| Window | Dates | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Window 1 | 01 SEP – 27 SEP 2026 | 27d |
| Window 2 | 23 NOV – 29 NOV 2026 | 7d |
| Window 3 | 07 DEC 2026 – 31 JAN 2027 | 56d |
As publishedSept 1-27, 2026; Nov 23-29, 2026; Dec 7, 2026 - Jan 31, 2027
Matches 'Option 1' from DNREC's spring 2026 proposal process ('similar to 2025-26 season').Guide carries a standard boilerplate disclaimer that dates/limits are 'contingent upon approval from the US Fish and Wildlife Service' pending final federal frameworks - normal for all states, not a DE-specific uncertainty flag.
DNREC publishes no density-based dove zone map, but does run a real, named public-access program: the Division of Fish and Wildlife plants managed sunflower dove fields at specific tracts on public wildlife areas in all three Delaware counties, and designates those fields as dove-hunting areas (some lottery-permit access, some first-come). This is an access/habitat-management signal, not a population-density claim -- Delaware dove abundance itself is not reported as regionally concentrated anywhere in the sources checked.
Preliminary: Dove numbers are up over the last decade, at +1.72% per year from 2016 to 2025 on the federal survey, and the long-term record agrees at +0.44% per year across 59 years. This figure covers Delaware and Maryland together, not Delaware alone. These figures also run through 2025, one season behind this fall.
Recent decade up 1.72% per year across the combined Delaware and Maryland survey row.
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