help depending on where.

Good on you for getting the kids into hunting, but public hunting can be extremely difficult. I would definitely take a trip to the place by yourself and scout it before you bring the boys. Welcome to the forum by the way

Call some of the day leases. I bet this late in the season you could find a place willing to work with you. Even if the kids are the only ones that hunt, it's worth it. They will be able to tell you if birds are there. And if you tell them you have two young'uns and you'll only be supervising I'm optimistic some operation will make you a good deal. Spend the time up front making sure thay have a fun successful hunt, even if that means they shoot clays because they're no birds.. you'll have a hunting partner for life and maybe two.

Good luck and welcome.

Where are you located?

Have you comb through this 20 page thread on dove hunting - https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/7575555/all/dove-reports

Folks are posting the county info on where they are hunting and what they are seeing. From what I've read my AO sucks, and until we start seeing some fronts, the local birds are shot up.

Not trying to discourage you. I applaud what you're doing for your kiddos.

And as someone has already posted, you might want to say where you're located, so folks can PM you info.

Location?

Location ... I'm in far east tx in Harrison county. There's little to no activity here that I'm aware of ... Thus my comments about being 6 hours away from decent spots.

I've previously hunted in Sweetwater area. That's my only experience in TX.

That vast distances makes it tough for me to scout it first as 2 trips on one season would be pretty brutal and relentless.

I do like the idea of shooting Clay's if there's little activity. I'm not sure how frowned upon that would be on or around some public land though. 😉

Most public won't let you target shoot. They closed the one at LBJ since it was used more as a dumpster than a clay target spot.

I figured that as much.

Yep, you guys are right about that, I called a game warden to see what the rules are for clay or any type of target shooting on APH public land---he said 'definitely not'. Likely because it makes a huge mess and people will probably litter all over the place? I'm in the same predicament with finding good spots---though I've read some posts about people (near you?) in Panola county shooting a TON of birds this year--check the Dove report threads...

I'll probably have to opt for leased hunts.
good luck,