The 2025–2026 Georgia dove season opens Saturday, September 6, and runs in three separate segments through January 31. The daily bag limit is 15 mourning doves, shooting hours run from a half hour before sunrise to sunset, and anyone 16 or older needs both a Georgia hunting license and the $5 Migratory Bird Stamp before heading to a field.
2025–2026 Season Dates
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources splits dove season into three segments:
- First segment: September 6 through October 12
- Second segment: November 22 through November 30
- Third segment: December 19 through January 31
The first segment draws the most hunters because early fall doves are still concentrated on agricultural fields. Later segments see lighter pressure, with resident birds and late migrants working harvested grain fields in south Georgia.1Georgia Department of Natural Resources. 2025-26 Georgia Dove Hunting Season Opens Sat. Sept. 6 Dates can shift year to year, so confirm the current schedule on the GA DNR website before opening day.2eRegulations. Georgia Hunting – Migratory Birds Seasons
Bag Limits and Shooting Hours
The daily bag limit is 15 mourning doves. The possession limit is 45, or three days’ worth of daily limits. Legal shooting hours are a half hour before sunrise to sunset across all three segments.2eRegulations. Georgia Hunting – Migratory Birds Seasons
Eurasian collared-doves are a separate species with no closed season and no bag limit, and they do not count against the mourning dove limit. If you can’t positively identify the bird in flight, count it as a mourning dove.
Licenses and Stamps You Need
Anyone 16 through 64 needs a valid Georgia hunting license. A resident annual hunting license is $15, or $30 for the hunting and fishing combo.3Georgia Department of Natural Resources. License Prices
Every dove hunter 16 or older also needs the Georgia Migratory Bird Stamp, which costs $5 and doubles as your federal Harvest Information Program (HIP) registration. You need the stamp even if you are otherwise exempt from a hunting license, including resident landowners hunting their own property.4Georgia Department of Natural Resources. License Changes
Exemptions
Hunters 15 and under don’t need a Georgia hunting license, Migratory Bird Stamp, or Lands Pass. Georgia residents born before July 1, 1952, qualify for a free lifetime license. Resident landowners on their own land are exempt from most license requirements but still need the free Migratory Bird Stamp for doves.5Georgia Department of Natural Resources. What License Do I Need
Hunter Education
Hunters born on or after January 1, 1961, must finish a hunter education course before buying a season-long license. Georgia offers the course online and in person. Apprentice and short-term licenses don’t require it, so a first-timer can still get to the field while working through the course.6Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Hunter Education Courses
Non-Resident Options
A non-resident one-day hunting license costs $20, with additional consecutive days at $6 each up to 11 days total. A one-day non-resident combo hunting and fishing license is $30. Transaction fees add $3 online or $5 by phone.7eRegulations. Georgia Hunting – Licenses, Permits and Passes
Legal Shotguns and Prohibited Methods
Federal rules govern how you can hunt any migratory bird. Shotguns are the only legal firearm for doves. Rifles and pistols are out, as is anything larger than 10-gauge. Semi-automatic and pump shotguns must be plugged with a one-piece filler so the gun cannot hold more than three shells total.8eCFR. 50 CFR 20.21 – What Hunting Methods Are Illegal
Electronic or recorded bird calls are illegal for dove hunting. The narrow exceptions in federal law apply to certain goose-only seasons, none of which cover doves.9eCFR. 50 CFR 20.21 – What Hunting Methods Are Illegal
Baiting: The Rule That Catches the Most Hunters
You cannot hunt doves over any area where grain, salt, or other feed has been placed to attract birds. You’re in violation if you hunt the area and knew, or reasonably should have known, it was baited.10U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Dove Hunting and Baiting A baited area stays legally baited for 10 days after every trace of the bait is gone. Hunting during that window is still a violation, even if you didn’t place the bait yourself.11Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Dove Hunting and Agricultural Practices in Georgia
Normal Agricultural Practice Is Legal
Hunting over a standing crop, or a field where grain was left by normal harvest, is legal. The problem starts when a planting doesn’t match accepted agricultural methods. In Georgia, “normal” means what the UGA Cooperative Extension Service officially recommends, not what a county agent happens to suggest.
Top sowing, meaning scattering small grain seed on the surface without covering it, is not a recommended UGA Extension method. Hunting over a top-sown field is treated as hunting over bait. Wheat, rye, and oats have to be drilled or harrowed into a prepared seedbed at roughly 1.5 to 2.5 bushels per acre. Piling grain in concentrated spots, planting outside recommended dates for your region, or replanting every few days are all warning signs that a legal dove field has become an illegal one.11Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Dove Hunting and Agricultural Practices in Georgia
If you’re invited onto a private field, ask what was planted, when, and how. If the answer sounds off, you share the legal risk by shooting there.
Tagging Birds You Leave Behind
Federal rules require a tag on any doves you leave at a cleaning station, drop off with a friend, or otherwise put out of your immediate possession. The tag must show your signature, your address, the total number of birds by species, and the dates the birds were killed. Anyone who holds someone else’s migratory birds without that tag information is also in violation.12Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Summary of Federal Regulations for Migratory Game Birds
Where to Hunt
The DNR publishes an annual dove field forecast covering planting conditions and bird activity for public dove fields on Wildlife Management Areas around the state. Some private fields also open to public hunting through the Voluntary Public Access program.13Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Dove Field Forecast and Hunting Locations
Quota Hunts
Many of the best public dove fields run as quota hunts. Apply through GoOutdoorsGeorgia.com, typically by August 15 for dove fields, and list up to three choices. If you aren’t drawn, you automatically get a priority point for that hunt category, improving your odds next year. Groups can apply together, but the group’s point wager is capped at the member with the fewest points.14Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Quota Hunts
Not every WMA dove field is a quota hunt. Some are first-come, first-served during the regular segments. Access rules vary by property, so check the specific regulations before you drive out.
Penalties
Most Georgia hunting violations are misdemeanors under state law.15Justia Law. Georgia Code 27-1-38 – Penalty for Violations of Title Because doves are migratory birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, dove violations also trigger federal law. Federal misdemeanor penalties run up to $15,000 in fines and six months in jail. Selling or offering to sell illegally taken birds is a felony carrying up to $250,000 in fines and two years imprisonment. Courts can order forfeiture of shotguns, vehicles, and other equipment used in the violation.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 16 USC 707 – Violations and Penalties
Georgia can also revoke your hunting license if you use a firearm in a way that endangers another person while hunting. A reckless conduct conviction during a hunt makes you ineligible for any Georgia hunting license for five years, and hunting during a revocation period is a felony.
None of these rules are complicated, but all of them are enforced. An unplugged shotgun, a questionable field, or a few minutes past sunset can turn into federal charges and a seized gun.