If you’ve got a shotgun and a folding stool, mark your calendar: Missouri’s dove season opens September 1 and runs through November 29. It’s one of the easiest seasons to get into around here — no zones to worry about, no draw to enter, and several good public areas within a short drive of Rocheport.
The basics
According to the Missouri Department of Conservation’s dove regulations, shooting hours run from a half-hour before sunrise to sunset, statewide, no zone lines to track. The daily limit is 15 doves — mourning doves, Eurasian collared-doves, and white-winged doves all count toward it — with a possession limit of 45. You’ll need a small game hunting permit if you’re a resident between 16 and 64, plus a Migratory Bird Hunting Permit. Shotguns are capped at 10 gauge or smaller, magazines can’t hold more than three shells, electronic calls are out, and live decoys aren’t allowed either.
One rule worth double-checking before you load up: a number of the public areas listed below require nontoxic shot for all shotgun hunting, dove included. Lead shot isn’t just discouraged on those tracts — MDC prohibits possessing it at all, not just firing it, so leave it in the truck.
Where to go locally
MDC manages several conservation areas in our three counties for dove hunting, per its dove management areas listing:
- Franklin Island Conservation Area (Howard County, ~1,627 acres) — two miles north of Boonville, or two miles east of New Franklin, on Highway 40.
- Davisdale Conservation Area (Howard County, ~2,691 acres) — between Columbia and Boonville on Highway 40.
- Diana Bend Conservation Area (Howard County, ~1,343 acres)
- Moniteau Creek Conservation Area (Howard County, ~844 acres)
- Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area (Boone County, ~4,429 acres) — the closest big option if you’re coming from the Columbia side of the river.
- Cooper Hill Conservation Area (Cooper County, ~204 acres)
Franklin Island is the one MDC gives the most detail on: nontoxic shot is required for all shotgun hunting there, hunting is allowed around the clock where it’s permitted, and if you’re planning to use a portable tree stand for an early-season sit, it has to be labeled with your name and pulled by February 1. Worth a look even if you’re only after doves this month — the area also opens for deer, turkey, squirrel, and quail later in the year.
A few practical notes
Dove numbers on any given field tend to drop off fast after the first few days of the season, so if you’re planning an opening-weekend hunt, go early. And if you’re headed out with someone new to the sport — dove season is a genuinely good way to introduce a first-timer, since it’s social and fast-paced compared to sitting still in a deer stand — keep the usual field etiquette in mind: know your zone of fire, space out from other hunters, and pick up your spent shells on your way out.
Full regulations, including species identification and any area-specific rules not covered here, are at mdc.mo.gov.