Doves

Doves are another popular small game species in Colorado. There are three species of dove in Colorado that can be hunted: the mourning dove, the white-winged dove, and the Eurasian collared dove. There are several differences between these dove species; some are more obvious than others, but all are useful in telling them apart.

The most important part of dove identification for Colorado is being able to tell a collared dove apart from the other two.

A small game license is required to hunt mourning and white-winged doves, and their possession and bag limits are in aggregate; that is, those limits are a combined total. You can have a mix of the two species in your possession as long as the total number doesn’t exceed the limit.

Eurasian collared doves are different; they are not native to Colorado and are considered an invasive species. Their numbers are climbing, and they are out-competing our native dove species and doing significant damage to crops. Because of this, there are no limits on how many Eurasian collared doves you can harvest. There is also no season for them; they can be hunted all year, and no license is required to pursue them.

Since mourning and white-winged doves have limits and specific season dates, while the Eurasian collared doves do not, it is very important that you know which species you are shooting at to avoid breaking any hunting laws.