Colorado · Dove · 2026 Edition
Colorado Dove Season 2026: Dates, Bag Limits & Shooting Hours
01 — Seasons
| Season | Zones | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Mourning & White-Winged Dove | Statewide | Sep 1 – Nov 29 |
02 — Bag limits
| Daily | 15, singly or in aggregate across mourning and white-winged dove |
|---|---|
| Possession | 45, singly or in aggregate |
| Eurasian Collared-Dove | Invasive species in Colorado: huntable year-round and no hunting licence required. Birds must stay fully feathered in the field and in transit — except when counted against the mourning and white-winged dove bag during the Sept. 1–Nov. 29 season, where they take up part of the 15. |
03 — Shooting hours
Legal light on opening day (September 1, 2026) 06:02 — 19:33
Rule: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset. The Small Game and Waterfowl Brochure states it once for the whole category: 'Legal times to hunt small game and/or waterfowl are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset.' The only exception it lists is for furbearers, which run to half an hour after sunset.. Sunrise/sunset shift daily — the times above are computed for opening day; use your local Colorado sun times for any other date.
04 — License & HIP
Dove hunters in Colorado need a Colorado hunting license and — because doves are migratory game birds — HIP registration (Harvest Information Program). No federal Duck Stamp is required for doves.
05 — FAQ
When does dove season open in Colorado?
The 2026 opener is September 1, 2026. Most states open Sep 1 under the federal migratory bird framework.
When does dove season end in Colorado?
The latest 2026 closing date is November 29, 2026. Split segments and late seasons vary — see the table above.
Do I need a Duck Stamp to hunt doves?
No. Doves are migratory game birds but the federal Duck Stamp is only required for waterfowl (ducks, geese, brant, swans). Dove hunters need only their state hunting license and HIP registration.
How many doves can you shoot in Colorado per day?
2026 bag limits: Daily — 15, singly or in aggregate across mourning and white-winged dove. Possession — 45, singly or in aggregate. Eurasian Collared-Dove — Invasive species in Colorado: huntable year-round and no hunting licence required. Birds must stay fully feathered in the field and in transit — except when counted against the mourning and white-winged dove bag during the Sept. 1–Nov. 29 season, where they take up part of the 15. Limits are set per zone and per permit — check the agency's own regulations before you hunt.
What time can you start shooting doves in Colorado?
On opening day (September 1, 2026) legal light runs 06:02 to 19:33. The rule is: One-half hour before sunrise to sunset. The Small Game and Waterfowl Brochure states it once for the whole category: 'Legal times to hunt small game and/or waterfowl are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset.' The only exception it lists is for furbearers, which run to half an hour after sunset. Sunrise and sunset shift daily, so work the offset against your local Colorado sun times for any other date.
Verified · Colorado Parks and Wildlife · Last verified 2026-09-07
Publisher's note. Built 2026-09-07. The linked CPW page gives the season in running text ('the dove season that runs from Sept. 1-Nov. 29'), but the dependable figures live in the 2026 Colorado Small Game and Waterfowl Brochure it links. That brochure's dove block is transcribed here: 'Dove: Mourning, White-Winged — Season: Sept. 1-Nov. 29, annually — Area: Statewide — Daily bag limit: 15 singly or in aggregate — Possession limit: 45 singly or in aggregate'. The word 'annually' matters: these dates are standing rule, not an annual proclamation — the same shape as the Arkansas squirrel season. TECHNICAL NOTE FOR LATER CHECKS: CPW hosts its brochures on cpw.widen.net, and the same brochure sits behind two ids. The one linked from the website (bklvf2bjmw) returns a 24 KB HTML viewer page with nothing readable in it; the second (l2fgsjk9cr) serves the PDF directly, 32.4 MB, and reads fine with pdftotext. Follow only the on-page link and you never reach the data. Shooting hours from the same brochure, section 'Legal Hunting Hours': 'Legal times to hunt small game and/or waterfowl are one-half hour before sunrise to sunset.' The single exception listed there is for furbearers, not birds, so dove takes the standard rule. Eurasian collared-dove is classed as an invasive species in Colorado and may be hunted year-round without a licence. It must stay fully feathered — EXCEPT when it is counted against the mourning and white-winged dove limit during the Sept. 1-Nov. 29 season, where it eats into the 15. That dual role is carried as its own bagLimits row because it otherwise invites miscounting. Not modelled: habitat stamp and licence detail, and the baiting rules, which fill several pages of the brochure.