PointsAfieldSeason2026–27
Recently harvested cornfield with freshly cut corn stalks, tree line, autumn color, low evening light.
Recently harvested cornfield with freshly cut corn stalks, tree line, autumn color, low evening light.Leslie Saunders · Unsplash License

Dove season 2026: where it opens, and where you can hunt it.

Eight states across the USFWS Eastern Management Unit, 588 named public dove fields, and every split-season segment — including the six states where you cannot legally shoot on opening morning.

Opening board

Eight states, and when each one opens

Status recomputed against your own clock · 588 named public fields
The region

The USFWS Eastern Management Unit

Federal management unit, not an editorial grouping — these eight share one framework
Kentucky — opens Sep 1, 55 public fieldsKYSep 1Tennessee — opens Sep 1, 59 public fieldsTNSep 1Ohio — opens Sep 1, 133 public fieldsOHSep 1Virginia — opens Sep 5, 5 public fieldsVASep 5North Carolina — opens Sep 5, 202 public fieldsNCSep 5South Carolina — opens Sep 5, 42 public fieldsSCSep 5Georgia — opens Sep 5, 55 public fieldsGASep 5Alabama — opens Sep 5, 37 public fieldsALSep 5
The opener, state by state

Every segment, not just the first

Most states run three-segment split seasons — the middle and late segments are the ones most hunters miss
Kentucky
WindowDatesDays
Window 101 SEP – 26 OCT 202656d
Window 226 NOV – 06 DEC 202611d
Window 319 DEC 2026 – 10 JAN 202723d

As publishedSept. 1 - Oct. 26, 2026; Nov. 26 - Dec. 6, 2026; Dec. 19, 2026 - Jan. 10, 2027

Bag: Daily 15 (incl. white-winged dove), possession 45

HIP registration required

Shooting hours are restricted at the start of the season and the restriction differs by land type: on private land Sept. 1 only is 11 a.m. to sunset, but on public land (WMAs and leased dove fields) the 11 a.m. start applies for the whole first segment, Sept. 1 - Oct. 26. Standard hours (one-half hour before sunrise to sunset) otherwise. Includes white-winged dove under the same limit; no limit on Eurasian collared-dove (leave head and/or wing attached in transit for identification). HIP survey and Kentucky Migratory Bird/Waterfowl Permit required for ages 16-64. Confirmed on the KDFWR migratory bird web page and the official Migratory Birds & Waterfowl PDF guide (Sept 2026-Mar 2027 edition); shooting-hours detail re-verified against fw.ky.gov on 2026-08-21.

Tennessee
WindowDatesDays
Window 101 SEP – 28 SEP 202628d
Window 210 OCT – 01 NOV 202623d
Window 308 DEC 2026 – 15 JAN 202739d

As publishedSept 1 (noon)-Sept 28, 2026; Oct 10-Nov 1, 2026; Dec 8, 2026-Jan 15, 2027

Bag: 15/day (possession limit 3x daily bag, except the season's opening day (1x) and second day (2x))

HIP registration required

Single statewide season (no zones) with three split segments. First segment opens at noon on Sept 1. No limit on Eurasian collared-dove (unlimited, separate species); any unidentified dove counts toward the mourning dove bag. Requires the Tennessee Migratory Bird (HIP) Permit.

Ohio
WindowDatesDays
Window 101 SEP – 08 NOV 202669d
Window 212 DEC 2026 – 01 JAN 202721d

As publishedSept 1, 2026 - Nov 8, 2026 and Dec 12, 2026 - Jan 1, 2027

Bag: 15 daily

HIP registration required

Split season with two segments. By far Ohio's most-hunted migratory game bird (ODNR's 2020-21 hunter survey estimated ~23,234 hunters and ~310,392 birds harvested statewide that season - historical context only, not current-year data). HIP certification required per general migratory-bird rule.

Virginia
WindowDatesDays
Window 105 SEP – 24 OCT 202650d
Window 221 NOV – 29 NOV 20269d
Window 319 DEC 2026 – 18 JAN 202731d

As publishedSep 5-Oct 24, 2026; Nov 21-29, 2026; Dec 19, 2026-Jan 18, 2027

Bag: 15 per day, 45 in possession

HIP registration required

Bag limit composed of mourning doves and white-winged doves, singly or in combination. Permitted at all WMAs except Hog Island and Princess Anne; several waterfowl-managed WMAs additionally exclude dove hunting within impoundments only. Sep 5, 2026 opener is afternoon-only (noon-sunset); full shooting hours (half-hour before sunrise to sunset) begin Sep 6.

North Carolina
WindowDatesDays
Window 105 SEP – 10 OCT 202636d
Window 207 NOV – 28 NOV 202622d
Window 316 DEC 2026 – 30 JAN 202746d

As publishedSept 5 – Oct 10, 2026; Nov 7 – Nov 28, 2026; Dec 16, 2026 – Jan 30, 2027

Bag: 15/day

HIP registration required

Includes white-winged dove under the same season/limit per the NCWRC proclamation. Three-way split season. NC also runs a separate, narrower extended falconry dove season (Oct 12–24, 2026, 3-bird falconry bag) not reflected in the gun-season dates here. No Sunday hunting statewide; possession limit is 3x daily bag (45).

South Carolina
WindowDatesDays
Window 105 SEP – 03 OCT 202629d
Window 213 NOV – 28 NOV 202616d
Window 318 DEC 2026 – 31 JAN 202745d

As publishedSept 5–Oct 3, 2026; Nov 13–28, 2026; Dec 18, 2026–Jan 31, 2027

Bag: 15 per day, 45 possession

HIP registration required

Three split segments, statewide, all Game Zones. An extensive public WMA Dove Field List (pp. 82-85 of source PDF) adds field-specific supplemental hunt days on top of this statewide season. HIP registration (SC's no-cost Migratory Bird Permit) required for hunters age 16+; hunters 64+ with a qualifying lifetime/senior/gratis/Catawba license are exempt.

Georgia
WindowDatesDays
Window 105 SEP – 11 OCT 202637d
Window 221 NOV – 29 NOV 20269d
Window 319 DEC 2026 – 31 JAN 202744d

As publishedSept. 5–Oct. 11, 2026; Nov. 21–29, 2026; Dec. 19, 2026–Jan. 31, 2027

Bag: 15 per day, 45 in possession

HIP registration required

Three-segment split season, statewide, no zones. Possession limit is 3x daily bag (45). Requires GA Waterfowl & Migratory Bird License (free for many license holders) which serves as GA's migratory-bird/HIP registration.

Alabama
WindowDatesDays
Window 105 SEP – 18 OCT 202644d
Window 221 NOV – 29 NOV 20269d
Window 312 DEC 2026 – 17 JAN 202737d

As publishedNorth Zone: Sep 5(pm)–Oct 18, Nov 21–29, Dec 12–Jan 17 2027; South Zone: Sep 12(pm)–Oct 25, Nov 21–29, Dec 12–Jan 17 2027

Bag: 15 per day (90-day cumulative season)

HIP registration required

Split into North Zone and South Zone with slightly offset openers, otherwise identical structure/limits. South Zone counties: Baldwin, Coffee, Covington, Dale, Escambia, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Mobile. Both zones: opening day (Sep 5 North / Sep 12 South) is afternoon-only (noon to sunset); all other days are half-hour-before-sunrise to sunset. seasons array below reflects the North Zone (all counties not in the South Zone list); South Zone dates are Sep 12–Oct 25, Nov 21–29, Dec 12–Jan 17 2027 instead of the North Zone's Sep 5–Oct 18 first segment. Shared with white-winged dove on the same regulatory page.

Public fields

Where you can actually hunt them

Named agency-managed fields — every one traceable to the agency that publishes it
How to hunt them

Read the flight line, not the field

A true habitat generalist -- open country, scattered trees, woodland edges, farmsteads, croplands, grasslands, riparian corridors, and even urban/suburban edge, with essentially no elevation or terrain-relief preference. Nests are built on flat-angled branches roughly 15 feet up in scattered trees or small stands (evergreen, orchard tree, mesquite, cottonwood, or vine), with conifers such as pine and cedar specifically favored for winter nests for the weather protection they provide; birds are notably tolerant of nesting near humans, including on gutters, eaves, or abandoned equipment. Daily water access is essential and shapes roost/feeding-ground placement more than any other single habitat variable -- doves favor shorelines and banks free of dense vegetation, and don't roost or nest far from a reliable water source. Feeding ground needs to be relatively open, bare, and litter-free so seed on the surface is visible and accessible; doves forage by pecking and pushing aside litter rather than scratching. Large numbers concentrate in woodlot roosts over winter, and daily travel between roost, feeding ground, and water commonly runs several miles, occasionally out to roughly 12 miles one-way in some populations. Northern populations make a genuine seasonal migration south (150-200 miles per day during peak movement, wintering as far as Mexico and Central America), while much of the range also holds year-round resident birds.

Success centers on identifying the daily roost-feed-water triangle and the flight lines connecting its points, rather than covering ground the way a pointing-dog upland hunt does. Scout before the season to find recently cut or burned agricultural fields, disced ground, or weedy fields with multiple seed sources (millet, sorghum, sunflower, native ragweed/Johnson grass) -- these hold birds longer through the season than a single-crop field. Field corners, low spots or gaps in a tree line, and other pinch points concentrate traffic into predictable flight lines between roost and feed; a hunter positioned under one of these lines before legal shooting light, rather than out in the open middle of a field, sees more consistent shooting. Water is a second reliable pattern -- doves visit a pond, seep, or muddy bank with open (non-vegetated) edges daily, generally close to the roost, making water sets productive both morning and evening. A third, often-overlooked pattern is the midday grit visit: after a morning feed, birds commonly move to a gravel bar or sandy bank for an hour or two around midday to take grit for digestion, which can produce action during the slow midday lull other field or water sets miss. Decoys (a half-dozen stationary silhouettes, often supplemented with one spinning-wing motion decoy, clipped to fence wire, standing sunflower stalks, or branches) help pull passing birds within range, with wind direction dictating placement since doves land into the wind; switching to fully stationary decoys later in the season as birds grow wary of motion decoys is a common adjustment. This is wingshooting on a small, fast, erratically-flying target rather than a dog-work discipline -- solid natural-vegetation concealment, a consistent gun mount and cheek weld, and swinging through the shot with the muzzle (rotating at the hips rather than moving the upper body) matter more here than any dog-handling skill, though a retriever is valuable for finding downed birds in standing cover.

This year's outlook

Down across the region

The 2026 USFWS Mourning Dove Population Status report published September 1. Across the Eastern Management Unit's hunting states, dove abundance is down 0.62% per year over the last decade, and the survey's range is narrow enough to call that a real decline. It reverses a long-term record that had been slightly positive across the full 59 years of the survey. North Carolina is the only state on this page that separates out on its own, down 1.62% per year. For the other six, the range runs too wide in both directions to call a direction at all. Read that as unknown rather than steady. These figures run through 2025, one season behind this fall.

Last checked 2026-09-02.