| Window | Dates | Days |
|---|---|---|
| Window 1 | 01 SEP – 27 NOV 2026 | 88d |
| Window 2 | 18 DEC 2026 – 02 JAN 2027 | 16d |
As publishedSept. 1-Nov. 27, 2026 and Dec. 18, 2026-Jan. 2, 2027
Sunday hunting closed for migratory game birds statewide (PGC survey showed hunters favored keeping Sundays closed for 2026-27). Requires a PA Migratory Game Bird License; no PA-specific 'HIP number' terminology found -- federal harvest-information registration appears folded into this license rather than issued separately (unconfirmed inference, flagged for review).
Pennsylvania's own Game Commission species page draws a habitat-driven distinction: doves 'occur in all but the most-heavily forested landscapes in Pennsylvania,' meaning the species is effectively absent from the state's dense northern-tier forest belt (the same Allegheny high plateau that anchors ruffed grouse and woodcock) and concentrated instead in open agricultural and edge habitat -- farmland with scattered trees and shrubs, orchards, and suburban edges. A secondary hunting-focused source (Dive Bomb Industries) names the state's agriculture-dominant southern regions and northwestern corner specifically as the best dove-hunting areas, consistent with the PGC habitat description. PGC further manages a network of 30-plus dove fields on state game lands spanning all six PGC administrative regions (Northwest: Butler/Clarion/Crawford/Erie/Forest/Jefferson/Lawrence/Mercer/Venango/Warren; Southwest; Northcentral; Southcentral: Adams/Bedford/Blair/Cumberland/Franklin/Fulton/Huntingdon/Juniata/Mifflin/Perry/Snyder/York; Northeast; Southeast: Berks/Bucks/Chester/Dauphin/Delaware/Lancaster/Lebanon/Lehigh/Montgomery/Northampton/Philadelphia/Schuylkill), so managed access is statewide even though underlying agricultural-habitat density is not uniform.
The federal survey cannot say whether Pennsylvania dove numbers are rising or falling. Its 2016 to 2025 estimate comes out at -1.04% per year, but the range around it runs from -2.11% to +0.01%, wide enough in both directions that no direction can be called. Read that as unknown, not as steady. The figures also run through 2025, one season behind this fall.
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