The good news: Granger WMA is surrounded by corn. The bad news: Granger WMA is surrounded by water.

Where once I parked a quarter mile from the lake, folks are launching boats at impromptu ramps. Where once there was a dove flyway east of the Doppler radar there is now a deep lake. When once it took ten minutes to stumble in the dark to a duck decoy spot, it now takes 30 seconds before you reach lapping water. Fishing is good, according to TPWD's latest report, but what of dove hunting?

One of my favorite spots, the big San Gabriel peninusula, has suffered from recent inundation. Only a swale or two of mud remains, but what vegetation that survived the drought is largely drowned out. And the string of ponds along CR 349? They have disappeared under a bay several hundred yards wide. As for parking area #1, you can't get to it because CR 358 is closed (heck, the lot would make a good launch, too.)

To be sure, even in the late morning hours a fair number of dove lurked on power lines which criss-crossed the big corn fields (largely dead and only now being cut over), it remains to be seen if birds will take to WMA trees and brush. And as the water recedes (15+ feet over normal as of August 21), exposed and defoliated shorlines may provide favorable watering conditions near roost sites. But much may depend on the rate the pool level drops; presently, you can get vertigo looking at the booming outflow below Granger Dam (as of this writing, the road across the dam is closed). Further, if the rain holds off, dove may resort to the barren shorelines of the lake inlets (gulfs?) to take gravel and water instead of using corn field puddles.

As of now, there are tons of kildee and the ever wondrous banana spiders. My money is on good dove hunting two or more weeks into the season. One bright spot: numerous dove roosted in the hackberries next to the cattle pens east of parking lot #5. It's no accident that they were near higher ground which harbored seed-producing plants nearby. Whatever the future holds, good shooting!