| Window | Dates | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Window 1 | 05 SEP – 10 OCT 2026 | 36d |
| Window 2 | 07 NOV – 28 NOV 2026 | 22d |
| Window 3 | 16 DEC 2026 – 30 JAN 2027 | 46d |
As publishedSept 5 – Oct 10, 2026; Nov 7 – Nov 28, 2026; Dec 16, 2026 – Jan 30, 2027
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).
No sub-state regional distinction is published for mourning dove in North Carolina, and nothing lies underneath the "statewide" language. NCWRC's own species page describes the population as found statewide near agricultural fields and water; the state runs no dove hunting zone system (all three season splits apply identically statewide, unlike states that split dove seasons by zone); and NCWRC's public dove-field program is deliberately spread across 23 game-land tracts throughout the state rather than concentrated in any one region, a scattered-by-design pattern that argues against a regional concentration rather than for one. One source (Dive Bomb Industries) names Jordan Game Land and northeastern North Carolina generally as productive, but no agency or independent source corroborates it.
North Carolina dove numbers are down over the last decade, at -1.62% per year from 2016 to 2025 on the federal survey. The full 59-year record is flat, at -0.03% per year, so the decline is a recent development rather than a long trend. These figures run through 2025, one season behind this fall.
Recent decade down 1.62% per year against a flat long-term record.
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