Colorado mourning dove season 2026-27: dates, units and bag limits
Mourning dove is open in Colorado from September 1, 2026 to November 29, 2026, statewide. This page has the 2026-27 dates, the daily bag and possession limits, the licences you need and the rules that apply, read from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife brochure.
2026-27 season dates and limits
| Season | Dates | Where | Daily bag | Possession |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dove season | September 1, 2026 to November 29, 2026 | statewide | 15 | 45 |
Shooting hours: Half an hour before sunrise to sunset.
Licences and stamps
- Colorado small game licence
- Colorado Habitat Stamp
- Harvest Information Program (HIP) number for this season
Rules for mourning dove
- Shotgun holding no more than three shells. Rifles and pistols are not legal for migratory birds.
- Carry your hunter education card.
- Every dressed dove in the field or in transport counts against the 15-bird limit, Eurasian collared-doves included. Leave collared-doves fully feathered to keep them outside it.
- No baiting. Grain scattered by a normal farming operation on the field where it grew is legal; grain hauled in is bait.
- Do not shoot from, on or across a public road.
Do not mistake these for mourning dove
- American kestrel and other hawks and falcons (protected or closed: never shoot): Sits upright on a wire with a big head, hovers, or chases doves. A dove never hovers. Do not swing on a bird that is chasing doves.
- Killdeer, meadowlarks, flickers, nighthawks, blackbirds and swallows (protected or closed: never shoot): No long pointed tail. If you have not seen the tail shape, do not shoot.
- Band-tailed pigeon (different season or permit): Much bigger, in mountain forest, with a pale band across the end of the tail. Open only 1 to 14 September with its own permit.
- Eurasian collared-dove (different season or permit): Bigger and paler, square tail with a broad white band, black half collar on the back of the neck. Legal all year; see the transport rule.
How to hunt mourning dove
- Scout the evening before. Count birds on wires, dead trees and fence lines near feed and water.
- Sit a flight line between roost trees, feed and water, or a stock pond with bare banks in the last hours of light. Legal light ends at sunset.
- Hide beside a tree, post or tall weeds and stay still. Doves react to movement more than colour.
- Never shoot at a low bird. Agree shooting arcs when several hunters share a field. Do not shoot birds on or near power lines.
- Early September is hot. Cool birds fast and keep them out of the sun.
Where to walk for mourning dove in your unit
FilledTag finds the patches of the right habitat for your date on public land in the unit you choose, each with legal parking and the walk from the truck.
Check my hunt See a sample planWhat a map cannot tell you
- Crop fields themselves are not offered. the planner treats cropland as never hunted, and most of it is private. It shows public ground near grain.
- Walk-In Access parcels are not in the planner.
- The planner cannot see which fields were cut this week, which ponds hold water, or whether the birds have left.
- State Wildlife Areas and state parks may have their own dove rules (Barr Lake allows doves only on set days by reservation).
Source
2026 Colorado Small Game & Waterfowl brochure (corrections 21 Aug 2026); CPW regulations chapter W-5 (03/04/2026): https://cpw.widen.net/s/bklvf2bjmw/colorado-small-game--waterfowl-brochure. Read October 2, 2026. Rules change every year, and corrections are issued during the season: read the current brochure before you hunt.