The fall hunting season officially begins Sept. 1 with the dove opener. This year’s dove season runs from Sept. 1 through Nov. 29.
The daily bag limit is 15 doves. The possession limit is 45. This includes mourning doves, Eurasian collared doves and white-winged doves combined. For example, a hunter could have 13 mourning doves and two white-winged doves for a total of 15.
Shooting hours remain one-half hour before sunrise to sunset.
Hunting is permitted by shotgun only. Shotguns must be plugged to hold no more than three shells in the magazine and chamber combined.
A migratory bird hunting permit is required in addition to a small game hunting permit for all residents and nonresidents. The migratory bird hunting permit is also required for landowners age 16 and older. However, legal landowners are exempt from purchasing the small game hunting permit. Residents and nonresidents age 15 and under do not need to purchase any permit to hunt doves or waterfowl in Missouri. However, they must be accompanied by a properly licensed adult or possess a valid Hunter Education Certificate card.
Now is the time to begin scouting. Large concentrations of doves are often found near cut wheat, oat and corn fields. Silage pits, although increasingly rare, also attract large numbers of doves.
Baiting is prohibited. Baiting is defined as placing grain or salt that would not be considered a normal agricultural practice to attract doves. It is legal to hunt doves over mowed or brush-hogged grain fields and burned wheat stubble. However, hunting ducks and geese over such fields is prohibited.
Be sure to pick up a Migratory Bird Hunting Digest and review all regulations before heading afield. These pamphlets are available wherever permits are sold.
For more information on dove regulations or dove field locations in Clark County, contact Conservation Agent Rudd Binsbacher at 660-341-1595.
