South Dakota Dove Season 2026: Dates, Limits, and Where to Hunt
Pheasants get the headlines out here. But the first bird of the South Dakota season isn't a rooster — it's a mourning dove, and it shows up six weeks earlier.
Dove season opens Tuesday, September 1, 2026 and runs through November 9.
The Numbers
Season: September 1 – November 9, 2026
Shooting hours: 30 minutes before sunrise to sunset
Daily limit: 15 mourning doves
Possession limit: 45
Eurasian collared-doves: open year-round, no daily or possession limit
Two other rules worth knowing. Your shotgun is plugged to three shells, and the bird has to be flying — no shooting doves off a wire.
What You Need
A small game license and a South Dakota Migratory Bird Certificate. That's it — no federal duck stamp for doves. Residents and nonresidents can both hunt the full season.
If you're hunting with us, we handle the licensing before you arrive.
Where to Hunt
Doves are creatures of habit. Find what they need and you'll find birds.
Food. Sunflowers first, then small grains — wheat and milo stubble, silage edges, anywhere the ground is bare enough for a dove to walk and feed.
Water. A stock dam or a muddy pond edge in the late afternoon is as good as it gets, especially the first week of September when it's still hot.
Gravel and grit. Section-line roads at first light.
Perches. Dead trees, power lines, and shelterbelt edges are the flight path between all of the above. Set up between the roost and the feed, not on top of either.
For public ground, South Dakota's Game Production Areas, Walk-In Areas, and CREP acres are all open to hunting, and the GFP atlas will show you where they are. Two things to plan around: most public land requires nontoxic shot for small game, and the good early-September fields get pressured fast. Check the current handbook at gfp.sd.gov before you load up.
For private ground, ask early. Landowners are far more likely to say yes to a polite request in August than a knock on the truck window on opening morning.
Or Come Hunt Ours
We farm 26,000 acres here at Ideal, and we manage a good share of it for birds — which means we know where the doves are sitting before you ever get out of the truck. Guests hunt over fields we planted with this in mind, then come back to the lodge for a chef-prepared meal and a round on the ten-station sporting clays course.
September doves also happen to be the best wingshooting practice in the world. If your group is coming out for pheasants in October or November, an early dove trip is the cheapest insurance you can buy on your shooting.
Book a Dove Hunt
Early September fills quickly, and the first two weeks are the best of it. Call or book online at lazyjclub.com, and we'll get your group on the calendar.
Season dates and regulations are set by South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks and can change. Always confirm current rules at gfp.sd.gov before you hunt.
