Swift, shifty birds offer challenging early shooting
For many sportsmen, the September dove season begins new adventures outdoors.
The Louisiana dove season runs Sept. 6-28, Oct. 11-Nov. 16 and Dec. 20-Jan. 18, 2026, in the North Zone and Sept. 6-21, Oct. 18-Nov. 30 and Dec. 13-Jan. 11, 2026, in the South Zone.
Sportsmen can bag up to 15 doves per day in any combination of mourning or white-winged doves.
Native to Mexico and the southwestern United States, white-winged doves expanded their range in recent years. White-wings exhibit bold white wing patches that make very distinctive identification marks in flight.
People also shoot Eurasian collared doves. They look similar to mourning doves, only slightly larger with distinctive grayish-black markings around their necks and lighter overall coloration. Sportsmen might also spot ringed turtle doves, an exotic African species.
Doves prefer open fields or grasslands punctuated by occasional trees, brush or fencerows. They avoid marshes, swamps and thick forests, but do feed along forest edges, powerlines, food plots and other clearings.
About 99 percent of a dove’s diet consists of small native grass seeds. They also eat corn, millet, wheat, sunflowers, sorghum and peanuts. The diminutive birds need bare dirt at ground level and leafy canopies to hide them from predators.
“A weedy field with lots of crab grass, sprangletop, barnyard grass and similar weeds provides abundant seeds that doves like to eat,” said Jeffrey P. Duguay, a Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries biologist. “If the ground has a thick litter layer, doves won’t go there. White-winged doves especially like sunflowers. We’re seeing more white-wings in Louisiana every year.”
Dove decoys
After feeding, doves commonly perch in high places. Perching places make great spots to put decoys. While hunting a field, clip dove decoys to fence wires or prominent branches. Some sportsmen use spinning wing decoys that create a strobe effect mimicking flapping wings. Sharp-eyed doves can spot that flash from long distances.
“All birds are gregarious,” said Terry D. Denmon, president of Mojo Outdoors (mojooutdoors.com) in Monroe, La. “They are attracted to that flash. That’s how they find other birds.”
Place a spinner facing into the wind about 20 to 25 yards away to simulate a landing dove. Put the mechanical decoy off to one side rather than directly in front. This focuses an incoming dove’s attention away from the hunters. Place another spinner at about a 45-degree angle on the other side.
“In most places, doves come in from multiple directions,” Denmon said. “If we want to shoot doves at 25 yards, we put the spinning decoy out 25 yards. It works better on a high pole.”
When feeding, doves usually cluster in a circle so they can watch for danger in all directions. Place a few static decoys in a circle around the pole holding the spinner to simulate feeding birds.
Close to water
Toothless birds ingest small pieces of gravel or sand to help break up the hard seeds they swallow whole. They also need water to help them swallow. Ponds with sloping sandy or gravel shorelines make exceptional spots for hunting doves late in the afternoon.
Doves seldom fly directly to the ground. First, they perch where they can watch for predators. Clip a few decoys to bush or tree limbs overlooking a waterhole. Add a few more static decoys close to the water to simulate birds dusting or drinking. Stick a spinner on the shoreline and hide in nearby natural cover.
Also try jumping doves. Walk along field edges. When flushed, their broad, elliptical wings make a distinctive adrenaline-pumping clatter. Any sportsman who has heard a dove flush will never forget that sound.
Dove season offers a fantastic opportunity to introduce children to hunting. In the right spot, action can come fast.
For more Louisiana hunting information, see www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/seasons-and-regulations.