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OUTDOORS: Fall hunting season opens for doves in September
by David Thompson
A male mourning dove called several mornings early in July up on the hill where mature conifers stand. Doves often nest in conifers. Chances are he was calling to his mate.
I had listened for doves to call back in May without hearing any. That was strange. Where were they at nesting time?
By July, when I heard the male, it was time for a female to lay a second clutch of eggs, not the first clutch that was due earlier during spring. A female typically lays two eggs. She feeds her nestlings a sort of porridge known as "pigeon's milk."
Since many doves in our area are migratory, young doves born this past spring and now during summer must be fully feathered and strong enough to migrate in order to winter south of Pennsylvania. Last winter was harsh, but even water pipes froze as far south as Florida. Birds that go south for the winter aren't always greeted with favorable conditions.
I have been watching mourning doves since boyhood, when I tagged along with my father, who hunted them after World War II. Pennsylvania has offered a dove hunting season since 1945. Prior to that, in the commonwealth, doves had been protected since 1913.
Pennsylvania's first dove season was open for one month with a daily bag limit of 10 doves. The 2026-27 dove season will be held statewide from Sept. 1-Nov. 25 and Dec. 18-Jan. 2. Hunting hours are from one-half hour before sunrise until sunset. The bag limit on doves now is 15 daily, with a possession limit of 45.
No Sunday hunting is permitted in Pennsylvania for doves and other migratory game birds, including waterfowl.
As you can see, the dove hunting season and bag limit have increased since 1945. Increases are justified only when game is abundant. We assume the Pennsylvania Game Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service monitor the commonwealth's dove population and know that the population remains high enough to support a long hunting season and liberal bag limit. If the dove population is not monitored, it should be.
Our south-central region offers good dove habitat. Hunting can be excellent in places. On the other hand, I find that land development and more houses in rural areas have ended dove hunting in many places. Much additional land is off-limits to hunting because of being in the safety zone.
A good hunting spot often receives too much hunting pressure. Therefore, an avid hunter takes time before the Sept. 1 opening of dove season to scout for doves in order to locate alternative places to hunt. A hunter then must receive permission to hunt on private land, which is where most doves live.
An option is hunting state game lands where sunflowers and other seed-bearing plants are planted to attract doves. These lands are open to all hunters. You need a general hunting license and a migratory game bird license.
Hunting doves requires hunters to be doubly careful about where they shoot. The problem is that hunters congregate where land is attracted doves that feed on seeds. Hunters wearing camouflage clothes hide not just from flying doves, but from each other. Consequently, hunters shoot toward each other without intending to.
The problem increases when doves fly low in order to land to feed or fly low to reach a different place nearby. Hunters standing among leafy shrubs or sitting on stools among high weeds are difficult for other shooters to detect. Hunters end up being in each other's line of fire.
This problem applies to both public and private land. To hunt safely requires all hunters to recognize that the problem exists and be careful to avoid shooting toward each other.
Using dove decoys is an effective hunting tactic. A hunter who sees another hunter's decoys knows that that spot is already being hunted.
When scouting for doves, you can spot them perched on utility wires, bare tree limbs, or flying over open fields where they feed on weed seeds or grain. While feeding, they also pick up grit, which are tiny stones found in plowed farmland, along country roads and in stone quarries.
The purpose of grit in a dove's gullet is to grind seeds. Most other game birds also eat grit.
Some hunters, when they dress doves, keep the gizzard to eat. To do so, the gullet is sliced, which exposes the grit it contains. A hunter who likes his knife always to have a keen edge is careful not to cut hard grit, which can be removed with a finger instead of the knife blade.
Besides saving gizzards, a hunter can keep the edible hearts and livers. These are small pieces of meat cooked beside the larger breasts that are filleted off the breastbone to be pan-fried, barbecued over hot coals, or roasted in a stove oven.
If the cook is ambitious and has time to make bread dressing, the diced gizzards, hearts, and livers can be sautéed and then cooked with the dressing. This can be done when the cook has many breasts and smaller pieces of meat to make a big meal for a family or for guests interested in eating something new that they never thought about eating.
Dove breast meat is light in color and is tender with a mild flavor. Because breasts are small, many are needed to make a meal. It is common for hunters to freeze meat until enough is available for everyone.
Assuming that you eat meat at least occasionally, the food being described here will be thoroughly enjoyed. Of course, the only people who eat dove meat are hunters and their families or friends. How many meals are enjoyed annually depends on a hunter's success. Success requires having good hunting spots where doves appear in the morning and evening.
As September approaches, I continue to watch for doves but see only a few here and there. I am satisfied with a hunting spot where just a handful of doves fly over en route to a feeding place. I have a full box of 25 shotshells for the double-barreled 12-gauge. That should be enough ammunition if I pick my shots carefully before squeezing the trigger.
As for doves living up on the hill where the male called in July, they inhabit a safety zone and are protected. I plan to hunt on public land and shoot safely.