| Window | Dates | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Window 1 | 05 SEP – 25 OCT 2026 | 51d |
| Window 2 | 08 DEC 2026 – 15 JAN 2027 | 39d |
As publishedSept. 5-Oct. 25, 2026 and Dec. 8, 2026-Jan. 15, 2027 (statewide)
Bag limit shared with white-winged dove (combined).Eurasian collared-dove has no bag/possession limit but must remain fully feathered in the field and during transport. AGFC also runs a separate permit-based managed dove field program (apply Aug 1-15) as an additional opportunity layered on top of the general season. AGFC states these dates consistently everywhere it publishes them.
AGFC does not publish a density-based regional map for mourning dove. The real sub-state signal in Arkansas is access-based: AGFC prepares and maintains more than 625 acres of managed dove fields across roughly 19 WMAs statewide, with a small subset (Shirey Bay Rainey Brake, Dave Donaldson Black River, Lake Conway, Frog Bayou) allocated by online lottery due to demand and the rest first-come, first-served. AGFC's own coverage singles out southwest Arkansas as a popular area for dove hunting over the years, naming three WMAs there specifically, while hunting-press coverage separately frames the Delta's row-crop agricultural fields as the state's strongest wild-population habitat. Both are real, sourced claims, but of the access/habitat-targeting shape rather than a density map.
Arkansas dove numbers have dropped sharply over the last decade. The federal survey puts the state at -4.43% per year from 2016 to 2025, one of the steepest declines anywhere in the Central Management Unit. The full 59-year record runs at -0.59% per year, so the long arc is mildly down and the recent decade is much worse than that. These figures run through 2025, one season behind this fall.
Recent decade down 4.43% per year, well below the state's own long-term rate.
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